TOTHE RIGHT HONOURABLEELIZABETH,COUNTESS OF NORTHUMBERLAND;IN HER OWN RIGHT,BARONESS PERCY, LUCY, POYNINGS, FITZ-PAYNE, BRYAN, AND LATIMER.

Madam,—

Thosewriters, who solicit the protection of the noble and the great, are often exposed to censure by the impropriety of their addresses: a remark that will, perhaps, be too readily applied to him, who, having nothing better to offer than the rude songs of ancient minstrels, aspires to the patronage of the Countess of Northumberland, and hopes that the barbarous productions of unpolished ages can obtain the approbation or notice of her, who adorns courts by her presence, and diffuses elegance by her example.

But this impropriety, it is presumed, will disappear, when it is declared that these poems are presented to your Ladyship, not as labours of art, but as effusions of nature, showing the first efforts of ancient genius, and exhibiting the customs andopinions of remote ages: of ages that had been almost lost to memory, had not the gallant deeds of your illustrious ancestors preserved them from oblivion.

No active or comprehensive mind can forbear some attention to the reliques of antiquity. It is prompted by natural curiosity to survey the progress of life and manners, and to inquire by what gradations barbarity was civilized, grossness refined, and ignorance instructed; but this curiosity, Madam, must be stronger in those who, like your Ladyship, can remark in every period the influence of some great progenitor, and who still feel in their effects the transactions and events of distant centuries.

By such bonds, Madam, as I am now introducing to your presence, was the infancy of genius nurtured and advanced, by such were the minds of unlettered warriors softened and enlarged, by such was the memory of illustrious actions preserved and propagated, by such were the heroic deeds of the Earls of Northumberland sung at festivals in the hall of Alnwick; and those songs, which the bounty of your ancestors rewarded, now return to your Ladyship by a kind of hereditary right; and, I flatter myself, will find such reception as is usually shown to poets and historians, by those whose consciousness of merit makes it their interest to be long remembered.

I am,

Madam,

Your Ladyship's

Most humble,

And most devoted Servant,

Thomas Percy.[56]

TOELIZABETH,LATE DUCHESS AND COUNTESS OF NORTHUMBERLAND,IN HER OWN RIGHT BARONESS PERCY,ETC. ETC. ETC.WHO, BEING SOLE HEIRESS TO MANY GREAT FAMILIES OF OUR ANCIENT NOBILITY, EMPLOYED THE PRINCELY FORTUNE, AND SUSTAINED THE ILLUSTRIOUS HONOURS, WHICH SHE DERIVED FROM THEM, THROUGH HER WHOLE LIFE WITH THE GREATEST DIGNITY, GENEROSITY, AND SPIRIT; AND WHO FOR HER MANY PUBLIC AND PRIVATE VIRTUES WILL EVER BE REMEMBERED AS ONE OF THE FIRST CHARACTERS OF HER TIME, THIS LITTLE WORK WAS ORIGINALLY DEDICATED; AND, AS IT SOMETIMES AFFORDED HER AMUSEMENT, AND WAS HIGHLY DISTINGUISHED BY HER INDULGENT APPROBATION, IT IS NOW, WITH THE UTMOST REGARD, RESPECT, AND GRATITUDE, CONSECRATED TO HER BELOVED AND HONOUREDMEMORY.[57]

FOOTNOTES:[56]This dedication is prefixed to the first edition of theReliques, (1765), the second edition (1767), and the third edition (1775).[57]The Duchess of Northumberland died in the year 1776, and the above inscription appears in the fourth edition (1794) and the fifth edition (1812), besides many subsequent editions.

[56]This dedication is prefixed to the first edition of theReliques, (1765), the second edition (1767), and the third edition (1775).

[57]The Duchess of Northumberland died in the year 1776, and the above inscription appears in the fourth edition (1794) and the fifth edition (1812), besides many subsequent editions.

Twentyyears have near elapsed since the last edition of this work appeared. But, although it was sufficiently a favourite with the public, and had long been out of print, the original editor had no desire to revive it. More important pursuits had, as might be expected, engaged his attention; and the present edition would have remained unpublished, had he not yielded to the importunity of his friends, and accepted the humble offer of an editor in a nephew, to whom, it is feared, he will be found too partial.

