I.—ENGLAND

[I]

Agincourt, or the English Bowmans Glory. To a pleasant new Tune. Quoted in Heywood’s King Edward IV., and, therefore, popular before 1600. This ballad has been severely edited, and I omit several stanzas. It is printed in full in Hazlitt’s edition of Collier’s ‘Shakespeare’s Library,’ vol. i. (Reeves & Turner, 1825).

[II]

Published in 1589.

[III]–[IV]

Both were published in Poemes Lyrick and Pastorall (1605?) and Poemes (1619). As to the first:—l. 6. Caux (‘commonlie called Kidcaux,’ says Holinshed) was the district north-east of the mouth of the Seine.

l. 83. bilbos. Swords, from Bilbao.
92. ding. To belabour with blows.

[V]–[VI]

The first is from John of Gaunt’s dying speech (King Richard II., Act ii. sc. 1). King Richard II. was probably written early in 1593. It was published anonymously in 1597. The second is from King John, Act v. sc. 7. 1594 is the date assigned to Shakespeare’s King John, which was first printed in the First Folio (1623). These and the two succeeding numbers follow the text of ‘The Globe Edition’ of Shakespeare’s Works. I am indebted to the publishers of that edition, Messrs. Macmillan & Co., and to the Delegates of the Clarendon Press, Oxford, for kindly extending to readers of this volume the benefits of the scientific labours of Dr. W. G. Clark and Mr. W. A. Wright.

[VII]

From various parts of King Henry V. The play was written in 1598, and performed for the first time early in 1599. The first complete version was published in the First Folio (1623).

l. 23. rivage. The shore.
27. sternage. (To sternage of=astern of, so as to follow.)
40. puissance. Strength.
87. battle. An army, or division of an army.
90. accomplishing. Equipping.
144. Crispian. ‘The daie following,’ says Holinshed, ‘was the five and twentieth of October in the year 1415, being then fridaie, and the feast of Crispine and Crispinian, a daie faire and fortunate to the English, but most sorrowfull and unluckie to the French.’
174. Whiffler. Herald or usher.
183. ostent. Clear, visible.

[VIII]

King Henry VIII., Act ii. sc. 3.

[IX]

Printed by Percy (Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, 1765). ‘From an old black-letter copy.’

Cailìver (l. 21)=Caliver, a kind of light musket.

[X]

There are broadsides of this ballad in the Roxburghe and Bagford Collections. The version here given is taken from Mr. Henley’s volume, Lyra Heroica (David Nutt, 1891), by permission of editor and publisher. The full title of the Roxburghe broadside is as follows:—‘The Honour of Bristol, shewing how the Angel Gabriel of Bristol fought with three ships, who boarded as many times, wherein we cleared our Decks, and killed five hundred of their Men, and wounded many more, and make them fly into Cales, where we lost but three men, to the Honour of the Angel Gabriel of Bristol. To the tune of Our Noble King in his Progress.’

Calés (l. 13), pronounced as a dissyllable, is, of course, Cadiz.

[XI]—[XII]

The first is entitled: To the Lord General Cromwell, May 1652: On the Proposals of certain Ministers at the Committee for Propagation of the Gospel, and was written against the intolerant Fifteen Proposals of John Owen and the majority of the Committee. This sonnet first appeared at the end of Philip’s Life of Milton (1694).

Hireling wolves (l. 14)=the paid clergy.

The second is from the chorus of Samson Agonistes (ll. 1268–1286). Samson Agonistes was first published in 1671, in the small octavo volume which contained Paradise Regained.

[XIII]—[XIV]

The Horatian Ode was first printed in 1776, in Captain Edward Thompson’s edition of Marvell’s Works.

l. 15. side. Party.
32. Bergamot. A kind of pear.
67, &c. The finding of the human head at Rome, regarded as a happy omen, is mentioned by Pliny (Nat. Hist., xxviii. 4).

The second appeared in Poems (1681).

[XV]

Produced in 1643. The author was a famous ballad-monger of Charles I.’s time. The original refrain was ‘When the King comes home in peace again’ (Roxburghe Collection of Ballads, iii. 256; Loyal Garland, 1671 and 1686; Ritson, Ancient Songs). The song was written to support the declining cause of the Royal Martyr. It helped to keep up the spirits of the Cavaliers in the days before the Restoration (1660), which event it was used to celebrate. When the Revolution (1688) drove the Stuarts into exile, this song became a weapon in the hands of the Jacobites.

