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object which a superior mind might not consider beneath its notice;-and in this view of the subject, the Editor has had the satisfaction of coinciding with the ideas of a high Ecclesiastical character, but whose name he is not at liberty here to mention. Such then has been his prevailing design in the production of this little Volume; and whether or not he shall be pronounced by rigid, or lenient criticism, to have attained his object, he feels conscious that, to the best of his humble abilities, no care or pains have been spared in pursuing it.

About one third of the Ballads in this Collection, have been taken from "Percy's Reliques," and the rest from the most esteemed Authors and Compilers; upwards of Forty Volumes having been consulted for that purpose. The spelling in the older Ballads has been modernized;-a liberty which the scrupulous antiquary may well excuse, in consideration of the additional facility and pleasure which is thus afforded to the mass of general readers. Whilst, at the same time, the original style and idiom has either been minutely preserved, or with such a trifling deviation as may fairly dispense with the necessity of apology.

* This work was first published in the year 1765, in 3 vols. 8vo. Dr. Percy was, in 1778, appointed Dean of Carlisle ; and in 1782, Bishop of Dromore in Ireland, where he died in 1811, in his 83rd year; having nobly signalized himself in the employments of a more mature age, and an exalted station; and leaving a character for piety, liberality, and benevolence, to which ample testimony was borne by all classes and descriptions of men.

The notes, which have been partly abridged from the Authors themselves, and otherwise gleaned from a few common works of History and Antiquities, are added for the convenience of such readers as are not particularly conversant with the subjects in question. To the "Esoteric" disciples of Antiquity, to whom the Editor himself is as one of the uninitiated, this will doubtless be a sufficient excuse; and should there be any Readers to whom they are no objects of interest, they may, at all events, pass them over, without notice or interruption.

It should not be here suppressed, that a charge of want of fidelity and undue alteration has been made against Dr. PERCY, in his publication of these ancient pieces of Poetry. In the treatment, however, which they received at his hands, they have no farther been removed from originality, than Dr. WARTON describes all the Metrical Romances now to be. "They have been divested of their original form, polished in their styles, adorned with new incidents, successively modernized by repeated transcription and recitation, and retaining little more than the outlines of the original." And a small portion only of this process is attributable to Dr. PERCY. He became possessed, from the gift of a friend, of a manuscript folio of ballads, the contents of which fortunately falling into the hands of a man whose taste and elegance have rarely been exceeded, they underwent a certain degree of polish, which yet did not impair their primary lineaments; and the breaches made by time were so

carefully repaired, that the additions are scarcely discernible. Had there been no envy or malice in the case, this would have been deemed an excellence; but the heart of his great opponent, Mr. RITSON, had in it unfortunately a very large proportion of these ingredients, to which were superadded much grossness and impiety. A few others of the Ancient Ballads remain unaltered, as they were written-from the era of Queen Elizabeth to about the middle of the seventeenth century.

In order to make this a National Selection, all compositions (with one or two exceptions only) have been excluded in which the scene is laid in foreign countries; and also translations from foreign languages, which are now numerous, and some of them very beautiful. Nor was it possible to include in this volume half the beauties of British Ballads. Should, therefore, the Public receive with favour this one of the novitiatory efforts of a young Author, it may probably lead to the production of a Second Volume, from these united sources, as a sequel to the present, and of the same size and character.

JAN. 1829.

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12 Robin Hood and the Fishermen 13 Robin Hood's Chase

14 King John and the Abbot 15 Valentine and Ursine

16 St. George and the Dragon

17 Sir Andrew Barton

18 Princess Margaret

19 Johnny Armstrong

20 The Child of Elle

21 Hardyknute

22 Kempion

23 Willie of Kinmont

24 The Douglas' Tragedy

25 The Gay Goss-Hawk

26 Lady Elspat

27 Willie of Liddesdale

28 The Dens of Yarrow
29 George Barnwell
30 Passionate Shepherd
31 Christmas Song

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108

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Of elders good a mighty train

In shock of war have featly slain.
Round Brunanburgh the field was spread,*
Their blades a deadly course have sped,
They cleave of shields th' united wall,
They hew to earth the leaders tall, †
The troubled Marches rest serene,
As late in Edward's days was seen.

To them, of ancient race and name,
A fate of blest deliverance came,
That oft, before their dreaded hand,
Should flee each traitorous robber band,
And leave, unvexed, the glad domain
To prosper in a noble reign.

Scotland's sons of land and deep, ‡
Found many a youth the deathly sleep.
The din of war rose sharp and dread,

Thick sweat the warriors' limbs o'erspread,

* Camden places this in Northumberland, on the coast between Bamborough, and Coldingham in Scotland, and opposite to Lindisfarn, or Holy Island; and the name of the village at present nearest the site, he represents to be Ford, near Bromeridge. But Bishop Gibson, on the authority of Florence of Worcester, who pronounces the hostile fleets to have entered the Humber, offers a conjecture, that the site of the engagement might have been much higher up;-in Yorkshire or Lincolnshire. Such vexatious differences the Editor has before found to be not uncommon amongst antiquaries; but he believes that, in the present instance, the former idea has by far the more numerous supporters. Mr. Hutchinson, in his History of Northumberland, inclines to Bishop Gibson's opinion of Broomridge, in that county, being the site of the battle; adding, that "the many lines, breastworks, and entrenchments still remaining, testify that this was the place of some great action." He also (on the authority of some one of our old chroniclers) adds, as an ally to Constantine and Anlaf, Eugenius, Oweine, or Ewaine, King of Cumberland, who fell in the engagement, and whom he supposes to have been buried in Penrith Church-yard, under a curious old monument, which remains to this day.

+ In one literal translation, this is rendered "banners."

The Saxon answers to the English "lad."

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