These volumes are now restored to the public with such corrections and improvements as have occurred since the former impression; and the text in particular hath been emended in many passages by recurring to the old copies. The instances, being frequently trivial, are not always noted in the margin; but the alteration hath never been made without good reason; and especially in such pieces as were extracted from the folio manuscript so often mentioned in the following pages, where any variationoccurs from the former impression, it will be understood to have been given on the authority of that MS.

The appeal publicly made to Dr. Johnson in the first page of the following Preface, so long since as in the year 1765, and never once contradicted by him during so large a portion of his life, ought to have precluded every doubt concerning the existence of the MS. in question. But such, it seems, having been suggested, it may now be mentioned, that, while this edition passed through his press, the MS. itself was left for near a year with Mr. Nichols, in whose house, or in that of its possessor, it was examined with more or less attention by many gentlemen of eminence in literature. At the first publication of these volumes it had been in the hands of all, or most of, his friends; but, as it could hardly be expected that he should continue to think of nothing else but these amusements of his youth, it was afterwards laid aside at his residence in the country. Of the many gentlemen above-mentioned, who offered to give their testimony to the public, it will be sufficient to name the Honourable Daines Barrington, the Reverend Clayton Mordaunt Cracherode, and those eminent Critics on Shakespeare, the Reverend Dr. Farmer, George Steevens, Esq., Edmund Malone, Esq., and Isaac Reed, Esq., to whom I beg leave to appeal for the truth of the following representation.

The MS. is a long narrow folio volume, containing 195 Sonnets, Ballads, Historical Songs, and Metrical Romances, either in the whole or in part, for many of them are extremely mutilated and imperfect. The first and last leaves are wanting; and of fifty-four pages near the beginning half of every leaf hath been torn away, and several others are injured towards the end; besides that through a great partof the volume the top or bottom line, and sometimes both have been cut off in the binding.

In this state is the MS. itself: and even where the leaves have suffered no injury, the transcripts, which seem to have been all made by one person (they are at least all in the same kind of hand), are sometimes extremely incorrect and faulty, being in such instances probably made from defective copies, or the imperfect recitation of illiterate fingers; so that a considerable portion of the song or narrative is sometimes omitted; and miserable trash or nonsense not unfrequently introduced into pieces of considerable merit. And often the copyist grew so weary of his labour as to write on without the least attention to the sense or meaning; so that the word which should form the rhyme is found misplaced in the middle of the line; and we have such blunders as these,want and willforwanton will;[59]evenpanand waleforwan and pale,[60]&c., &c.

Hence the public may judge how much they are indebted to the composer of this collection; who, at an early period of life, with such materials and such subjects, formed a work which hath been admitted into the most elegant libraries; and with which the judicious antiquary hath just reason to be satisfied, while refined entertainment hath been provided for every reader of taste and genius.

Thomas Percy,

Fellow of St. John's College, Oxford.

FOOTNOTES:[58]Published in three volumes small octavo in 1794. "Printed by John Nichols for F. and C. Rivington."[59][Fol. MS.] Page130, ver. 117. (This must have been copied from a reciter.)[60][Fol. MS.] Page139, ver. 164, viz."his visage waxed pan and wale."

[58]Published in three volumes small octavo in 1794. "Printed by John Nichols for F. and C. Rivington."

[59][Fol. MS.] Page130, ver. 117. (This must have been copied from a reciter.)

[60][Fol. MS.] Page139, ver. 164, viz."his visage waxed pan and wale."

[60][Fol. MS.] Page139, ver. 164, viz.

"his visage waxed pan and wale."

Thereader is here presented with select remains of our ancient English bards and minstrels, an order of men, who were once greatly respected by our ancestors, and contributed to soften the roughness of a martial and unlettered people by their songs and by their music.

