THE BALLADS IN THIS BOOK
There are many versions of old ballads, of some as many as twenty or more; those most suitable for young people are given here.
There are included here ballads in Scottish dialect, and in old English wording with obsolete spelling and capitalization. These versions may be used with confidence by the teacher, because no pains have been spared in collating them by authoritative texts.[2]
Even such differing forms as o’ or o; wi’ or wi; e’e or ee; then for than or than for then; and variations of proper names, as in “Proud Lady Margaret,” have been followed according to the text used.
Quotation marks, only, have been added for the convenience of the young folk. A few objectionable, but unimportant, words have been changed. In the version of “Chevy-Chase,” Bishop Percy’s Folio Manuscript has been followed with a few emendations from his Reliques, including the capitalization of the first letter of each line. The Folio Manuscript is more authoritative than the Reliques.
Some of the ballads and verses which follow the old forms given by collectors are: “The Stormy Winds Do Blow,” p. 2; “Sir Patrick Spens,” p. 3; “The Dæmon Lover,” p. 7; “Chevy-Chase,” p. 21; “Proud Lady Margaret,” p. 62; “The Famous Flower of Serving-Men,” p. 65; “The Young Tamlane,” p. 255; “Thomas the Rhymer,” p. 93; “The Wee Wee Man,” p. 114; “The Earl of Mar’s Daughter,” p. 115; “Kemp Owyne,” p. 122; “Fair Anny of Roch-royal,” p. 191; “The Cruel Sister,” p. 196; “Blancheflour and Jellyflorice,” p. 209; “The Gay Goss-Hawk,” p. 218; “Bonny Baby Livingston,” p. 224; “Young Beichan and Susie Pye,” p. 237; “The Wife of Usher’s Well,” p. 263; “Sir Roland,” p. 265; the Robin Hood ballads, p. 290 ff.; “True Valour,” p. 355; “Pilgrimage,” p. 351; “Peace,” p. 356.
In striking and pleasing contrast to the old ballads are the modern ones with capitalization to please modern children. It may be noted that the texts of Keats’s “La Belle Dame,” and Campbell’s “Earl March,” are different from the versions usually included in children’s ballad-books. The texts followed here are those most lately approved by literary critics.