Chapter I: Part 1

Transcriber's Notes

This book contains material in multiple languages, and numerous examples of archaic, non-standard and dialect forms of English. Therefore no attempts to standardize spelling would be appropriate. The only changes to the text are to resolve typographical errors etc. which are listed at the end of the book. Minor corrections to format or punctuation have been made without comment.

This Plain Text version of the e-book includes unicode (UTF-8) characters and diacritics which should appear in the following list:

ā macron
ă ĭ breve
ć ń ś ẃ acute accent
Č č ě Ř ř Š š ž caron/hacek
ȝ yogh
ł l with stroke (Polish etc.)
Œ œ oe-ligature
ş cedilla
† dagger or upright cross symbol
αβγδε Greek script

[a'] and ['s] denote editorial insertions of contracted forms, not special characters: e.g. on page 299 [a'] is an editorial insertion of "a'" (for "all"); on page 309 ['s] is an editorial insertion of "'s" (for "has"?).

_underscore symbols_ represent italic typeface
~tilde symbols~ represent roman typeface within italics
ALL CAPS represent small caps typeface
#number signs# represent bold typeface
$dollar symbols$ represent gesperrt (s p a c e d o u t) text
^x or ^{x, y} represents superscript text
_x or _{xyz} represents subscript text

Bold mark-up is widely used to denote the distinctive font used by the author for ballad version references.

Some sections of ballads are set in differently sized type and indicated in the introductions. Usually this is smaller type, but in the case of ballad 39, larger. These passages are indicated by means of further indentation and side-lining (|) in the left margin. Ballad 53 versions M and N are entirely in smaller type, but without explanation.

Footnotes have been numbered from [1] to [427] sequentially throughout the whole volume, but are presented at the end of each ballad or section to which they refer.

A line of 7 spaced dots indicates a missing line of poetry. A line of 7 spaced asterisks indicates missing poetry material of one or more stanzas; this is distinct from a "thought break" or sub-section separator of 5 widely spaced asterisks such as follow these notes.

* * * * *

THE ENGLISH AND SCOTTISH
POPULAR BALLADS

THE
ENGLISH AND SCOTTISH
POPULAR BALLADS

EDITED BY
FRANCIS JAMES CHILD

IN FIVE VOLUMES

VOLUME I

NEW YORK
DOVER PUBLICATIONS, INC.

This Dover edition, first published in 1965, is an
unabridged and unaltered republication of the work
originally published by Houghton, Mifflin and Company, as
follows:

Vol. I--Part I, 1882; Part II, 1884
Vol. II--Part III, 1885; Part IV, 1886
Vol. III--Part V, 1888; Part VI, 1889
Vol. IV--Part VII, 1890; Part VIII, 1892
Vol. V--Part IX, 1894; Part X, 1898.

This edition also contains as an appendix to Part X an
essay by Walter Morris Hart entitled "Professor Child and
the Ballad," reprinted _in toto_ from Vol. XXI, No. 4,
1906 [New Series Vol. XIV, No. 4] of the _Publications of
the Modern Language Association of America_.

_Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 65-24347_

Manufactured in the United States of America

Dover Publications, Inc.
180 Varick Street
New York, N.Y. 10014

_To_
_FREDERICK J. FURNIVALL, ESQ._
_OF LONDON_

_MY DEAR FURNIVALL_:

_Without the Percy MS. no one would pretend to make a collection of the English Ballads, and but for you that manuscript would still, I think, be beyond reach of man, yet exposed to destructive chances. Through your exertions and personal sacrifices, directly, the famous and precious folio has been printed; and, indirectly, in consequence of the same, it has been transferred to a place where it is safe, and open to inspection. This is only one of a hundred reasons which I have for asking you to accept the dedication of this book from_

_Your grateful friend and fellow-student_,
_F. J. CHILD._

_Cambridge, Mass., December 1, 1882._

ADVERTISEMENT TO PART I

NUMBERS 1-28

It was my wish not to begin to print The English and Scottish Popular Ballads until this unrestricted title should be justified by my having at command every valuable copy of every known ballad. A continuous effort to accomplish this object has been making for some nine or ten years, and many have joined in it. By correspondence, and by an extensive diffusion of printed circulars, I have tried to stimulate collection from tradition in Scotland, Canada, and the United States, and no becoming means has been left unemployed to obtain possession of unsunned treasures locked up in writing. The gathering from tradition has been, as ought perhaps to have been foreseen at this late day, meagre, and generally of indifferent quality. Materials in the hands of former editors have, in some cases, been lost beyond recovery, and very probably have lighted fires, like that large cantle of the Percy manuscript, _maxime deflendus_! Access to several manuscript collections has not yet been secured. But what is still lacking is believed to bear no great proportion to what is in hand, and may soon come in, besides: meanwhile, the uncertainties of the world forbid a longer delay to publish so much as has been got together.

Of hitherto unused materials, much the most important is a large collection of ballads made by Motherwell. For leave to take a copy of this I am deeply indebted to the present possessor, Mr Malcolm Colquhoun Thomson, of Glasgow, who even allowed the manuscript to be sent to London, and to be retained several months, for my accommodation. Mr J. Wylie Guild, of Glasgow, also permitted the use of a note-book of Motherwell's which supplements the great manuscript, and this my unwearied friend, Mr James Barclay Murdoch, to whose solicitation I owe both, himself transcribed with the most scrupulous accuracy. No other good office, asked or unasked, has Mr Murdoch spared.

Next in extent to the Motherwell collections come those of the late Mr Kinloch. These he freely placed at my disposal, and Mr William Macmath, of Edinburgh, made during Mr Kinloch's life an exquisite copy of the larger part of them, enriched with notes from Mr Kinloch's papers, and sent it to me across the water. After Mr Kinloch's death his collections were acquired by Harvard College Library, still through the agency of Mr Macmath, who has from the beginning rendered a highly valued assistance, not less by his suggestions and communications than by his zealous mediation.

No Scottish ballads are superior in kind to those recited in the last century by Mrs Brown, of Falkland. Of these there are, or were, three sets. One formerly owned by Robert Jamieson, the fullest of the three, was lent me, to keep as long as I required, by my honored friend the late Mr David Laing, who also secured for me copies of several ballads of Mrs Brown which are found in an Abbotsford manuscript, and gave me a transcript of the Glenriddell manuscript. The two others were written down for William Tytler and Alexander Fraser Tytler respectively, the former of these consisting of a portion of the Jamieson texts revised. These having for some time been lost sight of, Miss Mary Fraser Tytler, with a graciousness which I have reason to believe hereditary in the name, made search for them, recovered the one which had been obtained by Lord Woodhouselee, and copied it for me with her own hand. The same lady furnished me with another collection which had been made by a member of the family.

For later transcriptions from Scottish tradition I am indebted to Mr J. F. Campbell of Islay, whose edition and rendering of the racy West Highland Tales is marked by the rarest appreciation of the popular genius; to Mrs A. F. Murison, formerly of Old Deer, who undertook a quest for ballads in her native place on my behalf; to Mr Alexander Laing, of Newburgh-upon-Tay; to Mr James Gibb, of Joppa, who has given me a full score; to Mr David Louden, of Morham, Haddington; to the late Dr John Hill Burton and Miss Ella Burton; to Dr Thomas Davidson.