The greater part of them are extracted from an ancient folio manuscript, in the editor's possession, which contains near 200 poems, songs, and metrical romances. This MS. was written about the middle of the last century; but contains compositions of all times and dates, from the ages prior to Chaucer, to the conclusion of the reign of Charles I.[61]

This manuscript was shewn to several learned and ingenious friends, who thought the contents too curious to be consigned to oblivion, and importuned the possessor to select some of them, and give them to the press. As most of them are of great simplicity, and seem to have been merely written for the people, he was long in doubt, whether, in the present state of improved literature, they could be deemedworthy the attention of the public. At length the importunity of his friends prevailed, and he could refuse nothing to such judges as the author of theRamblerand the late Mr. Shenstone.

Accordingly such specimens of ancient poetry have been selected, as either shew the gradation of our language, exhibit the progress of popular opinions, display the peculiar manners and customs of former ages, or throw light on our earlier classical poets.

They are here distributed into volumes, each of which contains an independent series of poems, arranged chiefly according to the order of time, and shewing the gradual improvements of the English language and poetry from the earliest ages down to the present. Each volume, or series, is divided into three books, to afford so many pauses, or resting-places to the reader, and to assist him in distinguishing between the productions of the earlier, the middle, and the latter times.

In a polished age, like the present, I am sensible that many of these reliques of antiquity will require great allowances to be made for them. Yet have they, for the most part, a pleasing simplicity, and many artless graces, which in the opinion of no mean critics[62]have been thought to compensate for the want of higher beauties, and, if they do not dazzle the imagination, are frequently found to interest the heart.

To atone for the rudeness of the more obsolete poems, each volume concludes with a few modern attempts in the same kind of writing: and, to take off from the tediousness of the longer narratives,they are everywhere intermingled with little elegant pieces of the lyric kind. Select ballads in the old Scottish dialect, most of them of the first-rate merit, are also interspersed among those of our ancient English minstrels; and the artless productions of these old rhapsodists are occasionally confronted with specimens of the composition of contemporary poets of a higher class; of those who had all the advantages of learning in the times in which they lived, and who wrote for fame and for posterity. Yet perhaps the palm will be frequently due to the old strolling minstrels, who composed their rhymes to be sung to their harps, and who looked no farther than for present applause, and present subsistence.

The reader will find this class of men occasionally described in the following volumes, and some particulars relating to their history in an Essay subjoined. (Appendix I.)

It will be proper here to give a short account of the other collections that were consulted, and to make my acknowledgements to those gentlemen who were so kind as to impart extracts from them; for, while this selection was making, a great number of ingenious friends took a share in the work, and explored many large repositories in its favour.

The first of these that deserved notice was the Pepysian library at Magdalen College, Cambridge. Its founder, Sam. Pepys, Esq.,[63]Secretary of the Admiralty in the reigns of Charles II. and James II. had made a large collection of ancient Englishballads, near 2,000 in number, which he has left pasted in five volumes in folio; besides Garlands and other smaller miscellanies. This collection he tells us was "begun by Mr. Selden; improved by the addition of many pieces elder thereto in time; and the whole continued down to the year 1700; when the form peculiar till then thereto, viz., of the black letter with pictures, seems (for cheapness sake) wholly laid aside for that of the white letter without pictures."

In the Ashmole Library at Oxford is a small collection of ballads made by Anthony Wood in the year 1676, containing somewhat more than 200. Many ancient popular poems are also preserved in the Bodleyan library.

The archives of the Antiquarian Society at London contain a multitude of curious political poems in large folio volumes, digested under the several reigns of Hen. VIII., Edw. VI., Mary, Elizabeth, James I., &c.[65]

In the British Museum is preserved a large treasure of ancient English poems in MS. besides one folio volume of printed ballads.

From all these some of the best pieces were selected; and from many private collections, as well printed, as manuscript, particularly from one large folio volume which was lent by a lady.

