Elsworth: It only happened once,—lovers separated and met again.
Teacher: Yes. (Writes “Fighting, Tales of Horror, Shipwreck, Parted Lovers.”) Is that a fair list? I should think so. Let us see about the spirit in which they were written, that is, the kind of qualities the people in those ballads showed, and the kind of qualities in human nature people of that day liked.
Pupil: I think bravery.
Teacher (writing “bravery”): Anything else?
Pupil: A hero and a villain.
Teacher: Hero and villain; in other words, you take sides?
Pupil: Yes.
Teacher: What other qualities besides bravery?
Pupil: Treachery, of the kind in the ballad of Johnnie Armstrong.