The late Mr Robert White, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, allowed me to look through his collections in 1873, and subsequently made me a copy of such things as I needed, and his ready kindness has been continued by Mrs Andrews, his sister, and by Miss Andrews, his niece, who has taken a great deal of trouble on my account.

In the south of the mother-island my reliance has, of necessity, been chiefly upon libraries. The British Museum possesses, besides early copies of some of the older ballads, the Percy MS., Herd's MSS and Buchan's, and the Roxburgh broadsides. The library of the University of Cambridge affords one or two things of first-rate importance, and for these I am beholden to the accomplished librarian, Mr Henry Bradshaw, and to Professor Skeat. I have also to thank the Rev. F. Gunton, Dean, and the other authorities of Magdalen College, Cambridge, for permitting collations of Pepys ballads, most obligingly made for me by Mr Arthur S. B. Miller. Many things were required from the Bodleian library, and these were looked out for me, and scrupulously copied or collated, by Mr George Parker.

Texts of traditional ballads have been communicated to me in America by Mr W. W. Newell, of New York, who is soon to give us an interesting collection of Children's Games traditional in America; by Dr Huntington, Bishop of Central New York; Mr G. C. Mahon, of Ann Arbor, Michigan; Miss Margaret Reburn, of New Albion, Iowa; Miss Perine, of Baltimore; Mrs Augustus Lowell, Mrs L. F. Wesselhoeft, Mrs. Edward Atkinson, of Boston; Mrs Cushing, of Cambridge; Miss Ellen Marston, of New Bedford; Mrs Moncrieff, of London, Ontario.

Acknowledgments not well despatched in a phrase are due to many others who have promoted my objects: to Mr Furnivall, for doing for me everything which I could have done for myself had I lived in England; to that master of old songs and music, Mr William Chappell, very specially; to Mr J. Payne Collier; Mr Norval Clyne, of Aberdeen; Mr Alexander Young, of Glasgow; Mr Arthur Laurenson, of Lerwick, Shetland; Mr J. Burrell Curtis, of Edinburgh; Dr Vigfusson, of Oxford; Professor Edward Arber, of Birmingham; the Rev. J. Percival, Mr Francis Fry, Mr J. F. Nicholls, of Bristol; Professor George Stephens, of Copenhagen; Mr R. Bergström, of the Royal Library, Stockholm; Mr W. R. S. Ralston, Mr William Henry Husk, Miss Lucy Toulmin Smith, Mr A. F. Murison, of London; Professor Sophocles; Mr W. G. Medlicott, of Longmeadow; to Mr M. Heilprin, of New York, Mme de Maltchycé, of Boston, and Rabbi Dr Cohn, for indispensable translations from Polish and Hungarian; to Mr James Russell Lowell, Minister of the United States at London; to Professor Charles Eliot Norton, for such "pains and benefits" as I could ask only of a life-long friend.

In the editing of these ballads I have closely followed the plan of Grundtvig's Old Popular Ballads of Denmark, a work which will be prized highest by those who have used it most, and which leaves nothing to be desired but its completion. The author is as much at home in English as in Danish tradition, and whenever he takes up a ballad which is common to both nations nothing remains to be done but to supply what has come to light since the time of his writing. But besides the assistance which I have derived from his book, I have enjoyed the advantage of Professor Grundtvig's criticism and advice, and have received from him unprinted Danish texts, and other aid in many ways.

Such further explanations as to the plan and conduct of the work as may be desirable can be more conveniently given by and by. I may say here that textual points which may seem to be neglected will be considered in an intended Glossary, with which will be given a full account of Sources, and such indexes of Titles and Matters as will make it easy to find everything that the book may contain.

With renewed thanks to all helpers, and helpers' helpers, I would invoke the largest coöperation for the correction of errors and the supplying of deficiencies. To forestall a misunderstanding which has often occurred, I beg to say that every traditional version of a popular ballad is desired, no matter how many texts of the same may have been printed already.

F. J. CHILD.

[DECEMBER, 1882.]

ADVERTISEMENT TO PART II

NUMBERS 29-53

I have again to express my obligations and my gratitude to many who have aided in the collecting and editing of these Ballads.

To Sir Hugh Hume Campbell, for the use of two considerable manuscript volumes of Scottish Ballads.

To Mr Allardyce, of Edinburgh, for a copy of the Skene Ballads, and for a generous permission to print such as I required, in advance of a possible publication on his part.

To Mr Mansfield, of Edinburgh, for the use of the Pitcairn manuscripts.

To Mrs Robertson, for the use of Note-Books of the late Dr Joseph Robertson, and to Mr Murdoch, of Glasgow, Mr Lugton, of Kelso, Mrs Alexander Forbes, of Edinburgh, and Messrs G. L. Kittredge and G. M. Richardson, former students of Harvard College, for various communications.

To Dr Reinhold Köhler's unrivalled knowledge of popular fiction, and his equal liberality, I am indebted for valuable notes, which will be found in the Additions at the end of this volume.

The help of my friend Dr Theodor Vetter has enabled me to explore portions of the Slavic ballad-field which otherwise must have been neglected.

Professors D. Silvan Evans, John Rhys, Paul Meyer, and T. Frederick Crane have lent me a ready assistance in literary emergencies.

The interest and coöperation of Mr Furnivall and Mr Macmath have been continued to me without stint or weariness.

It is impossible, while recalling and acknowledging acts of courtesy, good will, and friendship, not to allude, with one word of deep personal grief, to the irreparable loss which all who are concerned with the study of popular tradition have experienced in the death of Svend Grundtvig.

F. J. C.

JUNE, 1884.

CONTENTS

VOLUME I

BALLAD PAGE

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF PROFESSOR CHILD xvii

1. RIDDLES WISELY EXPOUNDED 1
(Additions and Corrections: I, 484; II, 495; III, 496;
IV, 439; V, 205, 283.)

2. THE ELFIN KNIGHT 6
(Additions and Corrections: I, 484; II, 495; III, 496;
IV, 439; V, 205, 284.)

3. THE FAUSE KNIGHT UPON THE ROAD 20
(Additions and Corrections: I, 485; II, 496; III, 496;
IV, 440.)

4. LADY ISABEL AND THE ELF-KNIGHT 22
(Additions and Corrections: I, 485; II, 496; III, 496;
IV, 440; V, 206, 285.)

5. GIL BRENTON 62
(Additions and Corrections: I, 489; II, 498; III, 497;
IV, 442; V, 207, 285.)

6. WILLIE'S LADY 81
(Additions and Corrections: II, 498; III, 497; V, 207,
285.)

7. EARL BRAND 88
(Additions and Corrections: I, 489; II, 498; III, 497;
IV, 443; V, 207, 285.)

8. ERLINTON 106
(Additions and Corrections: III, 498; IV, 445.)

9. THE FAIR FLOWER OF NORTHUMBERLAND 111
(Additions and Corrections: I, 493; II, 498; III, 499;
V, 207.)

10. THE TWA SISTERS 118
(Additions and Corrections: I, 493; II, 498; III, 499;
IV, 447; V, 208, 286.)

11. THE CRUEL BROTHER 141
(Additions and Corrections: I, 496; II, 498; III, 499;
IV, 449; V, 208, 286.)

12. LORD RANDAL 151
(Additions and Corrections: I, 498; II, 498; III, 499;
IV, 449; V, 208, 286.)

13. EDWARD 167
(Additions and Corrections: I, 501; II, 499; III, 499;
V, 209, 287.)

14. BABYLON; OR, THE BONNIE BANKS O FORDIE 170
(Additions and Corrections: I, 501; II, 499; III, 499;
IV, 450; V, 209, 287.)