Amid such a fund of materials, the editor is afraid he has been sometimes led to make too great a parade of his authorities. The desire of being accurate has perhaps seduced him into too minute and trifling an exactness; and in pursuit of information he may have been drawn into many a petty and frivolous research. It was, however, necessary togive some account of the old copies; though often, for the sake of brevity, one or two of these only are mentioned, where yet assistance was received from several. Where any thing was altered that deserved particular notice, the passage is generally distinguished by two inverted 'commas.' And the editor has endeavoured to be as faithful as the imperfect state of his materials would admit. For, these old popular rhymes being many of them copied only from illiterate transcripts, or the imperfect recitation of itinerant ballad-singers, have, as might be expected, been handed down to us with less care than any other writings in the world. And the old copies, whether MS. or printed, were often so defective or corrupted, that a scrupulous adherence to their wretched readings would only have exhibited unintelligible nonsense, or such poor meagre stuff, as neither came from the bard, nor was worthy the press; when, by a few slight corrections or additions, a most beautiful or interesting sense hath started forth, and this so naturally and easily, that the editor could seldom prevail on himself to indulge the vanity of making a formal claim to the improvement; but must plead guilty to the charge of concealing his own share in the amendments under some such general title, as aModern Copy, or the like. Yet it has been his design to give sufficient intimation where any considerable liberties[66]were taken with the old copies, and to have retained either in the text or margin any word or phrase which was antique, obsolete, unusual, or peculiar, so that these might be safely quoted as of genuine and undoubted antiquity. His object was to please both the judicious antiquary, and the reader of taste; and he hath endeavoured to gratify both without offending either.

The plan of the work was settled in concert with the late elegant Mr. Shenstone, who was to have borne a joint share in it had not death unhappily prevented him[67]: most of the modern pieces were of his selection and arrangement, and the editor hopes to be pardoned if he has retained some things out of partiality to the judgment of his friend. The old folio MS. above-mentioned was a present from Humphrey Pitt, Esq., of Prior's-Lee, in Shropshire,[68]to whom this public acknowledgement is due for that, and many other obliging favours. To Sir David Dalrymple, Bart., of Hailes, near Edinburgh, the editor is indebted for most of the beautiful Scottish poems with which this little miscellany is enriched, and for many curious and elegant remarks with which they are illustrated. Some obliging communications of the same kind were received from John MacGowan, Esq., of Edinburgh; and many curious explanations of Scottish words in the glossaries from John Davidson, Esq., of Edinburgh, and from the Rev. Mr. Hutchinson, of Kimbolton. Mr. Warton, who has twice done so much honour to the Poetry Professor's chair at Oxford, and Mr. Hest, of Worcester College, contributed some curious pieces from the Oxford libraries. Two ingenious and learned friends at Cambridge deserve the editor's warmest acknowledgements: to Mr. Blakeway, late fellow of Magdalen College, he owes all the assistance received from the Pepysian library: and Mr. Farmer, fellow of Emanuel, often exerted, in favour of this little work, that extensive knowledge of ancient English literature for which he is so distinguished.[69]Many extracts from ancient MSS. in the British Museum, and other repositories, were owing to the kind services of Thomas Astle, Esq., to whom the public is indebted for the curious Preface and Index annexed to the Harleyan Catalogue.[70]The worthy Librarian of the Society of Antiquaries, Mr. Norris, deserved acknowledgement for the obliging manner in which he gave the editor access to the volumes under his care. In Mr. Garrick's curious collection of old plays are many scarce pieces of ancient poetry, with the free use of which he indulged the editor in the politest manner. To the Rev. Dr. Birch he is indebted for the use of several ancient and valuable tracts. To the friendship of Dr. Samuel Johnson he owes many valuable hints for the conduct of the work. And, if the Glossaries are more exact and curious than might be expected in so slight a publication, it is to be ascribed to the supervisal of a friend, who stands at this time the first in the world for northern literature, and whose learning is better known and respected in foreign nations than in his own country. It is, perhaps, needless to name the Rev. Mr. Lye, editor ofJunius's Etymologicum, and of theGothicGospels.

