Ancient Poems [2]
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 volume consists in the genuineness of its contents, and the healthiness of its tone. While fashionable life was masquerading in imaginary Arcadias, and deluging theatres and concert rooms with shams, the English peasant remained true to the realities of his own experience, and produced and sang songs which faithfully reflected the actual life around him. Whatever these songs describe is true to that life. There are no fictitious raptures in them. Love here never dresses its emotions in artificial images, nor disguises itself in the mask of a Strephon or a Daphne. It is in this particular aspect that the poetry of the country possesses a permanent and moral interest.
R. B.
ANCIENT POEMS, BALLADS, AND SONGS OF THE PEASANTRY.
Contents
Poems:
The plain-dealing man. The vanities of life. The life and age of man. The young man's wish. The midnight messenger; or, a sudden call from an earthly glory to the cold grave. A dialogue betwixt an exciseman and death. The messenger of mortality; or life and death contrasted in a dialogue betwixt death and a lady. England's alarm; or the pious christian's speedy call to repentance Smoking spiritualized. The masonic hymn. God speed the plow, and bless the corn-mow. A dialogue between the husbandman and servingman. A dialogue between the husbandman and the servingman. The Catholick. The three knights. The blind beggar of Bednall Green.
Ballads:
The bold pedlar and Robin Hood. The outlandish knight. Lord Delaware. Lord Bateman. The golden glove; or, the squire of tamworth. King James I. And the tinkler. The Keach i' the Creel. The Merry Broomfield; or, the west country wager. Sir John Barleycorn. Blow the winds, i-ho! The beautiful lady of Kent; or, the seaman of Dover. The Berkshire lady's garland. The nobleman's generous kindness. The drunkard's legacy. The Bowes tragedy. The crafty lover; or, the lawyer outwitted. The death of Queen Jane. The wandering young gentlewoman; or, Catskin. The brave Earl Brand and the King of England's Daughter. The Jovial Hunter of Bromsgrove; or, the old man and his three sons. Lady Alice. The felon sewe of rokeby and the freeres of Richmond. Arthur o'Bradley's wedding. The painful plough. The useful plow; or, the plough's praise. The farmer's son. The farmer's boy. Richard of Taunton Dean; or, dumble dum deary. Wooing song of a yeoman of Kent's sonne. The clown's courtship. Harry's courtship. Harvest-home song. Harvest-home. The mow. The barley-mow song. The barley-mow song. (Suffolk version.) The craven churn-supper song. The rural dance about the may-pole. The Hitchin may-day song. The Helstone furry-day song. Cornish midsummer bonfire song. Suffolk harvest-home song. The haymaker's song. The sword-dancers' song. The sword-dancers' song and interlude. The maskers' song. Gloucestershire wassailers' song. The mummers' song; or, the poor old horse. Fragment of the hagmena song. The greenside wakes song. The swearing-in
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 volume consists in the genuineness of its contents, and the healthiness of its tone. While fashionable life was masquerading in imaginary Arcadias, and deluging theatres and concert rooms with shams, the English peasant remained true to the realities of his own experience, and produced and sang songs which faithfully reflected the actual life around him. Whatever these songs describe is true to that life. There are no fictitious raptures in them. Love here never dresses its emotions in artificial images, nor disguises itself in the mask of a Strephon or a Daphne. It is in this particular aspect that the poetry of the country possesses a permanent and moral interest.
R. B.
ANCIENT POEMS, BALLADS, AND SONGS OF THE PEASANTRY.
Contents
Poems:
The plain-dealing man. The vanities of life. The life and age of man. The young man's wish. The midnight messenger; or, a sudden call from an earthly glory to the cold grave. A dialogue betwixt an exciseman and death. The messenger of mortality; or life and death contrasted in a dialogue betwixt death and a lady. England's alarm; or the pious christian's speedy call to repentance Smoking spiritualized. The masonic hymn. God speed the plow, and bless the corn-mow. A dialogue between the husbandman and servingman. A dialogue between the husbandman and the servingman. The Catholick. The three knights. The blind beggar of Bednall Green.
Ballads:
The bold pedlar and Robin Hood. The outlandish knight. Lord Delaware. Lord Bateman. The golden glove; or, the squire of tamworth. King James I. And the tinkler. The Keach i' the Creel. The Merry Broomfield; or, the west country wager. Sir John Barleycorn. Blow the winds, i-ho! The beautiful lady of Kent; or, the seaman of Dover. The Berkshire lady's garland. The nobleman's generous kindness. The drunkard's legacy. The Bowes tragedy. The crafty lover; or, the lawyer outwitted. The death of Queen Jane. The wandering young gentlewoman; or, Catskin. The brave Earl Brand and the King of England's Daughter. The Jovial Hunter of Bromsgrove; or, the old man and his three sons. Lady Alice. The felon sewe of rokeby and the freeres of Richmond. Arthur o'Bradley's wedding. The painful plough. The useful plow; or, the plough's praise. The farmer's son. The farmer's boy. Richard of Taunton Dean; or, dumble dum deary. Wooing song of a yeoman of Kent's sonne. The clown's courtship. Harry's courtship. Harvest-home song. Harvest-home. The mow. The barley-mow song. The barley-mow song. (Suffolk version.) The craven churn-supper song. The rural dance about the may-pole. The Hitchin may-day song. The Helstone furry-day song. Cornish midsummer bonfire song. Suffolk harvest-home song. The haymaker's song. The sword-dancers' song. The sword-dancers' song and interlude. The maskers' song. Gloucestershire wassailers' song. The mummers' song; or, the poor old horse. Fragment of the hagmena song. The greenside wakes song. The swearing-in