Ancient Poems, Ballads, and Songs of the Peasantry of England Part 1

Ancient Poems, Ballads and Songs of England.

by Robert Bell.

INTRODUCTION.

In 1846, the Percy Society issued to its members a volume ent.i.tled Ancient Poems, Ballads, and Songs of the Peasantry of England, edited by Mr. James Henry Dixon. The sources drawn upon by Mr.

Dixon are intimated in the following extract from his preface:-

He who, in travelling through the rural districts of England, has made the road-side inn his resting-place, who has visited the lowly dwellings of the villagers and yeomanry, and been present at their feasts and festivals, must have observed that there are certain old poems, ballads, and songs, which are favourites with the ma.s.ses, and have been said and sung from generation to generation.

This traditional, and, for the most part, unprinted literature,-- cherished in remote villages, resisting everywhere the invasion of modern namby-pamby verse and jaunty melody, and possessing, in an historical point of view, especial value as a faithful record of the feeling, usages, and modes of life of the rural population,-- had been almost wholly pa.s.sed over amongst the antiquarian revivals which const.i.tute one of the distinguis.h.i.+ng features of the present age. While attention was successfully drawn to other forms of our early poetry, this peasant minstrelsy was scarcely touched, and might be considered unexplored ground. There was great difficulty in collecting materials which lay scattered so widely, and which could be procured in their genuine simplicity only from the people amongst whom they originated, and with whom they are as 'familiar as household words.' It was even still more difficult to find an editor who combined genial literary taste with the local knowledge of character, customs, and dialect, indispensable to the collation of such reliques; and thus, although their national interest was universally recognised, they were silently permitted to fall into comparative oblivion. To supply this manifest desideratum, Mr.

Dixon compiled his volume for the Percy Society; and its pages, embracing only a selection from the rich stores he had gathered, abundantly exemplified that gentleman's remarkable qualifications for the labour he had undertaken. After stating in his preface that contributions from various quarters had acc.u.mulated so largely on his hands as to compel him to omit many pieces he was desirous of preserving, he thus describes generally the contents of the work:-

In what we have retained will be found every variety,

'From grave to gay, from lively to severe,'

from the moral poem and the religious dialogue, -

'The scrolls that teach us to live and to die,' -

to the legendary, the historical, or the domestic ballad; from the strains that enliven the harvest-home and festival, to the love- ditties which the country la.s.s warbles, or the comic song with which the rustic sets the village hostel in a roar. In our collection are several pieces exceedingly scarce, and hitherto to be met with only in broadsides and chap-books of the utmost rarity; in addition to which we have given several others never before in print, and obtained by the editor and his friends, either from the oral recitation of the peasantry, or from ma.n.u.scripts in the possession of private individuals.

The novelty of the matter, and the copious resources disclosed by the editor, acquired for the volume a popularity extending far beyond the limited circle to which it was addressed; and although the edition was necessarily restricted to the members of the Percy Society, the book was quoted not only by English writers, but by some of the most distinguished archaeologists on the continent.

It had always been my intention to form a collection of local songs, ill.u.s.trative of popular festivals, customs, manners, and dialects. As the merit of having antic.i.p.ated, and, in a great measure, accomplished this project belongs exclusively to Mr.

Dixon, so to that gentleman I have now the pleasure of tendering my acknowledgments for the means of enriching the Annotated Edition of the English Poets with a volume which, in some respects, is the most curious and interesting of the series.

Subsequently to the publication of his collection by the Percy Society, Mr. Dixon had ama.s.sed additional materials of great value; and, conscious that the work admitted of considerable improvement, both in the way of omission and augmentation, he resolved upon the preparation of a new edition. His reasons for rejecting certain portions of the former volume are stated in the following extract from a communication with which he has obliged me, and which may be considered as his own introduction to the ensuing pages.