The names of so many men of learning and character the editor hopes will serve as an amulet to guard him from every unfavourable censure, for having bestowed any attention on a parcel of old ballads. It was at the request of many of these gentlemen, and of others eminent for their genius and taste, that this little work was undertaken. To prepare it for the press has been the amusement of now and then a vacant hour amid the leisure and retirement of rural life, and hath only served as a relaxation from graver studies. It has been taken up at different times, and often thrown aside for many months, during an interval of four or five years. Thishas occasioned some inconsistencies and repetitions, which the candid reader will pardon. As great care has been taken to admit nothing immoral and indecent, the editor hopes he need not be ashamed of having bestowed some of his idle hours on the ancient literature of our own country, or in rescuing from oblivion some pieces (though but the amusements of our ancestors) which tend to place in a striking light their taste, genius, sentiments, or manners.

Except in one paragraph, this Preface is given with little variation from the first edition in MDCCLXV.

FOOTNOTES:[61]Chaucer quotes the old Romance ofLibius Disconius, and some others, which are found in this MS. (See theEssay, vol. iii. Appendix I.) It also contains several songs relating to the civil war in the last century, but not one that alludes to the Restoration.[62]Mr. Addison, Mr. Dryden, and the witty Lord Dorset, &c. See theSpectator, No. 70. To these might be added many eminent judges now alive. The learned Selden appears also to have been fond of collecting these old things. See below.[63]A life of our curious collector Mr. Pepys may be seen in the continuation of Mr. Collier's Supplement to hisGreat Diction.1715, at the end of vol. iii. folio. Art. Pep.[64][64][In Percy's time Pepys was not known as the author of thatDiarywhich will keep his name in remembrance so long as English literature continues to exist.][65][The Society of Antiquaries have published a catalogue of this collection by Robert Lemon, 8vo. 1866.][66]Such liberties have been taken with all those pieces which have three asterisks subjoined, thus ⁂.[67]That the editor hath not here under-rated the assistance he received from his friend, will appear from Mr. Shenstone's own letter to the Rev. Mr. Graves, dated March 1, 1761. See hisWorks, vol. iii. letter cii. It is doubtless a great loss to this work that Mr. Shenstone never saw more than about a third of one of these volumes, as prepared for the press.[68]Who informed the editor that this MS. had been purchased in a library of old books, which was thought to have belonged to Thomas Blount, Author of theJocular Tenures, 1679, 4to. and of many other publications enumerated in Wood'sAthenæ, ii. 73; the earliest of which isThe Art of making Devises, 1646, 4to. wherein he is described to be "of the Inner Temple." If the collection was made by this lawyer (who also published theLawDictionary, 1671, folio), it should seem, from the errors and defects with which the MS. abounds, that he had employed his clerk in writing the transcripts, who was often weary of his task.[69]To the same learned and ingenious friend, since Master of Emanuel College, the editor is obliged for many corrections and improvements in his second and subsequent editions; as also to the Rev. Mr. Bowle, of Idmistone, near Salisbury, editor of the curious edition ofDon Quixote, with Annotations in Spanish, in 6 vols. 4to.; to the Rev. Mr. Cole, formerly of Blecheley, near Fenny-Stratford, Bucks; to the Rev. Mr. Lambe, of Noreham, in Northumberland (author of a learnedHistory of Chess, 1764, 8vo. and editor of a curiousPoem on the Battle of Flodden Field, with learned Notes, 1774, 8vo.); and to G. Paton, Esq., of Edinburgh. He is particularly indebted to two friends, to whom the public as well as himself, are under the greatest obligations; to the Honourable Daines Barrington, for his very learned and curiousObservationson the Statutes, 4to.; and to Thomas Tyrwhitt, Esq., whose most correct and elegant edition of Chaucer'sCanterbury Tales, 5 vols. 8vo. is a standard book, and shows how an ancient English classic should be published. The editor was also favoured with many valuable remarks and corrections from the Rev. Geo. Ashby, late fellow of St. John's College, in Cambridge, which are not particularly pointed out because they occur so often. He was no less obliged to Thomas Butler, Esq., F.A.S., agent to the Duke of Northumberland, and Clerk of the Peace for the County of Middlesex, whose extensive knowledge of ancient writings, records, and history, have been of great use to the editor in his attempts to illustrate the literature or manners of our ancestors. Some valuable remarks were procured by Samuel Pegge, Esq., author of that curious work theCurialia, 4to.; but this impression was too far advanced to profit by them all; which hath also been the case with a series of learned and ingenious annotations inserted in theGentleman's Magazinefor August, 1793, April, June, July, and October, 1794, and which, it is hoped, will be continued.[70]Since Keeper of the Records in the Tower.

