The rise of the ballad in the eighteenth century . r known to exist. Hov/could such a multifarious collection possibly have beenformed so late as the year 1650, of compositions prior toChaucer, most of which had never been printed, is scarcelyto he conceived hy those conversant in ancient , , asimilar instance perhaps not to be found in any librarypublic or private. fHere follow instances of insertionsin ballads.) Llany other instances might be noticedv/here the learned collector has preferred his ingenuity to 1 his fidelity, v/ithout the least intimation to the reader. Scott in his intro
The rise of the ballad in the eighteenth century . r known to exist. Hov/could such a multifarious collection possibly have beenformed so late as the year 1650, of compositions prior toChaucer, most of which had never been printed, is scarcelyto he conceived hy those conversant in ancient , , asimilar instance perhaps not to be found in any librarypublic or private. fHere follow instances of insertionsin ballads.) Llany other instances might be noticedv/here the learned collector has preferred his ingenuity to 1 his fidelity, v/ithout the least intimation to the reader. Scott in his introductory remarks on PopularPoetry in Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border says of Ritsonscriticism of Percy that it was due to his extreme attach-ment to the severity of truth, and the contentions or thetwo men regarding minstrelsy were like the opinions regard- —0000— 1. Ritsons Observations, on the Minstrels. Introductionto Ancient Songs and Ballads from the Heign of KingHenry the Seconct to the Revolution. 3rd editionLondon, 1677. page in^ ^the gold and silver shield - both v/ere ri^ht. As toPercys so-called forf^eries, 3oott would say with the v/riterin the iiuarterly Review, that Percys ohject was not tosecure the v/ords of tlie old hallads, but to fix the con-sideration of general readers on ancient poetry. Percyavowedly indulged in such alterations and improvements upon his materials as might adapt them to the taste of an age 2 *not otherwise disposed to bestow its attention on them. Prom a general point of view, while we may dep-recate the severity of Kitsons prejudices, we must givehim credit for his competent work in collecting and editing^ballads. Y/e may call him the pioneer in ballad study,for he was painstaking and accurate in his work. UnlikePercy, he did not add original verses to fragments, butgave them just as he found them. His exhaustive work onHohin Hood, shov/s his methods. It contains every extantallusion to Rohin Hood, from history, poetry, prov
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjecttheses, bookyear1911