The editor had pa.s.sed his earliest years in a romantic mountain- district in the North of England, where old customs and manners, and old songs and ballads still linger. Under the influence of these a.s.sociations, he imbibed a pa.s.sionate love for peasant rhymes; having little notion at that time that the simple minstrelsy which afforded him so much delight could yield hardly less pleasure to those who cultivated more artificial modes of poetry, and who knew little of the life of the peasantry. His collection was not issued without diffidence; but the result dissipated all apprehension as to the estimate in which these essentially popular productions are held. The reception of the book, indeed, far exceeded its merits; for he is bound in candour to say that it was neither so complete nor so judiciously selected as it might have been. Like almost all books issued by societies, it was got up in haste, and hurried through the press. It contained some things which were out of place in such a work, but which were inserted upon solicitations that could not have been very easily refused; and even where the matter was unexceptionable, it sometimes happened that it was printed from comparatively modern broadsides, for want of time to consult earlier editions. In the interval which has since elapsed, all these defects and short- comings have been remedied. Several pieces, which had no legitimate claims to the places they occupied, have been removed; others have been collated with more ancient copies than the editor had had access to previously; and the whole work has been considerably enlarged. In its present form it is strictly what its t.i.tle-page implies--a collection of poems, ballads, and songs preserved by tradition, and in actual circulation, amongst the peasantry.

Bex, Canton de Vaud.

Switzerland.

The present volume differs in many important particulars from the former, of the deficiencies of which Mr. Dixon makes so frank an avowal. It has not only undergone a careful revision, but has received additions to an extent which renders it almost a new work.

Many of there accessions are taken from extremely rare originals, and others are here printed for the first time, including amongst the latter the ballad of Earl Brand, a traditional lyric of great antiquity, long familiar to the dales of the North of England; and the Death of Queen Jane, a relic of more than ordinary intesest.

Nearly forty songs, noted down from recitation, or gathered from sources not generally accessible, have been added to the former collection, ill.u.s.trative, for the most part, of historical events, country pastimes, and local customs. Not the least suggestive feature in this department are the political songs it contains, which have long outlived the occasions that gave them birth, and which still retain their popularity, although their allusions are no longer understood. Amongst this cla.s.s of songs may be specially indicated Jack and Tom, Joan's Ale was New, George Ridler's Oven, and The Carrion Crow. The songs of a strictly rural character, having reference to the occupations and intercourse of the people, possess an interest which cannot be adequately measured by their poetical pretensions. The very defects of art with which they are chargeable, const.i.tute their highest claim to consideration as authentic specimens of country lore. The songs in praise of the dairy, or the plough; or in celebration of the harvest-home, or the churn-supper; or descriptive of the pleasures of the milk-maid, or the courts.h.i.+p in the farm-house; or those that give us glimpses of the ways of life of the waggoner, the poacher, the horse-dealer, and the boon companion of the road-side hostelrie, are no less curious for their idiomatic and primitive forms of expression, than for their pictures of rustic modes and manners. Of special interest, too, are the songs which relate to festival and customs; such as the Sword Dancer's Song and Interlude, the Swearing-in Song, or Rhyme, at Highgate, the Cornish Midsummer Bonfire Song, and the Fairlop Fair Song.

In the arrangement of so multifarious an anthology, gathered from nearly all parts of the kingdom, the observance of chronological order, for obvious reasons, has not been attempted; but pieces which possess any kind of affinity to each other have been kept together as nearly as other considerations would permit.

The value of this volume consists in the genuineness of its contents, and the healthiness of its tone. While fas.h.i.+onable life was masquerading in imaginary Arcadias, and deluging theatres and concert rooms with shams, the English peasant remained true to the realities of his own experience, and produced and sang songs which faithfully reflected the actual life around him. Whatever these songs describe is true to that life. There are no fict.i.tious raptures in them. Love here never dresses its emotions in artificial images, nor disguises itself in the mask of a Strephon or a Daphne. It is in this particular aspect that the poetry of the country possesses a permanent and moral interest.