15. LEESOME BRAND 177
(Additions and Corrections: I, 501; II, 499; III, 500;
IV, 450; V, 209, 287.)

16. SHEATH AND KNIFE 185
(Additions and Corrections: II, 499; III, 500; IV, 450;
V, 210.)

17. HIND HORN 187
(Additions and Corrections: I, 502; II, 499; III, 501;
IV, 450; V, 210, 287.)

18. SIR LIONEL 208
(Additions and Corrections: II, 500; IV, 451.)

19. KING ORFEO 215
(Additions and Corrections: II, 500; III, 502; IV, 451;
V, 211.)

20. THE CRUEL MOTHER 218
(Additions and Corrections: I, 504; II, 500; III, 502;
IV, 451; V, 211, 287.)

21. THE MAID AND THE PALMER (THE SAMARITAN WOMAN) 228
(Additions and Corrections: II, 501; III, 502; IV, 451;
V, 212, 288.)

22. ST. STEPHEN AND HEROD 233
(Additions and Corrections: I, 505; II, 501; III, 502;
IV, 451; V, 212, 288.)

23. JUDAS 242
(Additions and Corrections: V, 288.)

24. BONNIE ANNIE 244
(Additions and Corrections: IV, 452.)

25. WILLIE'S LYKE-WAKE 247
(Additions and Corrections: I, 506; II, 502; III, 503;
IV, 453; V, 212, 289.)

26. THE THREE RAVENS 253
(Additions and Corrections: IV, 454; V, 212.)

27. THE WHUMMIL BORE 255
(Additions and Corrections: V, 212.)

28. BURD ELLEN AND YOUNG TAMLANE 256
(Additions and Corrections: I, 507; III, 503.)

29. THE BOY AND THE MANTLE 257
(Additions and Corrections: I, 507; II, 502; III, 503;
IV, 454; V, 212, 289.)

30. KING ARTHUR AND KING CORNWALL 274
(Additions and Corrections: I, 507; II, 502; III, 503;
V, 289.)

31. THE MARRIAGE OF SIR GAWAIN 288
(Additions and Corrections: I, 507; II, 502; IV, 454;
V, 213, 289.)

32. KING HENRY 297
(Additions and Corrections: II, 502; IV, 454; V, 289.)

33. KEMPY KAY 300
(Additions and Corrections: V, 213, 289.)

34. KEMP OWYNE 306
(Additions and Corrections: II, 502; III, 504; IV, 454;
V, 213, 290.)

35. ALLISON GROSS 313
(Additions and Corrections: III, 504; V, 214.)

36. THE LAILY WORM AND THE MACHREL OF THE SEA 315
(Additions and Corrections: V, 214, 290.)

37. THOMAS RYMER 317
(Additions and Corrections: II, 505; III, 504; IV, 454,
290.)

38. THE WEE WEE MAN 329

39. TAM LIN 335
(Additions and Corrections: I, 507; II, 505; III, 504;
IV, 455; V, 215, 290.)

40. THE QUEEN OF ELFAN'S NOURICE 358
(Additions and Corrections: II, 505; III, 505; IV, 459;
V, 215, 290.)

41. HIND ETIN 360
(Additions and Corrections: I, 508; II, 506; III, 506;
IV, 459; V, 215.)

42. CLERK COLVILL 371
(Additions and Corrections: II, 506; III, 506; IV, 459;
V, 215, 290.)

43. THE BROOMFIELD HILL 390
(Additions and Corrections: I, 508; II, 506; III, 506;
IV, 459, 290.)

44. THE TWA MAGICIANS 399
(Additions and Corrections: II, 506; III, 506; IV, 459;
V, 216, 290.)

45. KING JOHN AND THE BISHOP 403
(Additions and Corrections: I, 508; II, 506; IV, 459;
V, 216, 291.)

46. CAPTAIN WEDDERBURN'S COURTSHIP 414
(Additions and Corrections: II, 507; III, 507; IV, 459;
V, 216, 291.)

47. PROUD LADY MARGARET 425
(Additions and Corrections: IV, 460; V, 291.)

48. YOUNG ANDREW 432

49. THE TWA BROTHERS 435
(Additions and Corrections: II, 507; III, 507; IV, 460;
V, 217, 291.)

50. THE BONNY HIND 444
(Additions and Corrections: V, 218.)

51. LIZIE WAN 447

52. THE KING'S DOCHTER LADY JEAN 450

53. YOUNG BEICHAN 454
(Additions and Corrections: II, 508; III, 507; IV, 460;
V, 218, 291.)

ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS 484

VOLUME II

54. THE CHERRY-TREE CAROL 1
(Additions and Corrections: II, 509; V, 220.)

55. THE CARNAL AND THE CRANE 7
(Additions and Corrections: II, 509; III, 507; IV. 462;
V, 220.)

56. DIVES AND LAZARUS 10
(Additions and Corrections: II, 510; III, 507; IV, 462;
V, 220, 292.)

57. BROWN ROBYN'S CONFESSION 13
(Additions and Corrections: II, 510; III, 508; IV, 462;
V, 220, 292.)

58. SIR PATRICK SPENS 17
(Additions and Corrections: II, 510; V, 220.)

59. SIR ALDINGAR 33
(Additions and Corrections: II, 510; III, 508; IV, 463;
V, 292.)

60. KING ESTMERE 49
(Additions and Corrections: II, 510; III, 508; IV, 463.)

61. SIR CAWLINE 56
(Additions and Corrections: II, 511; III, 508; IV, 463.)

62. FAIR ANNIE 63
(Additions and Corrections: II, 511; IV, 463; V, 220.)

63. CHILD WATERS 83
(Additions and Corrections: II, 511; III, 508; IV, 463;
V, 220.)

64. FAIR JANET 100
(Additions and Corrections: III, 508; IV, 464; V, 222,
292.)

65. LADY MAISRY 112
(Additions and Corrections: III, 508; IV, 466; V, 222,
292.)

66. LORD INGRAM AND CHIEL WYET 126
(Additions and Corrections: II, 511; III, 508; V, 223,
292.)

67. GLASGERION 136
(Additions and Corrections: II, 511; III, 509; IV, 468;
V, 293.)

68. YOUNG HUNTING 142
(Additions and Corrections: II, 512; III, 509; IV, 468;
V, 223.)

69. CLERK SAUNDERS 156
(Additions and Corrections: II, 512; III, 509; IV, 468;
V, 223, 293.)

70. WILLIE AND LADY MAISRY 167

71. THE BENT SAE BROWN 170
(Additions and Corrections: III, 509; IV, 469; V, 223.)

72. THE CLERKS'S TWA SONS O OWSENFORD 173
(Additions and Corrections: II, 512; III, 509; IV, 469;
V, 293.)

73. LORD THOMAS AND FAIR ANNET 179
(Additions and Corrections: II, 512; III, 509; IV, 469;
V, 223, 293.)