[61]Chaucer quotes the old Romance ofLibius Disconius, and some others, which are found in this MS. (See theEssay, vol. iii. Appendix I.) It also contains several songs relating to the civil war in the last century, but not one that alludes to the Restoration.

[62]Mr. Addison, Mr. Dryden, and the witty Lord Dorset, &c. See theSpectator, No. 70. To these might be added many eminent judges now alive. The learned Selden appears also to have been fond of collecting these old things. See below.

[63]A life of our curious collector Mr. Pepys may be seen in the continuation of Mr. Collier's Supplement to hisGreat Diction.1715, at the end of vol. iii. folio. Art. Pep.[64]

[64][In Percy's time Pepys was not known as the author of thatDiarywhich will keep his name in remembrance so long as English literature continues to exist.]

[65][The Society of Antiquaries have published a catalogue of this collection by Robert Lemon, 8vo. 1866.]

[66]Such liberties have been taken with all those pieces which have three asterisks subjoined, thus ⁂.

[67]That the editor hath not here under-rated the assistance he received from his friend, will appear from Mr. Shenstone's own letter to the Rev. Mr. Graves, dated March 1, 1761. See hisWorks, vol. iii. letter cii. It is doubtless a great loss to this work that Mr. Shenstone never saw more than about a third of one of these volumes, as prepared for the press.

[68]Who informed the editor that this MS. had been purchased in a library of old books, which was thought to have belonged to Thomas Blount, Author of theJocular Tenures, 1679, 4to. and of many other publications enumerated in Wood'sAthenæ, ii. 73; the earliest of which isThe Art of making Devises, 1646, 4to. wherein he is described to be "of the Inner Temple." If the collection was made by this lawyer (who also published theLawDictionary, 1671, folio), it should seem, from the errors and defects with which the MS. abounds, that he had employed his clerk in writing the transcripts, who was often weary of his task.

[69]To the same learned and ingenious friend, since Master of Emanuel College, the editor is obliged for many corrections and improvements in his second and subsequent editions; as also to the Rev. Mr. Bowle, of Idmistone, near Salisbury, editor of the curious edition ofDon Quixote, with Annotations in Spanish, in 6 vols. 4to.; to the Rev. Mr. Cole, formerly of Blecheley, near Fenny-Stratford, Bucks; to the Rev. Mr. Lambe, of Noreham, in Northumberland (author of a learnedHistory of Chess, 1764, 8vo. and editor of a curiousPoem on the Battle of Flodden Field, with learned Notes, 1774, 8vo.); and to G. Paton, Esq., of Edinburgh. He is particularly indebted to two friends, to whom the public as well as himself, are under the greatest obligations; to the Honourable Daines Barrington, for his very learned and curiousObservationson the Statutes, 4to.; and to Thomas Tyrwhitt, Esq., whose most correct and elegant edition of Chaucer'sCanterbury Tales, 5 vols. 8vo. is a standard book, and shows how an ancient English classic should be published. The editor was also favoured with many valuable remarks and corrections from the Rev. Geo. Ashby, late fellow of St. John's College, in Cambridge, which are not particularly pointed out because they occur so often. He was no less obliged to Thomas Butler, Esq., F.A.S., agent to the Duke of Northumberland, and Clerk of the Peace for the County of Middlesex, whose extensive knowledge of ancient writings, records, and history, have been of great use to the editor in his attempts to illustrate the literature or manners of our ancestors. Some valuable remarks were procured by Samuel Pegge, Esq., author of that curious work theCurialia, 4to.; but this impression was too far advanced to profit by them all; which hath also been the case with a series of learned and ingenious annotations inserted in theGentleman's Magazinefor August, 1793, April, June, July, and October, 1794, and which, it is hoped, will be continued.

[70]Since Keeper of the Records in the Tower.

RELIQUES OF ANCIENT POETRY, ETC.