R. B.

ANCIENT POEMS, BALLADS, AND SONGS OF THE PEASANTRY.

Poem: THE PLAIN-DEALING MAN.

[The oldest copy of the Plain Dealing Man with which we have been able to meet is in black letter, printed by T. Vere at the sign 'Of the Angel without Newgate.' Vere was living in 1609.]

A crotchet comes into my mind Concerning a proverb of old, Plain dealing's a jewel most rare, And more precious than silver or gold: And therefore with patience give ear, And listen to what here is penned, These verses were written on purpose The honest man's cause to defend.

For this I will make it appear, And prove by experience I can, 'Tis the excellen'st thing in the world To be a plain-dealing man.

Yet some are so impudent grown, They'll domineer, vapour, and swagger, And say that the plain-dealing man Was born to die a beggar: But men that are honestly given Do such evil actions detest, And every one that is well-minded Will say that plain dealing is best.

For this I will make it appear, And prove by experience I can, 'Tis the excellen'st thing in the world To be a plain-dealing man.

For my part I am a poor man, And sometimes scarce muster a s.h.i.+lling, Yet to live upright in the world, Heaven knows I am wondrous willing.

Although that my clothes be threadbare, And my calling be simple and poor, Yet will I endeavour myself To keep off the wolf from the door.

For this I will make it appear, And prove by experience I can, 'Tis the excellen'st thing in the world To be a plain-dealing man.

And now, to be brief in discourse, In plain terms I'll tell you my mind; My qualities you shall all know, And to what my humour's inclined: I hate all dissembling base knaves And pickthanks whoever they be, And for painted-faced drabs, and such like, They shall never get penny of me.

For this I will make it appear, And prove by experience I can, 'Tis the excellen'st thing in the world To be a plain-dealing man.

Nor can I abide any tongues That will prattle and prate against reason, About that which doth not concern them; Which thing is no better than treason.

Wherefore I'd wish all that do hear me Not to meddle with matters of state, Lest they be in question called for it, And repent them when it is too late.

For this I will make it appear, And prove by experience I can, 'Tis the excellen'st thing in the world To be a plain-dealing man.

O fie upon spiteful neighbours, Whose malicious humours are bent, And do practise and strive every day To wrong the poor innocent.

By means of such persons as they, There hath many a good mother's son Been utterly brought to decay, Their wives and their children undone.

For this I will make it appear, And prove by experience I can, 'Tis the excellen'st thing in the world To be a plain-dealing man.

O fie upon forsworn knaves, That do no conscience make To swear and forswear themselves At every third word they do speak: So they may get profit and gain, They care not what lies they do tell; Such cursed dissemblers as they Are worse than the devils of h.e.l.l.

For this I will make it appear, And prove by experience I can, 'Tis the excellen'st thing in the world To be a plain-dealing man.

O fie upon greedy bribe takers, 'Tis pity they ever drew breath, For they, like to base caterpillars, Devour up the fruits of the earth.

They're apt to take money with both hands, On one side and also the other, And care not what men they undo, Though it be their own father or brother.

Therefore I will make it appear, And show very good reasons I can, 'Tis the excellen'st thing in the world To be a plain-dealing man.

O fie upon cheaters and thieves, That liveth by fraud and deceit; The gallows do for such blades groan, And the hangmen do for their clothes wait.

Though poverty be a disgrace, And want is a pitiful grief, 'Tis better to go like a beggar Than to ride in a cart like a thief.

For this I will make it appear, And prove by experience I can, 'Tis the excellen'st thing in the world To be a plain-dealing man.

And now let all honest men judge, If such men as I have here named For their wicked and impudent dealings, Deserveth not much to be blamed.

And now here, before I conclude, One item to the world I will give, Which may direct some the right way, And teach them the better to live.

For now I have made it appear, And many men witness it can, 'Tis the excellen'st thing in the world To be a plain-dealing man.