74. FAIR MARGARET AND SWEET WILLIAM 199
(Additions and Corrections: V, 224, 293.)

75. LORD LOVEL 204
(Additions and Corrections: II, 512; III, 510; IV, 471;
V, 225, 294.)

76. THE LASS OF ROCH ROYAL 213
(Additions and Corrections: III, 510; IV, 471; V, 225,
294.)

77. SWEET WILLIAM'S GHOST 226
(Additions and Corrections: II, 512; IV, 474; V, 225,
294.)

78. THE UNQUIET GRAVE 234
(Additions and Corrections: II, 512; III, 512; IV, 474;
V, 225, 294.)

79. THE WIFE OF USHER'S WELL 238
(Additions and Corrections: III, 513; V, 294.)

80. OLD ROBIN OF PORTINGALE 240
(Additions and Corrections: II, 513; III, 514; IV, 476;
V, 225, 295.)

81. LITTLE MUSGRAVE AND LADY BARNARD 242
(Additions and Corrections: II, 513; IV, 476; V, 225.)

82. THE BONNY BIRDY 260

83. CHILD MAURICE 263
(Additions and Corrections: III, 514; IV, 478.)

84. BONNY BARBARA ALLAN 276
(Additions and Corrections: III, 514.)

85. LADY ALICE 279
(Additions and Corrections: III, 514; V, 225.)

86. YOUNG BENJIE 281
(Additions and Corrections: IV, 478.)

87. PRINCE ROBERT 284
(Additions and Corrections: V, 295.)

88. YOUNG JOHNSTONE 288

89. FAUSE FOODRAGE 296
(Additions and Corrections: II, 513; III, 515; IV, 479.)

90. JELLON GRAME 302
(Additions and Corrections: II, 513; III, 515; IV, 479;
V, 226, 295.)

91. FAIR MARY OF WALLINGTON 309
(Additions and Corrections: II, 513; III, 515; IV, 479;
V, 227.)

92. BONNY BEE HOM 317
(Additions and Corrections: V, 229.)

93. LAMKIN 320
(Additions and Corrections: II, 513; III, 515; IV, 480;
V, 229, 295.)

94. YOUNG WATERS 342
(Additions and Corrections: III, 516.)

95. THE MAID FREED FROM THE GALLOWS 346
(Additions and Corrections: II, 514; III, 516; IV, 481;
V, 231, 296.)

96. THE GAY GOSHAWK 355
(Additions and Corrections: III, 517; IV, 482; V, 234,
296.)

97. BROWN ROBIN 368

98. BROWN ADAM 373

99. JOHNIE SCOT 377
(Additions and Corrections: IV, 486; V, 234.)

100. WILLIE O WINSBURY 398
(Additions and Corrections: II, 514; III, 517; IV, 491;
V, 296.)

101. WILLIE O DOUGLAS DALE 406
(Additions and Corrections: III, 517; V, 235.)

102. WILLIE AND EARL RICHARD'S DAUGHTER 412
(Additions and Corrections: III, 518.)

103. ROSE THE RED AND WHITE LILY 415

104. PRINCE HEATHEN 424
(Additions and Corrections: V, 296.)

105. THE BAILIFF'S DAUGHTER OF ISLINGTON 426
(Additions and Corrections: III, 518; V, 237.)

106. THE FAMOUS FLOWER OF SERVING-MEN 428
(Additions and Corrections: III, 518; IV, 492.)

107. WILL STEWART AND JOHN 432
(Additions and Corrections: V, 237.)

108. CHRISTOPHER WHITE 439

109. TOM POTTS 441
(Additions and Corrections: III, 518.)

110. THE KNIGHT AND SHEPHERD'S DAUGHTER 457
(Additions and Corrections: IV, 492; V, 237.)

111. CROW AND PIE 478

112. THE BAFFLED KNIGHT 479
(Additions and Corrections: III, 518; IV, 495; V, 239,
296.)

113. THE GREAT SILKIE OF SULE SKERRY 494
(Additions and Corrections: III, 518; IV, 495.)

ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS 495

VOLUME III

114. JOHNIE COCK 1
(Additions and Corrections: IV, 495.)

115. ROBYN AND GANDELEYN 12

116. ADAM BELL, CLIM OF THE CLOUGH, AND WILLIAM OF CLOUDESLY 14
(Additions and Corrections: III, 518; IV, 496; V, 297.)

117. A GEST OF ROBYN HODE 39
(Additions and Corrections: III, 519; IV, 496; V, 240,
297.)

118. ROBIN HOOD AND GUY OF GISBORNE 89

119. ROBIN HOOD AND THE MONK 94

120. ROBIN HOOD'S DEATH 102
(Additions and Corrections: V, 240, 297.)

121. ROBIN HOOD AND THE POTTER 108
(Additions and Corrections: IV, 497.)

122. ROBIN HOOD AND THE BUTCHER 115

123. ROBIN HOOD AND THE CURTAL FRIAR 120
(Additions and Corrections: V, 297.)

124. THE JOLLY PINDER OF WAKEFIELD 129

125. ROBIN HOOD AND LITTLE JOHN 133
(Additions and Corrections: V, 297.)

126. ROBIN HOOD AND THE TANNER 137

127. ROBIN HOOD AND THE TINKER 140

128. ROBIN HOOD NEWLY REVIVED 144

129. ROBIN HOOD AND THE PRINCE OF ARAGON 147

130. ROBIN HOOD AND THE SCOTCHMAN 150

131. ROBIN HOOD AND THE RANGER 152

132. THE BOLD PEDLAR AND ROBIN HOOD 154
(Additions and Corrections: V, 240.)

133. ROBIN HOOD AND THE BEGGAR, I 155

134. ROBIN HOOD AND THE BEGGAR, II 158

135. ROBIN HOOD AND THE SHEPHERD 165

136. ROBIN HOOD'S DELIGHT 168

137. ROBIN HOOD AND THE PEDLARS 170

138. ROBIN HOOD AND ALLEN A DALE 172

139. ROBIN HOOD'S PROGRESS TO NOTTINGHAM 175

140. ROBIN HOOD RESCUING THREE SQUIRES 177

141. ROBIN HOOD RESCUING WILL STUTLY 185
(Additions and Corrections: IV, 497.)

142. LITTLE JOHN A BEGGING 188

143. ROBIN HOOD AND THE BISHOP 191

144. ROBIN HOOD AND THE BISHOP OF HEREFORD 193

145. ROBIN HOOD AND QUEEN KATHERINE 196

146. ROBIN HOOD'S CHASE 205

147. ROBIN HOOD'S GOLDEN PRIZE 208
(Additions and Corrections: III, 519.)

148. THE NOBLE FISHERMAN, OR, ROBIN HOOD'S PREFERMENT 211

149. ROBIN HOOD'S BIRTH, BREEDING, VALOR AND MARRIAGE 214

150. ROBIN HOOD AND MAID MARIAN 218
(Additions and Corrections: III, 519.)

151. THE KING'S DISGUISE, AND FRIENDSHIP WITH ROBIN HOOD 220

152. ROBIN HOOD AND THE GOLDEN ARROW 223
(Additions and Corrections: V, 241.)