SERIES THE FIRST.

I never heard the olde song of Percy and Duglas, that I found not my heart mooved more then with a trumpet: and yet is it sung but by some blinde crouder, with no rougher voyce, then rude stile; which being so evill apparelled in the dust and cobwebbes of that uncivill age, what would it worke, trymmed in the gorgeous eloquence of Pindar!—Sir Philip Sidney's Apologie for Poetrie, 1595.

Thefine heroic song ofChevy-Chasehas ever been admired by competent judges. Those genuine strokes of nature and artless passion, which have endeared it to the most simple readers, have recommended it to the most refined; and it has equally been the amusement of our childhood, and the favourite of our riper years.

Mr. Addison has given an excellent critique[71]on this very popular ballad, but is mistaken with regard to the antiquity of the common-received copy; for this, if one may judge from the style, cannot be older than the time of Elizabeth, and was probably written after the elogium of Sir Philip Sidney: perhaps in consequence of it. I flatter myself, I have here recovered the genuine antique poem; the true original song, which appeared rude even in the time of Sir Philip, and caused him to lament, that it was so evil-apparelled in the rugged garb of antiquity.

This curiosity is printed, from an old manuscript,[72]at the end of Hearne's preface to Gul. NewbrigiensisHist.1719, 8vo. vol. i. To the MS. copy is subjoined the name of the author, Rychard Sheale;[73]whom Hearne had so little judgement as to suppose to be the same with a R. Sheale, who was living in 1588. But whoever examines the gradation of language and idiom in the following volumes, will be convinced that this is the productionof an earlier poet. It is indeed expressly mentioned among some very ancient songs in an old book intituled,The Complaint of Scotland[74](fol. 42), under the title of theHuntis of Chevet, where the two following lines are also quoted:—

"The Perssee and the Mongumrye mette,[75]That day, that day, that gentil day:"[76]

which, tho' not quite the same as they stand in the ballad, yet differ not more than might be owing to the author's quoting from memory. Indeed whoever considers the style and orthography of this old poem will not be inclined to place it lower than the time of Henry VI.: as on the other hand the mention of James the Scottish King,[77]with one or two anachronisms, forbids us to assign it an earlier date. King James I. who was prisoner in this kingdom at the death of his father,[78]did not wear the crown of Scotland till the second year of our Henry VI.,[79]but before the end of that long reign a third James had mounted the throne.[80]A succession of two or three Jameses, and the long detention of one of them in England, would render the name familiar to the English, and dispose a poet in those rude times to give it to any Scottish king he happened to mention.

So much for the date of this old ballad: with regard to its subject, altho' it has no countenance from history, there is room to think it had originally some foundation in fact. It was one of the Laws of the Marches frequently renewed between the two nations, that neither party should hunt in the other's borders, without leave from the proprietors or their deputies.[81]There had long been arivalship between the two martial families of Percy and Douglas, which heightened by the national quarrel, must have produced frequent challenges and struggles for superiority, petty invasions of their respective domains, and sharp contests for the point of honour; which would not always be recorded in history. Something of this kind, we may suppose, gave rise to the ancient ballad of theHunting a' the Cheviat.[82]Percy earl of Northumberland had vowed to hunt for three days in the Scottish border without condescending to ask leave from earl Douglas, who was either lord of the soil, or lord warden of the marches. Douglas would not fail to resent the insult, and endeavour to repel the intruders by force; this would naturally produce a sharp conflict between the two parties: something of which, it is probable, did really happen, tho' not attended with the tragical circumstances recorded in the ballad: for these are evidently borrowed from theBattle of Otterbourn,[83]a very different event, but which after-times would easily confound with it. That battle might be owing to some such previous affront as this of Chevy Chase, though it has escaped the notice of historians. Our poet has evidently jumbled the two subjects together: if indeed the lines,[84]in which this mistake is made, are not rather spurious, and the after-insertion of some person, who did not distinguish between the two stories.

