The book of British ballads . blat tultjiin Haps UL,In tfje magger of &ougf)te Dogles antt all tf)at cfter toitf) i)fm oe. Although it was not the modern version that moved the great heart of Sidney morethan a trumpet, it is undoubtedly that which, for centuries, has maintained itspopularity, in England, more firmly, and, perhaps, more universally, than any otherof the favourites of the people. And, whether we agree witli Percy, in consideringthat the old ballad was expressly modernised, in consequence of the eulogiumit received in the Defence of Poetry; or with Scott, in believing the changes
The book of British ballads . blat tultjiin Haps UL,In tfje magger of &ougf)te Dogles antt all tf)at cfter toitf) i)fm oe. Although it was not the modern version that moved the great heart of Sidney morethan a trumpet, it is undoubtedly that which, for centuries, has maintained itspopularity, in England, more firmly, and, perhaps, more universally, than any otherof the favourites of the people. And, whether we agree witli Percy, in consideringthat the old ballad was expressly modernised, in consequence of the eulogiumit received in the Defence of Poetry; or with Scott, in believing the changes ithas undergone to have been produced by the gradual alterations of numerousreciters, there can be but one opinion as to its beauty, grandeur, force, and sim-plicity,— qualities, in the happy combination of which, it is unsurpassed by anycomposition in the language. Such border feuds as that of Chevy-Chace were of frequent occurrence; andalthough no authentic historical documents exist to determine precisely the period. at which the woeful hunting actually occurred, there is no doubt that a battlewas fought under circumstances such as those recorded in the ballad, and as littlethat the old poem, by which it is commemorated, was composed soon after theevent. Evidence of its popularity has been given so early as the time of QueenElizabeth, and of its being considered, even then, as the production of an uncivillage. Reference is made to the fourth Harry our Kyng; but it was written,probably, during the reign of Henry the Sixth, when James, the Scottish King,the first of the name, wore the crown of Scotland. That the affair took place previousto 1402 is certain; for the battle of Humbledowne, expressly alluded to, was foughton the fourteenth of September of that year. The only battle mentioned in history, wherein an earl of Douglas was slainfighting with a Percy, was that of Otterbourne—the theme of several ballads, both ofEngland and Scotland. This occurred in 1388, during th
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