[XVI]

This was a very popular loyal song in the reign of Charles II. Both words and music are given in Playford’s Musical Companion (1667).

[XVII]—[XVIII]

The first is from Dryden’s opera, King Arthur, or the British Worthy (1691). As to the first: ‘A battle is supposed to be given behind the scenes, with drums, trumpets, and military shouts and excursions; after which, the Britons, expressing their joy for the victory, sing this song of triumph.’—Author’s Note.

The second is an extract from Annus Mirabilis (1667).

[XIX]

This famous song, which Heine once declared expressed the whole character of the English people, made its first appearance in The Masque of Alfred (1740).

[XX]

This song is at least as old as the reign of Queen Anne. In the British Museum there are many half-sheet copies, with music. The earliest begins, ‘Here’s a health to the Queen,’ &c.

[XXI]

The first print of our National Anthem is to be found in Harmonica Anglicana, a collation of part songs (circa 1742). This copy consists of two stanzas only. The third made its appearance when Harmonica Anglicana was extended to two volumes, with the new title Thesaurus Musicus. The copy printed in the Gentleman’s Magazine (October 1745) contains the three stanzas given here, and is called, ‘A Song for Two Voices sung at both play-houses.’

[XXII]

Sung in Garrick’s pantomime, The Harlequin’s Invasion, produced December 31, 1759.

[XXIII]

Odes (‘Printed for A. Millar in the Strand,’ 1746), and Dodsley’s Museum (iv., 1749).

[XXIV]–[XXV]

The first was written ‘after reading Hume’s History in 1780’ (Benham). The second was written in September 1782. The Royal George (108 guns) was being repaired at Spithead (August 29, 1782), when she capsized and sank instantly. Rear-Admiral Richard Kempenfelt was then under orders to proceed to the relief of Gibraltar.

[XXVI]–[XXVIII]

The first is from The Oddities, a Table Entertainment (1789–1790), and its original title was Poor Tom, or the Sailor’s Epitaph. The second was first sung in The Wags, or the Camp of Pleasure (October 18, 1790). The third was first sung in A Tour to Land’s End (1798), and its original title was Yo heave ho! The first collected edition of Charles Dibdin’s songs was issued in five volumes from 1790 to 1799.

[XXIX]

The air of The British Grenadiers is at least as old as the reign of Elizabeth, and is one of the most characteristic of the English National airs. The words here given are from a copy (with music) about a hundred and fifty years old.

[XXX]

Chappell dates this song 1758. The matter is not free from doubt, but the reference in the second stanza to ‘Brighton Camp’ is a clue. There were encampments along the south coast (1758–9) when Hawke and Rodney were watching the French fleet in Brest Harbour. The song appears to be English, although it has appeared in several collections of Irish music. I have omitted several stanzas which appear in Chappell’s version (Popular Music of the Olden Time, vol. ii. p. 710).

[XXXI]

From Lock and Key, ‘a musical entertainment,’ first performed at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden (circa 1790).

[XXXII]

From two of the Prophetic Books entitled Jerusalem and Milton respectively, and both published in 1804.

[XXXIII]

Poems (1807). Composed August 1802. ‘On August 29th left Calais at 12 in the morning for Dover.... Bathed and sat on the Dover Cliffs, looked upon France. We could see the shores about as plain as if it were an English lake. Mounted the coach at half-past four, arrived in London at six.’—(Dorothy Wordsworth’s Journal.)

[XXXIV]–[XL]

Poems (1807). The first and second were composed in September 1802, the third in 1803, and the fourth in 1806. The fifth is from the third stanza of the Thanksgiving Ode (1816). The sixth and seventh were ‘composed or suggested during a Tour in the Summer of 1833,’ and were published in Yarrow Revisited and Other Poems (1835).

[XLI]

From the Introduction to the first canto of Marmion (1808).

[XLII]–[XLIII]

The Snug Little Island, or The March of Invasion was first sung by ‘Jew’ Davis in The British Raft at Sadler’s Wells on Easter Monday, 1797. Tune—‘The Rogue’s March.’ The author’s title for the next number (Last Lays, 1833) is A Soldier’s Life.

[XLIV]

Poetical Works, vol. iii. (Longmans, 1838). This is number xxxiii. of the ‘Inscriptions.’