153. ROBIN HOOD AND THE VALIANT KNIGHT 225

154. A TRUE TALE OF ROBIN HOOD 227

155. SIR HUGH, OR, THE JEW'S DAUGHTER 233
(Additions and Corrections: III, 519; IV, 497; V, 241,
297.)

156. QUEEN ELEANOR'S CONFESSION 257
(Additions and Corrections: IV, 498; V, 241, 297.)

157. GUDE WALLACE 265
(Additions and Corrections: V, 242.)

158. HUGH SPENCER'S FEATS IN FRANCE 275
(Additions and Corrections: IV, 499; V, 243.)

159. DURHAM FIELD 282
(Additions and Corrections: V, 297.)

160. THE KNIGHT OF LIDDESDALE 288

161. THE BATTLE OF OTTERBURN 289
(Additions and Corrections: III, 520; IV, 499; V,
243, 297.)

162. THE HUNTING OF THE CHEVIOT 303
(Additions and Corrections: IV, 502; V, 244, 297.)

163. THE BATTLE OF HARLAW 316
(Additions and Corrections: V, 245.)

164. KING HENRY FIFTH'S CONQUEST OF FRANCE 320
(Additions and Corrections: V, 245.)

165. SIR JOHN BUTLER 327

166. THE ROSE OF ENGLAND 331

167. SIR ANDREW BARTON 334
(Additions and Corrections: IV, 502; V, 245.)

168. FLODDEN FIELD 351
(Additions and Corrections: IV, 507; V, 298.)

169. JOHNIE ARMSTRONG 362
(Additions and Corrections: III, 520; IV, 507; V,
298.)

170. THE DEATH OF QUEEN JANE 372
(Additions and Corrections: V, 245, 298.)

171. THOMAS CROMWELL 377

172. MUSSELBURGH FIELD 378
(Additions and Corrections: IV, 507.)

173. MARY HAMILTON 379
(Additions and Corrections: IV, 507; V, 246, 298.)

174. EARL BOTHWELL 399
(Additions and Corrections: V, 247.)

175. THE RISING IN THE NORTH 401

176. NORTHUMBERLAND BETRAYED BY DOUGLAS 408
(Additions and Corrections: V, 299.)

177. THE EARL OF WESTMORELAND 416
(Additions and Corrections: V, 299.)

178. CAPTAIN CAR, OR, EDOM O GORDON 423
(Additions and Corrections: III, 520; IV, 513; V,
247, 299.)

179. ROOKHOPE RYDE 439

180. KING JAMES AND BROWN 442

181. THE BONNY EARL OF MURRAY 447
(Additions and Corrections: IV, 515.)

182. THE LAIRD O LOGIE 449
(Additions and Corrections: III, 520; IV, 515; V,
299.)

183. WILLIE MACINTOSH 456
(Additions and Corrections: IV, 516.)

184. THE LADS OF WAMPHRAY 458
(Additions and Corrections: III, 520.)

185. DICK O THE COW 461

186. KINMONT WILLIE 469
(Additions and Corrections: IV, 516.)

187. JOCK O THE SIDE 475

188. ARCHIE O CAWFIELD 484
(Additions and Corrections: IV, 516.)

ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS 496

VOLUME IV

189. HOBIE NOBLE 1

190. JAMIE TELFER OF THE FAIR DODHEAD 4
(Additions and Corrections: IV, 518; V, 249, 300.)

191. HUGHIE GRAME 8
(Additions and Corrections: IV, 518; V, 300.)

192. THE LOCHMABEN HARPER 16
(Additions and Corrections: V, 300.)

193. THE DEATH OF PARCY REED 24
(Additions and Corrections: IV, 520.)

194. THE LAIRD OF WARISTON 28

195. LORD MAXWELL'S LAST GOODNIGHT 34
(Additions and Corrections: V, 251.)

196. THE FIRE OF FRENDRAUGHT 39
(Additions and Corrections: IV, 521; V, 251, 301.)

197. JAMES GRANT 49
(Additions and Corrections: V, 251.)

198. BONNY JOHN SETON 51
(Additions and Corrections: V, 251.)

199. THE BONNIE HOUSE O AIRLIE 54
(Additions and Corrections: V, 252.)

200. THE GYPSY LADDIE 61
(Additions and Corrections: IV, 522; V, 252, 301.)

201. BESSY BELL AND MARY GRAY 75
(Additions and Corrections: IV, 522; V, 253.)

202. THE BATTLE OF PHILIPHAUGH 77

203. THE BARON OF BRACKLEY 79
(Additions and Corrections: IV, 522; V, 253.)

204. JAMIE DOUGLAS 90

205. LOUDON HILL, OR, DRUMCLOG 105

206. BOTHWELL BRIDGE 108

207. LORD DELAMERE 110

208. LORD DERWENTWATER 115
(Additions and Corrections: IV, 522; V, 254.)

209. GEORDIE 123

210. BONNIE JAMES CAMPBELL 142

211. BEWICK AND GRAHAM 144
(Additions and Corrections: IV, 522.)

212. THE DUKE OF ATHOLE'S NURSE 150

213. SIR JAMES THE ROSE 155

214. THE BRAES O YARROW 160
(Additions and Corrections: IV, 522; V, 255.)

215. RARE WILLIE DROWNED IN YARROW, OR, THE WATER O GAMRIE 178
(Additions and Corrections: V, 256.)

216. THE MOTHER'S MALISON, OR, CLYDE'S WATER 185
(Additions and Corrections: V, 256, 301.)

217. THE BROOM OF COWDENKNOWS 191
(Additions and Corrections: IV, 523; V, 257.)

218. THE FALSE LOVER WON BACK 209

219. THE GARDENER 212
(Additions and Corrections: V, 258.)

220. THE BONNY LASS OF ANGLESEY 214

221. KATHARINE JAFFRAY 216
(Additions and Corrections: IV, 523; V, 260.)

222. BONNY BABY LIVINGSTON 231
(Additions and Corrections: IV, 523; V, 261.)

223. EPPIE MORRIE 239
(Additions and Corrections: V, 262.)

224. THE LADY OF ARNGOSK 241

225. ROB ROY 243
(Additions and Corrections: IV, 523; V, 262.)

226. LIZIE LINDSAY 255
(Additions and Corrections: IV, 524; V, 264.)

227. BONNY LIZIE BAILLIE 266
(Additions and Corrections: V, 265.)

228. GLASGOW PEGGIE 270
(Additions and Corrections: V, 266.)

229. EARL CRAWFORD 276
(Additions and Corrections: V, 301.)

230. THE SLAUGHTER OF THE LAIRD OF MELLERSTAIN 281

231. THE EARL OF ERROL 282
(Additions and Corrections: V, 267.)

232. RICHIE STORY 291
(Additions and Corrections: V, 270.)

233. ANDREW LAMMIE 300

234. CHARLIE MACPHERSON 308
(Additions and Corrections: V, 301.)

235. THE EARL OF ABOYNE 311
