The French poetry of this kind never reached any high degree of perfection, the romance, farce, and lyric flourishing at the expense of the ballad proper. Of Italy much the same may be said, though Sicily has supplied a great store of ballads; and nearly all the Portuguese poetry of this kind is to be traced to a Spanish origin. The Russians have lyrico-epic poems, of which some, in old Russian, are excellent, and the Serbians are still in the ballad-producing stage of civilization. Modern Greece has also its store of ballads, published in several collections. In Greece, Russia, and elsewhere the old habit of improvising song as an accompaniment to dance still exists.—Bibliography: Professor Child, English and Scottish Popular Ballads; Professor Gummere, The Beginnings of Poetry; Sir W. Scott, Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border
(edited by T. F. Henderson); T. F. Henderson, The Ballad in Literature.
Ballade (bal-a˙d´), the earlier and modern French spelling of ballad, but now limited in its use to a distinct verse-form introduced into English literature of late years from the French, and chiefly used by writers of vers-de-société. It consists of three stanzas of eight lines each, with an envoy or closing stanza of four lines. The rhymes, which are not more than three, follow each other in the stanzas thus: a, b, a, b; b, c, b, c, and in the envoy, b, c, b, c; and the same line serves as a refrain to each of the stanzas and to the envoy. There are other varieties, but this may be regarded as the strictest, according to the precedent of Villon and Marot.
Bal´lantyne, James, the printer of Sir Walter Scott's works, born at Kelso 1772, died at Edinburgh 1833. Successively a solicitor and a printer in his native town, at Scott's suggestion he removed to Edinburgh, where the high perfection to which he had brought the art of printing, and his connection with Scott, secured him a large trade. The printing firm of James Ballantyne & Co. included Scott, James Ballantyne, and his brother John (who died in 1821). For many years he conducted the Edinburgh Weekly Journal. His firm was involved in the bankruptcy of Constable & Co., by which Scott's fortunes were wrecked, but Ballantyne was continued by the creditors' trustee in the literary management of the printing-house. He survived Scott only about four months.
Ballantyne, Robert Michael, writer of books for boys, born at Edinburgh 1825, died in Rome 1894, was a nephew of James Ballantyne, the printer of Sir Walter Scott's works. He was for some years in North America in the service of the Hudson's Bay Company, and his experiences there supplied him with materials for some of his earlier books, especially Hudson's Bay, or Life in the Wilds of North America (1848); The Young Fur Traders; and Ungava, a Tale of Eskimo Land. For many years he continued to produce popular and instructive boys' books, dealing with scenes and subjects of the most varied kind; and he also published a volume entitled Personal Reminiscences of Book-Making (1893).
Ballarat´, or Ballaarat, an Australian town in Victoria, chief centre of the gold-mining industry of the colony, and next in importance to Melbourne, from which it is distant W.N.W. about 60 miles direct. It consists of two distinct municipalities, Ballarat West and Ballarat East, separated by the Yarrowee Creek, and has many handsome buildings, and all the institutions of a progressive and flourishing city, including hospital, mechanics' institute and library, free public library, Anglican and Roman Catholic cathedrals, &c. Gold was first discovered in 1851, and the extraordinary richness of the field soon attracted hosts of miners. The surface diggings having been exhausted, the precious metal is now got from greater depths, and there are mines as deep as some coal-pits, the gold being obtained by crushing the auriferous quartz. There are also foundries, woollen mills, flour-mills, breweries and distilleries, &c. Pop. 42,252.
Bal´last, a term applied (1) to heavy matter, as stone, sand, iron, or water placed in the bottom of a ship or other vessel to sink it in the water to such a depth as to enable it to carry sufficient sail without oversetting. (2) The sand placed in bags in the car of a balloon to steady it and to enable the aeronaut to lighten the balloon by throwing part of it out. (3) The material used to fill up the space between the rails on a railway in order to make it firm and solid.
Ball´ater, a village and favourite summer resort in Aberdeenshire, on the Dee, at the terminus of the Deeside Railway, about 43 miles from Aberdeen, a centre from which Balmoral, Lochnagar, Braemar, &c., are easily reached. The Pananich chalybeate springs are adjacent. Pop. (1921), 1542.
1. Cistern with ball-cock attached: a, rising main; b, supply to house. 2. Outside view of valve (cistern full). 3. Piston with rubber disk. 4. Section of valve (cistern full). 5. Section of valve with piston pulled down.