[XLV]–[XLVII]

The first two were published with Gertrude of Wyoming (1809). The first (written at Altona during the winter of 1800–1) is based on a seventeenth-century song which Campbell used to sing. As to the second (written in 1805), I omit stanzas 5, 6, and 8, an improvement suggested by Mr. Henley. The third appeared in Theodoric and Other Poems (Longmans, 1824).

[XLVIII]

Songs and Poems (edited by Peter Cunningham, 1847).

[XLIX]–[LI]

The first is from Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage (canto iii. stanza 2, and canto iv. stanzas 8, 9, 10). The third canto was published in 1816, and the fourth in 1818. Byron left England—never to return—on April 24, 1816.

l. 22. The poet’s body was sent home to England, and was buried in the family vault at Hucknall Torkard, near Newstead Abbey, Nottinghamshire.

32. The answer of the mother of Brasidas, the Spartan General, to the strangers who praised the memory of her son.

The second is from the third canto of Don Juan (1821).

The third is from Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage (canto iii. stanzas 21–28). The Duchess of Richmond’s famous ball took place on June 15, 1815, the eve of Quatre Bras, at the Duke’s house in the Rue de la Blanchisserie, Brussels.

20. Brunswick’s fated chieftain. The Duke of Brunswick (1771–1815) was killed at Quatre Bras. His father, author of the famous manifesto against the French Republic (July 15, 1792), had fallen at Jena (1806).

54. Evan’s—Donald’s. Sir Evan Cameron (1629–1719) and his grandson Donald Cameron of Lochiel (1695–1748). The former fought at Killiecrankie (1689), and the latter, celebrated by Campbell in Lochiel’s Warning, was wounded at Culloden (1746).

55. Ardennes. The general term is applied to the forest of Soignies, which at this time occupied the whole country between Brussels and Waterloo.

[LII]

First published (without the author’s permission) in the Newry Telegraph (April 19, 1817), and reprinted in many other journals. Highly praised by Byron (1822)—‘Such an ode as only Campbell could have written’—this poem was attributed to Byron himself, and claimed by many impostors. The question of authorship was settled in 1841 by the discovery of an autograph copy in a letter from Wolfe to a college friend.

[LIII]–[LIV]

Works, with a Memoir (7 vols., William Blackwood & Sons, 1839). Most of Mrs. Hemans’ poems were first published in periodicals, such as The Edinburgh Monthly Magazine and The New Monthly Magazine. The latter was, for a time, edited by Thomas Campbell, not very successfully. The ‘Author’s Note’ on the first number is as follows:—‘It is supposed that war was anciently proclaimed in Britain by sending messengers in different directions through the land, each bearing a bended bow; and that peace was in like manner announced by a bow unstrung, and, therefore, straight.’

[LV]–[LVI]

The first (reprinted from Knight’s Quarterly Magazine) was included in the 1848 edition of the Lays of Ancient Rome. It is dated 1832.

[LVII]–[LVIII]

Alma and other Poems (1855), and Poems (New Edition, 2 vols., Macmillan & Co., 1885). By permission of Mr. A. Chenevix Trench.

[LIX]

Last Poems (Smith, Elder & Co., 1862). This volume was published after the author’s death. By permission of the publishers.

[LX]–[LXVI]

The first two appeared in Poems (2 vols., Edward Moxon, 1842). The third is from The Princess: a Medley (Edward Moxon, 1847). The fourth is from the lines entitled, To the Queen, forming the Dedication of the Seventh Edition of Poems (London: 1851). The fifth and sixth first appeared in The Examiner, in 1852; the former on January 31, and the latter on February 7. The seventh is from the Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington, published separately in November 1852 (Edward Moxon), and reprinted with Maud (1855).

[LXVII]–[LXVIII]

The first appeared in The Examiner, December 9, 1854, and was reprinted with Maud (1855). Written on December 2nd, in a few minutes, after reading the description in The Times, in which occurred the phrase ‘someone had blundered.’ (Memoir, i. p. 381.) The second is from Maud.

[LXIX]

The Return of the Guards and Other Poems (Macmillan & Co., 1866). By permission of the publishers. The poem deals with an incident of the war with China (1860):—‘Some Seiks (Sikhs) and a private of the Buffs (or East Kent Regiment) having remained behind with the grog-carts, fell into the hands of the Chinese. On the next morning they were brought before the authorities, and commanded to perform the Ko tou. The Seiks obeyed; but Moyse, the English soldier, declaring that he would not prostrate himself before any Chinaman alive, was immediately knocked upon the head, and his body thrown upon a dunghill.’ Quoted by the author from The Times.