(Additions and Corrections: V, 270, 301.)

236. THE LAIRD O DRUM 322
(Additions and Corrections: V, 272.)

237. THE DUKE OF GORDON'S DAUGHTER 332
(Additions and Corrections: V, 273.)

238. GLENLOGIE, OR, JEAN O BETHELNIE 338
(Additions and Corrections: V, 273, 302.)

239. LORD SALTOUN AND AUCHANACHIE 347
(Additions and Corrections: V, 273.)

240. THE RANTIN LADDIE 351
(Additions and Corrections: V, 274.)

241. THE BARON O LEYS 355
(Additions and Corrections: V, 275.)

242. THE COBLE O CARGILL 358

243. JAMES HARRIS (THE DÆMON LOVER) 360
(Additions and Corrections: IV, 524.)

244. JAMES HATLEY 370

245. YOUNG ALLAN 375
(Additions and Corrections: V, 275.)

246. REDESDALE AND WISE WILLIAM 383
(Additions and Corrections: V, 276.)

247. LADY ELSPAT 387

248. THE GREY COCK, OR, SAW YOU MY FATHER? 389
(Additions and Corrections: V, 302.)

249. AULD MATRONS 391

250. HENRY MARTYN 393
(Additions and Corrections: V, 302.)

251. LANG JOHNNY MORE 396
(Additions and Corrections: IV, 524.)

252. THE KITCHIE-BOY 400
(Additions and Corrections: V, 277.)

253. THOMAS O YONDERDALE 409

254. LORD WILLIAM, OR, LORD LUNDY 411

255. WILLIE'S FATAL VISIT 415

256. ALISON AND WILLIE 416

257. BURD ISABEL AND EARL PATRICK 417
(Additions and Corrections: V, 278.)

258. BROUGHTY WA'S 423

259. LORD THOMAS STUART 425
(Additions and Corrections: V, 279.)

260. LORD THOMAS AND LADY MARGARET 426

261. LADY ISABEL 429

262. LORD LIVINGSTON 431

263. THE NEW-SLAIN KNIGHT 434
(Additions and Corrections: V, 279.)

264. THE WHITE FISHER 435

265. THE KNIGHT'S GHOST 437

ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS 439

VOLUME V

266. JOHN THOMSON AND THE TURK 1
(Additions and Corrections: V, 279.)

267. THE HEIR OF LINNE 11

268. THE TWA KNIGHTS 21

269. LADY DIAMOND 29
(Additions and Corrections: V, 303.)

270. THE EARL OF MAR'S DAUGHTER 38

271. THE LORD OF LORN AND THE FALSE STEWARD 42
(Additions and Corrections: V, 280.)

272. THE SUFFOLK MIRACLE 58
(Additions and Corrections: V, 303.)

273. KING EDWARD THE FOURTH AND A TANNER OF TAMWORTH 67
(Additions and Corrections: V, 303.)

274. OUR GOODMAN 88
(Additions and Corrections: V, 281, 303.)

275. GET UP AND BAR THE DOOR 96
(Additions and Corrections: V, 281, 304.)

276. THE FRIAR IN THE WELL 100

277. THE WIFE WRAPT IN WETHER'S SKIN 104
(Additions and Corrections: V, 304.)

278. THE FARMER'S CURST WIFE 107
(Additions and Corrections: V, 305.)

279. THE JOLLY BEGGAR 109

280. THE BEGGAR-LADDIE 116
(Additions and Corrections: V, 305.)

281. THE KEACH I THE CREEL 121

282. JOCK THE LEG AND THE MERRY MERCHANT 126

283. THE CRAFTY FARMER 128

284. JOHN DORY 131

285. THE GEORGE ALOE AND THE SWEEPSTAKE 133

286. THE SWEET TRINITY (THE GOLDEN VANITY) 135
(Additions and Corrections: V, 305.)

287. CAPTAIN WARD AND THE RAINBOW 143
(Additions and Corrections: V, 305.)

288. THE YOUNG EARL OF ESSEX'S VICTORY OVER THE EMPEROR OF
GERMANY 145

289. THE MERMAID 148

290. THE WYLIE WIFE OF THE HIE TOUN HIE 153

291. CHILD OWLET 156
(Additions and Corrections: V, 305.)

292. THE WEST-COUNTRY DAMOSEL'S COMPLAINT 157

293. JOHN OF HAZELGREEN 159

294. DUGALL QUIN 165
(Additions and Corrections: V, 305.)

295. THE BROWN GIRL 166

296. WALTER LESLY 168

297. EARL ROTHES 170

298. YOUNG PEGGY 171

299. TROOPER AND MAID 172
(Additions and Corrections: V, 306.)

300. BLANCHEFLOUR AND JELLYFLORICE 175

301. THE QUEEN OF SCOTLAND 176

302. YOUNG BEARWELL 178

303. THE HOLY NUNNERY 179

304. YOUNG RONALD 181

305. THE OUTLAW MURRAY 185
(Additions and Corrections: V, 307.)

FRAGMENTS 201
(Additions and Corrections: V, 307.)

ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS 205, 283

GLOSSARY 309

SOURCES OF THE TEXTS 397

INDEX OF PUBLISHED AIRS 405

BALLAD AIRS FROM MANUSCRIPT:
3. The Fause Knight upon the Road 411
9. The Fair Flower of Northumberland 411
10. The Twa Sisters 411
11. The Cruel Brother 412
12. Lord Randal 412
17. Hind Horn 413
20. The Cruel Mother 413
40. The Queen of Elfan's Nourice 413
42. Clerk Colvill 414
46. Captain Wedderburn's Courtship 414
47. Proud Lady Margaret 414
53. Young Beichan 415
58. Sir Patrick Spens 415
61. Sir Colin 415
63. Child Waters 415
68. Young Hunting 416
75. Lord Lovel 416
77. Sweet William's Ghost 416
84. Bonny Barbara Allan 416
89. Fause Foodrage 416
95. The Maid freed from the Gallows 417
97. Brown Robin 417
98. Brown Adam 417
99. Johnie Scot 418
100. Willie o Winsbury 418
106. The Famous Flower of Serving-Men 418
144. Johnie Cock 419
157. Gudo Wallace 419
161. The Battle of Otterburn 419
163. The Battle of Harlaw 419
164. King Henry Fifth's Conquest of France 420
169. Johnie Armstrong 420
173. Mary Hamilton 421
182. The Laird o Logie 421
222. Bonny Baby Livingston 421
226. Lizie Lindsay 421
228. Glasgow Peggie 422
235. The Earl of Aboyne 422
247. Lady Elspat 422
250. Andrew Bartin 423
256. Alison and Willie 423
258. Broughty Wa's 423
278. The Farmer's Curst Wife 423
281. The Keach i the Creel 424
286. The Sweet Trinity 424
299. Trooper and Maid 424

