Book Description

Lively, exciting, amusing - this collection of ballads reveal the bawdy, anarchic sub-culture of England before the Industrial Revolution. Drawn from the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, it demonstrates the great wealth and variety of the English broadside ballads during these periods. At this time political balladry was rife and Irish ballads began to be composed in English - their distinctive background giving them a unique range of poetry. Indeed, these ballads represent an extensive, varied and important area of English literature. Written, as the editors observe, 'to provide a moment in which listeners could enjoy verse, wit and song', they very much reflect the lively observation, love of detail and social awareness of the age of the novel. This volume includes 127 ballads, ranging from 'Admiral Benbow' and 'The Jolly Bacchanal' to 'The Bottle the Best Companion' and 'The Young Man's Fortune'. Reprinted from contemporary or near-contemporary broadsides in the Madden Collection at the University Library, Cambridge, the head and tail blocks, a distinguished feature of the original texts, are also reproduced for this edition. The introduction is designed to enable individuals to read the texts in perspective and with pleasure. The book further includes a select bibliography and an index of ballad titles. This book was first published in 1975.