About thirty years since, several of "The Bab Ballads" (most of which had appeared, from time to time, in the pages of Fun) were collected by me, and published by Messrs. George Routledge and Sons. This volume passed through several editions, and, in due course, was followed by a second series under the title of "More Bab Ballads," which achieved a popularity equal to that of its predecessor. Subsequently, excerpts were made from these two volumes, and, under the title of "Fifty Bab Ballads," had a very considerable sale; but I soon discovered that in making the selection for this volume I had discarded certain Ballads that were greater favourites with my readers than with me. Nevertheless this issue was followed by many editions, English and American, of "Bab Ballads," "More Bab Ballads," and "Fifty Bab Ballads," to the no little bewilderment of such of the public as had been good enough to concern themselves with my verses. So it became desirable (for our own private ends) that this confusion should be definitely cleared up; and thus it came to pass that a reissue of the two earlier collections, in one volume, was decided upon.

Some seven years since, I collected the most popular of the songs and ballads which I had written for the series of light operas with which my name is associated, and published them under the title of "Songs of a Savoyard." It recently occurred to me that these songs had so much in common with "The Bab Ballads" that it might be advisable to weld the two books into one. This is, briefly, the history of the present volume.

I have always felt that many of the original illustrations to "The Bab Ballads" erred gravely in the direction of unnecessary extravagance. This defect I have endeavoured to correct through the medium of the two hundred new drawings which I have designed for this volume. I am afraid I cannot claim for them any other recommendation,

W. S. GILBERT.

Grim's Dyke, Harrow Weald, 4th December 1897.

CONTENTS.

Page
Captain Reece[1]
The Darned Mounseer[6]
The Rival Curates[8]
The Englishman[13]
Only a Dancing Girl[14]
The Disagreeable Man[16]
General John[18]
The Coming By-and-By[22]
To a Little Maid[24]
The Highly Respectable Gondolier[26]
John and Freddy[28]
The Fairy Queen's Song[32]
Sir Guy the Crusader[34]
Is Life a Boon?[38]
Haunted[39]
The Modern Major-General[42]
The Bishop and the 'Busman[44]
The Heavy Dragoon[49]
The Troubadour[51]
Proper Pride[56]
Ferdinando and Elvira; or, the Gentle Pieman[58]
The Policeman's Lot[63]
Lorenzo de Lardy[64]
The Baffled Grumbler[69]
Disillusioned[71]
The House of Peers[74]
Babette's Love[76]
A Merry Madrigal[81]
To my Bride[82]
The Duke and the Duchess[84]
The Folly of Brown[87]
Eheu Fugaces—![92]
Sir Macklin[94]
They'll None of 'em be Missed[99]
The Yarn of the "Nancy Bell"[101]
Girl Graduates[106]
The Bishop of Rum-ti-Foo[108]
Braid the Raven Hair[113]
The Precocious Baby[114]
The Working Monarch[119]
To Phœbe[122]
The Ape and the Lady[123]
Baines Carew, Gentleman[125]
Only Roses[130]
Thomas Winterbottom Hance[131]
The Rover's Apology[136]
A Discontented Sugar Broker[138]
An Appeal[143]
The Pantomime "Super" to his Mask[144]
The Reward of Merit[146]
The Ghost, the Gallant, the Gael, and the Goblin[148]
The Magnet and the Churn[153]
King Borria Bungalee Boo[155]
The Family Fool[161]
The Periwinkle Girl[164]
Sans Souci[169]
Thomson Green and Harriet Hale[171]
A Recipe[175]
Bob Polter[176]
The Merryman and his Maid[182]
Ellen M'Jones Aberdeen[185]
The Susceptible Chancellor[191]
Peter the Wag[193]
When a Merry Maiden Marries[198]
The Three Kings of Chickeraboo[200]
The British Tar[204]
Gentle Alice Brown[205]
A Man who would Woo a Fair Maid[209]
The Sorcerer's Song[211]
The Bumboat Woman's Story[214]
The Fickle Breeze[219]
The Two Ogres[221]
The First Lord's Song[227]
Little Oliver[229]
Mister William[235]
Would you Know?[240]
Pasha Bailey Ben[242]
Lieutenant-Colonel Flare[248]
Speculation[254]
Ah Me![255]
Lost Mr. Blake[256]
The Duke of Plaza-Toro[262]
The Baby's Vengeance[265]
The Æsthete[271]
The Captain and the Mermaids[273]
Said I to Myself, Said I[278]
Annie Protheroe[280]
Sorry her Lot[286]
An Unfortunate Likeness[287]
The Contemplative Sentry[292]
Gregory Parable, LL.D.[294]
The Philosophic Pill[299]
The King of Canoodle-dum[301]
Blue Blood[307]
First Love[309]
The Judge's Song[315]
Brave Alum Bey[317]
When I First put this Uniform on[322]
Sir Barnaby Bampton Boo[324]
Solatium[329]
The Modest Couple[330]
A Nightmare[335]
The Martinet[338]
Don't Forget![345]
The Sailor Boy to his Lass[348]
The Suicide's Grave[354]
The Reverend Simon Magus[356]
He and She[361]
Damon v. Pythias[363]
The Mighty Must[367]
My Dream[368]
A Mirage[374]
The Bishop of Rum-ti-Foo Again[376]
The Ghosts' High Noon[381]
A Worm will Turn[383]
The Humane Mikado[388]
The Haughty Actor[391]
Willow Waly![397]
The Two Majors[399]
Life is Lovely all the Year[403]
Emily, John, James, and I[405]
The Usher's Charge[411]
The Perils of Invisibility[413]
The Great Oak Tree[418]
Old Paul and Old Tim[420]
King Goodheart[424]
The Mystic Selvagee[426]
Sleep on![431]
The Cunning Woman[433]
The Love-sick Boy[439]
Phrenology[440]
Poetry Everywhere[445]
The Fairy Curate[446]
He Loves![453]
The Way of Wooing[454]
True Diffidence[458]
Hongree and Mahry[460]
The Tangled Skein[466]
The Reverend Micah Sowls[467]
My Lady[471]
One against the World[473]
The Force of Argument[475]
Put a Penny in the Slot[480]
Good Little Girls[482]
The Phantom Curate[484]
Life[487]
Limited Liability[490]
The Sensation Captain[492]
Anglicised Utopia[497]
An English Girl[499]
Tempora Mutantur[501]
A Manager's Perplexities[504]
Out of Sorts[506]
At a Pantomime[508]
How it's Done[512]
A Classical Revival[515]
The Story of Prince Agib[518]
The Practical Joker[523]
The National Anthem[526]
Joe Golightly; or, the First Lord's Daughter[528]
Her Terms[534]
The Independent Bee[536]
To the Terrestrial Globe[539]
Etiquette[541]
The Disconcerted Tenor[547]
Ben Allah Achmet; or, the Fatal Tum[549]
The Played-out Humorist[553]
Index to First Lines[555]
Alphabetical Index to Titles[561]