INDEX OF BALLAD TITLES 425

TITLES OF COLLECTIONS OF BALLADS, OR BOOKS CONTAINING BALLADS,
WHICH ARE VERY BRIEFLY CITED IN THIS WORK 455

INDEX OF MATTERS AND LITERATURE 469

BIBLIOGRAPHY 503

CORRECTIONS TO BE MADE IN THE PRINT 567

APPENDIX: PROFESSOR CHILD AND THE BALLAD 571

FRANCIS JAMES CHILD

Francis James Child was born in Boston on the first day of February, 1825. He was the third in a family of eight children. His father was a sailmaker, "one of that class of intelligent and independent mechanics," writes Professor Norton, "which has had a large share in determining the character of our democratic community, as of old the same class had in Athens and in Florence." The boy attended the public schools, as a matter of course; and, his parents having no thought of sending him to college, he went, in due time, not to the Latin School, but to the English High School of his native town. At that time the head master of the Boston Latin School was Mr Epes Sargent Dixwell, who is still living, at a ripe old age, one of the most respected citizens of Cambridge. Mr Dixwell had a keen eye for scholarly possibilities in boys, and, falling in with young Francis Child, was immediately struck with his extraordinary mental ability. At his suggestion, the boy was transferred to the Latin School, where he entered upon the regular preparation for admission to Harvard College. His delight in his new studies was unbounded, and the freshness of it never faded from his memory. "He speedily caught up with the boys who had already made considerable progress in Greek and Latin, and soon took the first place here, as he had done in the schools which he had previously attended." Mr Dixwell strongly advised his father to permit him to continue his studies, and made arrangements by which his college expenses should be provided for. The money Professor Child repaid, with interest, as soon as his means allowed. His gratitude to Mr. Dixwell and the friendship between them lasted through his life.

In 1842 Mr Child entered Harvard College. The intellectual condition of the college at that time and the undergraduate career of Mr Child have been admirably described by his classmate and lifelong friend, Professor Norton, in a passage which must be quoted in full[1]:--

"Harvard was then still a comparatively small institution, with no claims to the title of University; but she had her traditions of good learning as an inspiration for the studious youth, and still better she had teachers who were examples of devotion to intellectual pursuits, and who cared for those ends the attainment of which makes life worth living. Josiah Quincy was approaching the close of his term of service as President of the College, and stood before the eyes of the students as the type of a great public servant, embodying the spirit of patriotism, of integrity, and of fidelity in the discharge of whatever duty he might be called to perform. Among the Professors were Walker, Felton, Peirce, Channing, Beck, and Longfellow, men of utmost variety of temperament, but each an instructor who secured the respect no less than the gratitude of his pupils.

"The class to which Child belonged numbered hardly over sixty. The prescribed course of study which was then the rule brought all the members of the class together in recitations and lectures, and every man soon knew the relative standing of each of his fellows. Child at once took the lead and kept it. His excellence was not confined to any one special branch of study; he was equally superior in all. He was the best in the classics, he was Peirce's favorite in mathematics, he wrote better English than any of his classmates. His intellectual interests were wider than theirs, he was a great reader, and his tastes in reading were mature. He read for amusement as well as for learning, but he did not waste his time or dissipate his mental energies over worthless or pernicious books. He made good use of the social no less than of the intellectual opportunities which college life affords, and became as great a favorite with his classmates as he had been with his schoolfellows.

"The close of his college course was marked by the exceptional distinction of his being chosen by his classmates as their Orator, and by his having the first part at Commencement as the highest scholar in the class. His class oration was remarkable for its maturity of thought and of style. Its manliness of spirit, its simple directness of presentation of the true objects of life, and of the motives by which the educated man, whatever might be his chosen career, should be inspired, together with the serious and eloquent earnestness with which it was delivered, gave to his discourse peculiar impressiveness and effect."

Graduating with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1846, Mr Child immediately entered the service of the college, in which he continued till the day of his death. From 1846 to 1848 he was tutor in mathematics. In 1848 he was transferred, at his own request, to a tutorship in history and political economy, to which were annexed certain duties of instruction in English. In 1849 he obtained leave of absence for travel and study in Europe. He remained in Europe for about two years, returning, late in 1851, to receive an appointment to the Boylston Professorship of Rhetoric and Oratory, then falling vacant by the resignation of Professor Edward T. Channing.

The tutorships which Mr Child had held were not entirely in accordance with his tastes, which had always led him in the direction of literary and linguistic study. The faculty of the college was small, however, and it was not always possible to assign an instructor to the department that would have been most to his mind. But the governors of the institution were glad to secure the services of so promising a scholar; and Mr Child, whose preference for an academic career was decided, had felt that it was wise to accept such positions as the college could offer, leaving exacter adjustments to time and circumstances. Meantime he had devoted his whole leisure to the pursuit of his favorite studies. His first fruits were a volume entitled Four Old Plays[2] published in 1848, when he was but twenty-three years old. This was a remarkably competent performance. The texts are edited with judgment and accuracy; the introduction shows literary discrimination as well as sound scholarship, and the glossary and brief notes are thoroughly good. There are no signs of immaturity in the book, and it is still valued by students of our early drama.

The leave of absence granted to Mr Child in 1849 came at a most favorable moment. His health had suffered from close application to work, and a change of climate had been advised by his physicians. His intellectual and scholarly development, too, had reached that stage in which foreign study and travel were certain to be most stimulating and fruitful. He was amazingly apt, and two years of opportunity meant much more to him than to most men. He returned to take up the duties of his new office a trained and mature scholar, at home in the best methods and traditions of German universities, yet with no sacrifice of his individuality and intellectual independence.

While in Germany Mr Child studied at Berlin and Göttingen, giving his time mostly to Germanic philology, then cultivated with extraordinary vigor and success. The hour was singularly propitious. In the three or four decades preceding Mr Child's residence in Europe, Germanic philology (in the wider sense) had passed from the stage of "romantic" dilettantism into the condition of a well-organized and strenuous scientific discipline, but the freshness and vivacity of the first half of the century had not vanished. Scholars, however severe, looked through the form and strove to comprehend the spirit. The ideals of erudition and of a large humanity were not even suspected of incompatibility. The imagination was still invoked as the guide and illuminator of learning. The bond between antiquity and mediævalism and between the Middle Ages and our own century was never lost from sight. It was certainly fortunate for American scholarship that at precisely this juncture a young man of Mr Child's ardent love of learning, strong individuality, and broad intellectual sympathies was brought into close contact with all that was most quickening in German university life. He attended lectures on classical antiquity and philosophy, as well as on Germanic philology; but it was not so much by direct instruction that he profited as by the inspiration which he derived from the spirit and the ideals of foreign scholars, young and old. His own greatest contribution to learning, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, may even, in a very real sense, be regarded as the fruit of these years in Germany. Throughout his life he kept a picture of William and James Grimm on the mantel over his study fireplace.