[LXX]–[LXXI]

Bells and Pomegranates (vii. 1845). The first was written in Italy. The second was written in pencil on the cover of an Italian book during Browning’s first journey to Italy. He sailed in a merchant vessel from London to Trieste, and was the only passenger (1838). A letter from the poet to Miss Haworth gives an account of the voyage. (Life and Letters, edited by Mrs. Sutherland Orr, 2nd edition, p. 97.)

[LXXII]

Songs for Music (Routledge, 1856), a reprint of a series of songs from The Illustrated London News (1852–1855).

[LXXIII]–[LXXIV]

The first is from Songs in Absence (1852), and was probably composed during the author’s voyage across the Atlantic. The second appears in Poems with Memoir by F. T. Palgrave (Macmillan & Co., 1862). By permission of Messrs. Macmillan & Co.

[LXXV]

Andromeda and Other Poems (1858). Written in 1854.

[LXXVI]

Edinburgh Courant, 1852.

l. 3. The Vengeur’s crew. The Vengeur was sunk in Lord Howe’s action against the French fleet on ‘the glorious first of June’ (1794), off the coast of Brittany. For the final account of her sinking see Carlyle (Miscellanies—‘Sinking of the Vengeur’).

[LXXVII]

Ionica (George Allen, 1891). By permission of Mrs. Cory. The poem was written in 1861, and was privately printed in 1877. The ‘School Fencibles’ are the members of the Volunteer Corps of Eton College, whose grey uniform, with light-blue facings, is the ‘meek attire of blue and grey’ referred to in l. 10.

[LXXVIII]

Verses 1, 2, 4, and 9 of Hymn No. 143 in Hymns Ancient and Modern. By permission of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.

[LXXIX]

Sonnets and Other Poems (A. & C. Black, 1900). By permission of author and publishers.

[LXXX]

Points of War (Bell & Daldy, 1855), and Wagers of Battle (Macmillan & Co., 1900). By permission of the author and Messrs. Macmillan.

[LXXXI]–[LXXXII]

Both from Visions of England (Macmillan & Co., 1881). By permission of the publishers.

l. 1. Isle of Roses. Within the temple of Athena at Lindus, in the island of Rhodes, Pindar’s seventh Olympian Ode was engraved in golden letters.

40. Changing at the font. Alfred was god-father to Guthrun, the Danish leader, when baptized after his defeat at Ethandún (872).

[LXXXIII]

Balder (Smith & Elder, 1854).

[LXXXIV]

This poem first appeared in The Times (October 31, 1899), was reprinted separately by Messrs. Skeffington & Sons, and is included in the author’s last volume, The Finding of the Book and Other Poems (Hodder & Stoughton, 1900). By permission of the author, the editor of The Times, and the publishers above mentioned.

[LXXXV]

Legends and Lyrics (1858). Written in 1855.

[LXXXVI]

Havelock’s March and Other Poems (Trübner & Co., 1859). By permission of the author.

[LXXXVII]

Collected Poems (Macmillan & Co., 1900). By permission of the publishers.

[LXXXVIII]

Songs and Rhymes (Elliot Stock, 1896). By permission of the author.

[LXXXIX]

Poems Narrative and Lyrical (Pickering, 1853). By permission of the author.

[XC]

Poems (Elkin Mathews, 1893). By permission of the author.

[XCI]

The Bab Ballads, with which are included Songs of a Savoyard (George Routledge & Sons, 1897). By permission of the author. This is one of the songs in the comic opera Utopia, Limited.

[XCII]–[XCIII]

Both from A Jubilee Greeting at Spithead (John Lane, 1897). By permission of the author.

[XCIV]–[XCVII]

The first three numbers are from Poems and Ballads, 3rd series (Chatto & Windus, 1889). The first is part viii. section ii. of The Armada.

As to the second, Drumossie Muir (l. 16), in Inverness-shire, was the scene of the battle of Culloden (1746).

l. 17. ayont. Beyond.
25. mool. Mould.
laps. Wraps.
40. wotsna. Knows not.
45. weird for dreeing. To ‘dree a weird’ is to abide a fate.
47. thole. To endure.
65. Wansbeck. A Northumberland stream.
69. thae. Those.

