BOOK I.

1. The Boy and the Mantle 3 2. The Horn of King Arthur 17 3. The Marriage of Sir Gawaine 28 4. King Arthur's Death 40 5. The Legend of King Arthur 50 6. Sir Lancelot du Lake 55 7. The Legend of Sir Guy 61 8. St. George and the Dragon 69 9. The Seven Champions of Christendom 83 10a. Thomas of Ersseldoune 95 10b. Thomas the Rhymer 109 11. The Young Tamlane 114 12. The Wee Wee Man 126 13. The Elfin Knight 128 14a. The Broomfield Hill 131 14b. Lord John 134 15a. Kempion 137 15b. Kemp Owyne 143 16. King Henry 147 17a. Cospatrick 152 17b. Bothwell 158 18. Willie's Ladye 162 19. Alison Gross 168 20. The Earl of Mar's Daughter 171 21a. Young Akin 179 21b. Young Hastings the Groom 189 22. Clerk Colvill, or, The Mermaid 192 23a. Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight 195 23b. The Water O'Wearie's Well 198 24a. The Daemon Lover 201 24b. James Herries 205 25. The Knight's Ghost 210 26. The Wife of Usher's Well 213 27. The Suffolk Miracle 217 28. Sir Roland 223

APPENDIX.

Fragment of the Ballad of King Arthur and the King of Cornwall 231 Fragment of Child Rowland and Burd Ellen 245 Rosmer Hafmand, or, The Merman Rosmer 253 Tama-a-Line 258 Tom Linn 267 Burd Ellen and Young Tamlane 271 Als Y yod on ay Mounday 273 The Elphin Knight 277 The Laidley Worm of Spindlestonheugh 281 Lord Dingwall 288 Fragment of Hynde Etin 294 Sir Oluf and the Elf-King's Daughter 298 Fragment of the Daemon Lover 302 Constantine and Arete 304 Translation of the Same 307 The Hawthorn Tree 311 St. Stephen and Herod 315

GLOSSARY 319

PREFACE.

These volumes have been compiled from the numerous collections of Ballads printed since the beginning of the last century. They contain all but two or three of the _ancient_ ballads of England and Scotland, and nearly all those ballads which, in either country, have been gathered from oral tradition,--whether ancient or not. Widely different from the true popular ballads, the spontaneous products of nature, are the works of the professional ballad-maker, which make up the bulk of Garlands and Broadsides. These, though sometimes not without grace, more frequently not lacking in humor, belong to artificial literature,--of course to an humble department.[A] As many ballads of this second class have been admitted as it was thought might be wished for, perhaps I should say tolerated, by the "benevolent reader." No words could express the dulness and inutility of a collection which should embrace all the Roxburghe and Pepys broadsides--a scope with which this publication was most undeservedly credited by an English journal. But while the broadside ballads have been and must have been gleaned, the popular ballads demand much more liberal treatment. Many of the older ones are mutilated, many more are miserably corrupted, but as long as any traces of their originals are left, they are worthy of attention and have received it. When a ballad is extant in a variety of forms, all the most important versions are given.--Less than this would have seemed insufficient for a collection intended as a complement to an extensive series of the British Poets. To meet the objections of readers for pleasure, all those pieces which are wanting in general interest are in each volume inserted in an appendix.

[A] This distinction is not absolute, for several of the ancient ballads have a sort of literary character, and many broadsides were printed from oral tradition. The only _popular_ ballads excluded from this selection that require mention, are _The Bonny Hynd_, _The Jolly Beggar_, _The Baffled Knight_, _The Keach in the Creel_, and _The Earl of Errol_. These ballads, in all their varieties, may be found by referring to the general Index at the end of the eighth volume. To extend the utility of this index, references are also given to many other ballads which, though not worth reprinting, may occasionally be inquired for.

The ballads are grouped in eight Books, nearly corresponding to the division of volumes. The arrangement in the several Books may be called chronological, by which is meant, an arrangement according to the probable antiquity of the story, not the age of the actual form or language. Exceptions to this rule will be observed, partly the result of oversight, partly of fluctuating views; the most noticeable case is in the First Book, where the ballads that stand at the beginning are certainly not so old as some that follow. Again, it is very possible that some pieces might with advantage be transferred to different Books, but it is believed that the general disposition will be found practically convenient. It is as follows:--