Early Ballads Illustrative of History, Traditions and Customs (Classic Reprint)

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Excerpt from Early Ballads Illustrative of History, Traditions and Customs The ballads collected in this volume range from the close of the fourteenth to the beginning of the seventeenth century. The object of the selection is to exhibit, by a variety of specimens in a short compass, the special characteristics which distinguish our old ballad literature from other kinds of poetry, not only in its forms and diction, but in its choice of topics and modes of treatment. The quaint and primitive traits, peculiar to early poems written for music or recitation, are common to them all, from the earliest to the latest, for their distinctive traits were preserved long after the state of society to which they were originally adapted had undergone considerable changes. The gradual decline of these compositions may be traced to the accession of James I., when the Border feuds ceased to supply the bold and picturesque sources of interest which fired the imagination of the ancient minstrel. The ballads produced after that period are tame and flat in comparison with the genuine songs of the old times, and can at best be regarded only as modern imitations. The manner in which these pieces have come down to us baffles any attempt at chronological arrangement. Some are derived solely from tradition in districts where they have been orally transmitted from generation to generation, time out of mind, some from broadsides, which never can be relied upon as a clue to the date of authorship, and some from MSS., written at different periods, and presenting different versions of the same original. Nor do we obtain much assistance as to their age from internal evidence, or by comparison with other poems. They are distinguished by the peculiarities of a class, rather than of a period. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.