The fourth number is from the dedicatory lines in Astrophel and Other Poems (Chatto & Windus, 1894). By permission of author and publishers.

[XCVIII]

The Graphic (November 11, 1899). By permission of the author and the editor of The Graphic.

[XCIX]–[C]

The first appeared in The St. James’s Magazine (now defunct), October, 1877, and was included in the second edition of Proverbs in Porcelain (1878), and in At the Sign of the Lyre (Kegan Paul, 1889). By permission of author and publisher.

Gloriana (l. 25)=Queen Elizabeth.

The second appeared in The Sphere (February 3, 1900). By permission of the author and the editor of The Sphere.

[CI]

Poetical Works (vol. ii., Smith, Elder & Co., 1899). By permission of author and publishers.

[CII]–[CIII]

Songs of the Maid (A. Constable & Co., 1896). By permission of author and publishers.

[CIV]

London Voluntaries and Other Poems (David Nutt, 1894), and Poems (David Nutt, 1898). By permission of author and publisher.

[CV]

A Song of the Sea and Other Poems (Methuen & Co., 1895). By permission of Miss Marie Corelli and the publishers.

[CVI]

Literature (July 1, 1899). By permission of the author and the editor of Literature.

[CVII]

The Violet Crown and Songs of England (Edward Arnold, 1891). By permission of author and publishers. This poem is dated ‘Athens, 1890.’

[CVIII]

Collected Poems (John Lane, 1895). By permission of the publisher.

[CIX]–[CX]

Songs of Action (Smith, Elder & Co., 1898). By permission of author and publishers. The Song of the Bow first appeared in The White Company (Smith, Elder & Co., 1891).

[CXI]

The Daily Chronicle, October 28, 1899. By permission of the author and the editor of The Daily Chronicle.

[CXII]–[CXIV]

Admirals All (Elkin Matthews, 1897). By permission of author and publisher. As to the first:—

l. 1. Effingham. Charles, Lord Howard of Effingham (1536–1624), commanded the English fleet sent against the Spanish Armada (1588).

Grenville. Sir Richard Grenville, naval commander (1541?-1591). See Mr. Gerald Massey’s poem, supra, [p. 113].

Raleigh. Sir Walter Raleigh (1552–1616), soldier, sailor, courtier, adventurer, and writer.

Drake. Sir Francis Drake (1540?-1596).

3. Benbow. Vice-admiral John Benbow (1653–1702).

Collingwood. Vice-admiral Cuthbert, Lord Collingwood (1750–1810), second in command at Trafalgar.

Byron. Vice-admiral John Byron (1723–1786), grandfather of the poet.

Blake. Robert Blake (1599–1657), next to Nelson, the greatest English admiral.

8. Nelson. Horatio, Viscount Nelson (1758–1805).

13. Essex. Robert Devereux, second Earl of Essex (1567–1601), commanded the land attack on Cadiz (1596) when the city was taken by the English.

30. Duncan. Admiral Adam, Viscount Duncan (1731–1804), who defeated the Dutch in the fight off Camperdown (October 11, 1797).

31. Texel. One of the mouths of the Zuyder Zee.

38. The Sound. The strait between Sweden and Denmark leading into the Baltic Sea. The English fleet entered the Sound on April 1, 1801, and next morning Nelson, acting under orders from Sir Hyde Parker, attacked the Danish batteries.

52. Rodneys. Admiral George Brydges, first Baron Rodney (1719–1792).

The third is an extract from the poem entitled Laudabunt Alii.

[CXV]

The Seven Seas. (Methuen & Co., 1896.) By permission of author and publishers.

l. 9. Bergen. A town on the west coast of Norway.
10. Disko. An island off the west coast of Greenland.
floe. The surface ice of polar seas.
12. Dogger. A sandbank in the middle of the North Sea.
18. Musk-ox. A long-haired animal of the ox tribe, found in Arctic America.
21. Virgins. A group of small islands in the West Indies.
23. sea-egg. Sea-urchin.
25. Keys. Islands near the coast (Spanish cayo, a sandbank).
37. Kuriles. A group of islands in the North Pacific.
39. Praya. Capital of the Cape Verde Islands.
Kowloon. A town in China, near Hong-Kong.
43. Hoogli. The Ganges.
50. Winds. Scents, smells.