PREFACE.
The present work is a selection from the Ballads and Songs of my native county, and I trust the publication may not be deemed an unacceptable offering. In a polished age like the present, I am sensible that many of the productions of our county bards will require great allowances to be made for them. Yet have they, for the most part, a pleasing simplicity, and artless grace, which, in the opinion of such writers as Addison, Dryden, Percy, and others, have been thought to compensate for the want of higher beauties; and, in the words of the latter, "If they do not dazzle the imagination, they are frequently found to interest the heart."
Wherever I have had an opportunity, I have collated my copies with the earliest editions, retaining in the notes, in many places, the different readings, the text in modern editions being materially changed and frequently deteriorated. I have omitted pieces from the pens of Scott, Wordsworth, Rogers, and other modern writers, whose works may be assumed to be in the reader's possession. Another class, the last dying confessions of criminals, &c., have been, with few exceptions, left out, as more appropriate for a separate volume. I trust, however, in what is retained will be found every variety:—
"From grave to gay, from lively to severe."
And should the reader receive one half the pleasure in perusing the contents, that has been afforded in collecting, I shall be perfectly satisfied.
In the notes prefixed to the Ballads and Songs, I have acknowledged my obligations to the friends who have so kindly assisted me, but cannot allow this opportunity to pass without again expressing my sincere thanks to Edward Hailstone, esq., F.S.A., Charles Jackson, esq., and others who have manifested so great an interest in the work.
North Allerton,
May, 1860.
CONTENTS.
| Page |
| [The Dirge of Offa] | [1] |
| [Athelgiva] | [4] |
| [The Battle of Cuton Moore] | [18] |
| [Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne] | [35] |
| [The Jolly Pinder of Wakefield] | [45] |
| [The Noble Fisherman; or, Robin Hood's Preferment] | [48] |
| [Robin Hood and the Curtall Fryer of Fountains Abbey] | [52] |
| [The Bishop of Hereford's Entertainment by Robin Hood and] |
| Little John, in merry Barnsdale | [58] |
| [Robin Hood's Death and Burial] | [61] |
| [History of Sir John Eland, of Eland, and his Antagonists] | [66] |
| [The Boy of Egremond] | [86] |
| [The Deposing of Richard II. and his Murder in Pomfret Castle] | [90] |
| [The Felon Sew of Rokeby and the Fryers of Richmond] | [93] |
| [The Rising in the North] | [104] |
| [Yorke, Yorke for my Monie] | [113] |
| [The Sisters of Beverley] | [119] |
| [Mother Shipton] | [123] |
| [Bold Nevison, the Highwayman] | [125] |
| [Roseberry Topping] | [128] |
| [The Cruel Step-Mother; or, the Unhappy Son] | [131] |
| [The Bonny Scotch Lad, and his Bonnet so Blue] | [138] |
| [The Child in the Wood; or, the Cruel Unkle] | [140] |
| [Bowes Tragedy; or, a Pattern of True Love] | [145] |
| [The Doncaster Volunteers] | [152] |
| [The Yorkshire Horse-Dealers] | [160] |
| [Bill Brown, the Poacher] | [162] |
| [The Romanby Tragedy] | [164] |
| [Armthorpe Bells] | [171] |
|
| [Paul Jones, the Cumberland Militia, and Scarbrough Volunteers] | [184] |
| [A New Fox-hunting Song] | [187] |
| [An Honest Yorkshire-man] | [190] |
| [Spence Broughton] | [191] |
| [The Yorkshire Knight; or, the Fortunate Farmer's Daughter] | [193] |
| [The Virgin Race; or, Yorkshire's Glory] | [202] |
| [The Mayor of Doncaster] | [204] |
| [The Crafty Plough Boy] | [209] |
| [The Yorkshire Tragedy; or, a Warning to all Perjur'd Lovers] | [211] |
| [Dolly Dugging] | [217] |
| [Scarboro' Sands] | [219] |
| [The Sheffield 'Prentice] | [220] |
| [The Yorkshire Volunteers' Farewell to the Good Folks of Stockton] | [221] |
| [Fragment of the Hagmena Song] | [225] |
| [The Fair] | [226] |
| [The Yorkshire Lad in London] | [227] |
| [The Tryal of Patience] | [229] |
| [The Beggar's Bridge] | [233] |
| [The Banks o' Morton o' Swale] | [235] |
| [The Chase of the Black Fox] | [237] |
| [Miss Bailey's Ghost] | [241] |
| [The Two Yorkshire Lovers] | [242] |
| [Natterin Nan] | [246] |
| [The Barber of Thirsk's Forfeits] | [254] |
| [The Yorkshire Irishman; or, the Adventures of a Potato Merchant] | [255] |
| [When at Hame wi' Dad] | [257] |
| [I'm Yorkshire too] | [258] |
| [The Sweeper and Thieves] | [259] |
| [Howell Wood; or, the Raby Hunt, in Yorkshire] | [261] |
| [The Collingham Ghost] | [269] |
| [The Twea Threshers] | [273] |
| [Dolly's Gaon; or, the Effects of Pride] | [275] |
| [The Widow's Lament] | [282] |
| [Alice Hawthorn] | [286] |
|
| [Tommy Thumb] | [288] |
| [The Funny Wedding] | [289] |
| [The Flying Dutchman] | [292] |
| [The Yorkshireman in London] | [294] |
| [The Great Exhibition; or, Prince Albert's Curiosity Shop] | [296] |
| [The Lord of Saltaire] | [298] |
| [A Remarkable Circumstance connected with Bretton Hall] | [300] |
| [The Butcher turned Devil] | [304] |
| [Song] | [306] |
| [Colonel Thompson's Volunteers] | [307] |
| [The Sledmere Poachers] | [308] |
| [The Yorkshire Concert] | [311] |
| [The Soldier in Yorkshire] | [313] |
| [Aw nivir can call hur my Wife] | [315] |
| [Glossary] | [317] |