Mr Child wrote no "dissertation," and returned to Cambridge without having attempted to secure a doctor's degree. Never eager for such distinctions, he had been unwilling to subject himself to the restrictions on his plan of study which candidacy for the doctorate would have imposed. Three years after, however, in 1854, he was surprised and gratified to receive from the University of Göttingen the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, accompanied by a special tribute of respect from that institution. Subsequently he received the degree of LL. D. from Harvard (in 1884) and that of L. H. D. from Columbia (in 1887); but the Göttingen Ph. D., coming as it did at the outset of his career, was in a high degree auspicious.

The Boylston Professorship of Rhetoric and Oratory, to which, as has been already mentioned, Mr Child succeeded on his return to America toward the end of 1851, was no sinecure. In addition to academic instruction of the ordinary kind, the duties of the chair included the superintendence and criticism of a great quantity of written work, in the nature of essays and set compositions prepared by students of all degrees of ability. For twenty-five years Mr Child performed these duties with characteristic punctuality and devotion, though with increasing distaste for the drudgery which they involved. Meantime a great change had come over Harvard: it had developed from a provincial college into a national seminary of learning, and the introduction of the "elective system"--corresponding to the "Lernfreiheit" of Germany--had enabled it to become a university in the proper sense of the word. One result of the important reform just referred to was the establishment of a Professorship of English, entirely distinct from the old chair of Rhetoric. This took place on May 8, 1876, and on the 20th of the next month Mr Child was transferred to the new professorship. His duties as an instructor were now thoroughly congenial, and he continued to perform them with unabated vigor to the end. In the onerous details of administrative and advisory work, inseparable, according to our exacting American system, from the position of a university professor, he was equally faithful and untiring. For thirty years he acted as secretary of the Library Council, and in all that time he was absent from but three meetings. As chairman of the Department of English and of the Division of Modern Languages, and as a member of many important committees, he was ever prodigal of time and effort. How steadily he attended to the regular duties of the class-room, his pupils, for fifty years, are the best witnesses. They, too, will best understand the satisfaction he felt that, in the fiftieth year of his teaching, he was not absent from a single lecture. No man was ever less a formalist; yet the most formal of natures could not, in the strictest observance of punctilio, have surpassed the regularity with which he discharged, as it were spontaneously, the multifarious duties of his position.

Throughout his service as professor of rhetoric, Mr Child, hampered though he was by the requirements of his laborious office, had pursued with unquenchable ardor the study of the English language and literature, particularly in their older forms, and in these subjects he had become an authority of the first rank long before the establishment of the English chair enabled him to arrange his university teaching in accordance with his tastes. Soon after he returned from Germany he undertook the general editorial supervision of a series of the 'British Poets,' published at Boston in 1853 and several following years, and extending to some hundred and fifty volumes. Out of this grew, in one way or another, his three most important contributions to learning: his edition of Spenser, his Observations on the Language of Chaucer and Gower, and his English and Scottish Popular Ballads.

Mr Child's Spenser appeared in 1855.[3] Originally intended, as he says in the preface, as little more than a reprint of the edition published in 1839 under the superintendence of Mr George Hillard, the book grew upon his hands until it had become something quite different from its predecessor. Securing access to old copies of most of Spenser's poems, Mr Child subjected the text to a careful revision, which left little to be done in this regard. His Life of Spenser was far better than any previous biography, and his notes, though brief, were marked by a philological exactness to which former editions could not pretend. Altogether, though meant for the general reader and therefore sparingly annotated, Mr Child's volumes remain, after forty years, the best edition of Spenser in existence.

The plan of the 'British Poets' originally contemplated an edition of Chaucer, which Mr Child was to prepare. Becoming convinced, however, that the time was not ripe for such a work, he abandoned this project, and to the end of his life he never found time to resume it. Thomas Wright's print of the Canterbury Tales[4] from the Harleian MS. 7334 had, however, put into his hands a reasonably faithful reproduction of an old text, and he turned his attention to a minute study of Chaucer's language. The outcome was the publication, in the Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences for 1863, of the great treatise to which Mr Child gave the modest title of Observations on the Language of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. It is difficult, at the present day, to imagine the state of Chaucer philology at the moment when this paper appeared. Scarcely anything, we may say, was known of Chaucer's grammar and metre in a sure and scientific way. Indeed, the difficulties to be solved had not even been clearly formulated. Further, the accessible mass of evidence on Anglo-Saxon and Middle English was, in comparison with the stores now at the easy command of every tyro, almost insignificant. Yet, in this brief treatise, Mr Child not only defined the problems, but provided for most of them a solution which the researches of younger scholars have only served to substantiate. He also gave a perfect model of the method proper to such inquiries--a method simple, laborious, and exact. The Observations were subsequently rearranged and condensed, with Professor Child's permission, by Mr A. J. Ellis for his work On Early English Pronunciation; but only those who have studied them in their original form can appreciate their merit fully. "It ought never to be forgotten," writes Professor Skeat, "that the only full and almost complete solution of the question of the right scansion of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales is due to what Mr Ellis rightly terms 'the wonderful industry, acuteness, and accuracy of Professor Child.'" Had he produced nothing else, this work, with its pendant, the Observations on Gower,[5] would have assured him a high place among those very few scholars who have permanently settled important problems of linguistic science.

Mr Child's crowning work, however, was the edition of the English and Scottish Popular Ballads, which the reader now has before him. The history of this is the history of more than half a lifetime.

The idea of the present work grew out of Mr Child's editorial labors on the series of the 'British Poets,' already referred to. For this he prepared a collection in eight small volumes (1857-58) called English and Scottish Ballads.[6] This was marked by the beginnings of that method of comparative study which is carried out to its ultimate issues in the volumes of the present collection. The book circulated widely, and was at once admitted to supersede all previous attempts in the same field. To Mr Child, however, it was but the starting-point for further researches. He soon formed the plan of a much more extensive collection on an altogether different model. This was to include every obtainable version of every extant English or Scottish ballad, with the fullest possible discussion of related songs or stories in the "popular" literature of all nations. To this enterprise he resolved, if need were, to devote the rest of his life. His first care was to secure trustworthy texts. In his earlier collection he had been forced to depend almost entirely on printed books. No progress, he was convinced, could be made till recourse could be had to manuscripts, and in particular to the Percy MS. Accordingly he directed his most earnest efforts to securing the publication of the entire contents of the famous folio. The Percy MS. was at Ecton Hall, in the possession of the Bishop's descendants, who would permit no one even to examine it. Two attempts were made by Dr Furnivall, at Mr Child's instance, to induce the owners to allow the manuscript to be printed,--one as early as 1860 or 1861, the other in 1864,--but without avail. A third attempt was more successful, and in 1867-68 the long-secluded folio was made the common property of scholars in an edition prepared by Professor Hales and Dr Furnivall.[7]