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Ancient Poems; Ballads and Songs of the Peasantry of England 

Edited by Robert Bell





INTRODUCTION。



IN 1846; the Percy Society issued to its members a volume entitled  ANCIENT POEMS; BALLADS; AND SONGS OF THE PEASANTRY OF ENGLAND;  edited by Mr。 James Henry Dixon。  The sources drawn upon by Mr。  Dixon are intimated in the following extract from his preface:…


He who; in travelling through the rural districts of England; has  made the road…side inn his resting…place; who has visited the lowly  dwellings of the villagers and yeomanry; and been present at their  feasts and festivals; must have observed that there are certain old  poems; ballads; and songs; which are favourites with the masses;  and have been said and sung from generation to generation。


This traditional; and; for the most part; unprinted literature; …  cherished in remote villages; resisting everywhere the invasion of  modern namby…pamby verse and jaunty melody; and possessing; in an  historical point of view; especial value as a faithful record of  the feeling; usages; and modes of life of the rural population; …  had been almost wholly passed over amongst the antiquarian revivals  which constitute one of the distinguishing features of the present  age。  While attention was successfully drawn to other forms of our  early poetry; this peasant minstrelsy was scarcely touched; and  might be considered unexplored ground。  There was great difficulty  in collecting materials which lay scattered so widely; and which  could be procured in their genuine simplicity only from the people  amongst whom they originated; and with whom they are as 'familiar  as household words。'  It was even still more difficult to find an  editor who combined genial literary taste with the local knowledge  of character; customs; and dialect; indispensable to the collation  of such reliques; and thus; although their national interest was  universally recognised; they were silently permitted to fall into  comparative oblivion。  To supply this manifest DESIDERATUM; Mr。  Dixon compiled his volume for the Percy Society; and its pages;  embracing only a selection from the rich stores he had gathered;  abundantly exemplified that gentleman's remarkable qualifications  for the labour he had undertaken。  After stating in his preface  that contributions from various quarters had accumulated so largely  on his hands as to compel him to omit many pieces he was desirous  of preserving; he thus describes generally the contents of the  work:…


In what we have retained will be found every variety;

'From grave to gay; from lively to severe;'

from the moral poem and the religious dialogue; …

'The scrolls that teach us to live and to die;' …

to the legendary; the historical; or the domestic ballad; from the  strains that enliven the harvest…home and festival; to the love… ditties which the country lass warbles; or the comic song with  which the rustic sets the village hostel in a roar。  In our  collection are several pieces exceedingly scarce; and hitherto to  be met with only in broadsides and chap…books of the utmost rarity;  in addition to which we have given several others never before in  print; and obtained by the editor and his friends; either from the  oral recitation of the peasantry; or from manuscripts in the  possession of private individuals。


The novelty of the matter; and the copious resources disclosed by  the editor; acquired for the volume a popularity extending far  beyond the limited circle to which it was addressed; and although  the edition was necessarily restricted to the members of the Percy  Society; the book was quoted not only by English writers; but by  some of the most distinguished archaeologists on the continent。

It had always been my intention to form a collection of local  songs; illustrative of popular festivals; customs; manners; and  dialects。  As the merit of having anticipated; and; in a great  measure; accomplished this project belongs exclusively to Mr。  Dixon; so to that gentleman I have now the pleasure of tendering my  acknowledgments for the means of enriching the Annotated Edition of  the English Poets with a volume which; in some respects; is the  most curious and interesting of the series。

Subsequently to the publication of his collection by the Percy  Society; Mr。 Dixon had amassed additional materials of great value;  and; conscious that the work admitted of considerable improvement;  both in the way of omission and augmentation; he resolved upon the  preparation of a new edition。  His reasons for rejecting certain  portions of the former volume are stated in the following extract  from a communication with which he has obliged me; and which may be  considered as his own introduction to the ensuing pages。


The editor had passed his earliest years in a romantic mountain… district in the North of England; where old customs and manners;  and old songs and ballads still linger。  Under the influence of  these associations; he imbibed a passionate love for peasant  rhymes; having little notion at that time that the simple  minstrelsy which afforded him so much delight could yield hardly  less pleasure to those who cultivated more artificial modes of  poetry; and who knew little of the life of the peasantry。  His  collection was not issued without diffidence; but the result  dissipated all apprehension as to the estimate in which these  essentially popular productions are held。  The reception of the  book; indeed; far exceeded its merits; for he is bound in candour  to say that it was neither so complete nor so judiciously selected  as it might have been。  Like almost all books issued by societies;  it was got up in haste; and hurried through the press。  It  contained some things which were out of place in such a work; but  which were inserted upon solicitations that could not have been  very easily refused; and even where the matter was unexceptionable;  it sometimes happened that it was printed from comparatively modern  broadsides; for want of time to consult earlier editions。  In the  interval which has since elapsed; all these defects and short… comings have been remedied。  Several pieces; which had no  legitimate claims to the places they occupied; have been removed;  others have been collated with more ancient copies than the editor  had had access to previously; and the whole work has been  considerably enlarged。  In its present form it is strictly what its  title…page implies … a collection of poems; ballads; and songs  preserved by tradition; and in actual circulation; amongst the  peasantry。

BEX; CANTON DE VAUD。 SWITZERLAND。


The present volume differs in many important particulars from the  former; of the deficiencies of which Mr。 Dixon makes so frank an  avowal。  It has not only undergone a careful revision; but has  received additions to an extent which renders it almost a new work。   Many of these accessions are taken from extremely rare originals;  and others are here printed for the first time; including amongst  the latter the ballad of EARL BRAND; a traditional lyric of great  antiquity; long familiar to the dales of the North of England; and  the DEATH OF QUEEN JANE; a relic of more than ordinary interest。   Nearly forty songs; noted down from recitation; or gathered from  sources not generally accessible; have been added to the former  collection; illustrative; for the most part; of historical events;  country pastimes; and local customs。  Not the least suggestive  feature in this department are the political songs it contains;  which have long outlived the occasions that gave them birth; and  which still retain their popularity; although their allusions are  no longer understood。  Amongst this class of songs may be specially  indicated JACK AND TOM; JOAN'S ALE WAS NEW; GEORGE RIDLER'S OVEN;  and THE CARRION CROW。  The songs of a strictly rural character;  having reference to the occupations and intercourse of the people;  possess an interest which cannot be adequately measured by their  poetical pretensions。  The very defects of art with which they are  chargeable; constitute their highest claim to consideration as  authentic specimens of country lore。  The songs in praise of the  dairy; or the plough; or in celebration of the harvest…home; or the  churn…supper; or descriptive of the pleasures of the milk…maid; or  the courtship in the farm…house; or those that give us glimpses of  the ways of life of the waggoner; the poacher; the horse…dealer;  and the boon companion of the road…side hostelrie; are no less  curious for their idiomatic and primitive forms of expression; than  for their pictures of rustic modes and manners。  Of special  interest; too; are the songs which relate to festival and customs;  such as the SWORD DANCER'S SONG AND INTERLUDE; the SWEARING…IN  SONG; OR RHYME; AT HIGHGATE; the CORNISH MIDSUMMER BONFIRE SONG;  and the FAIRLOP FAIR SONG。

In the arrangement of so multifarious an anthology; gathered from  nearly all parts of the kingdom; the observance of chronological  order; for obvious reasons; has not been attempted; but pieces  which possess any kind of affinity to each other have been kept  together as nearly as other considerations would permit。

The value of this

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