Hearne has printed this ballad without any division of stanzas, in long lines, as he found it in the old written copy; but it is usual to find the distinction of stanzas neglected in ancient MSS.; where, to save room, two or three verses are frequently given in one line undivided. See flagrant instances in theHarleian Catalogue, No. 2253, s. 29, 34, 61, 70,et passim.

[Bishop Percy did well to open his book withChevy Chaseand theBattle of Otterburn, as these two are by far the most remarkable of the old historical ballads still left to us, and all Englishmen must feel peculiar interest inChevy Chase, as it is one of the few northern ballads that are the exclusive growth of the south side of the Border. The partizanship of the Englishman is very amusingly brought out in verses 145-154, where we learn that the Scotch king had no captain in his realm equal to the dead Douglas, but that the English king had a hundred captains as good as Percy. A ballad which stirred the soul of Sidney and caused Ben Jonson to wish that he had been the author of it rather thanof all his own works cannot but be dear to all readers of taste and feeling. The old version is so far superior to the modern one (see Book iii. No. 1) that it must ever be a source of regret that Addison, who elegantly analyzed the modern version, did not know of the original.It will be well to arrange under three heads the subjects on which a few words require to be added to Percy's preface, viz. 1. the title, 2. the occasion, 3. the author. 1. In the old version the title given in the ballad itself isthe hunting of the Cheviat, and in theComplaynt of Scotlandeit is referred to asThe Huntis ofChevot. The title of the modern version is changed toChevyChase, which Dr. E. B. Nicholson has suggested to be derived from the old French wordchevauchée, a foray or expedition (seeNotes and Queries, 3rd series, vol. xii. p. 124); but this explanation is not needed, as the original of the modern title is found in ver. 62 asChyviat Chays, which naturally became contracted intoChevyChase, asTeviotdaleintoTevidale(ver. 50).2. The ballad is so completely unhistorical that it is difficult to give any opinion as to the occasion to which it refers, but apparently it was written, as Bishop Percy remarks, to commemorate a defiant expedition of one of the Lords of the Marches upon the domain of another, but that the names of Percy and Douglas led the writer into a confusion with the battle of Otterburn, which was fresh in the people's memory owing to the ballad of theBattleof Otterburn. In fact Professor Child throws out the hint that possibly Sidney referred to theBattle of Otterburnand not to theHunting of the Cheviat, as he only mentions the old song ofPercieand Douglas, but it has so long been believed that Sidney spoke ofChevy Chasethat we should be sorry to think otherwise now. In the note immediately following the modern version (see Book iii. No. 1.) Bishop Percy suggests the possibility that the ballad may refer to the battle of Pepperden fought in 1436, but this view is highly improbable for the following reason. In both the ancient and modern versions the battle of Humbledown is alluded to as a future event caused by the death of Percy at Chevy Chase. Now as Humbledown was fought in the year 1402, and as the battle of Otterburn was the only conflict of importance on the Borders which preceded it, and as, moreover, Otterburn is mentioned in the ballad, there cannot well be any reference to a battle fought so many years afterwards.3. Bishop Percy is unnecessarily severe in his remark upon Hearne, as that learned antiquary was probably correct in identifying the Richard Sheale of the old ballad with Richard Sheale the minstrel. Whether, however, the latter was the author, as is argued by C. in Brydges'British Bibliographer(vol. 4, pp. 95-105), is another matter. The other examples of the minstrel'smuse are so inferior to this ballad that it is impossible to believe him to be the author. Doubtless it was recited by him, and being associated with his name the transcriber may naturally have supposed him to be its maker. Sheale really flourished (or withered, as Mr. Hales has it) at a rather earlier period than the date 1588 mentioned by Percy would lead us to imagine, for he appears to have been writing before 1560, nevertheless the language is of a much earlier date than this, and, moreover, a ballad of the Borders is not likely to have been invented at Tamworth, where Sheale lived.Chevy Chasewas long a highly popular song, and Bishop Corbet, in hisJourney into France, speaks of having sung it in his youth. The antiquated beau in Davenant's play of theWitsalso prides himself on being able to sing it, and inWit's Intepreter, 1671, a man when enumerating the good qualities of his wife, cites after the beauties of her mind and her patience "her curious voice wherewith she useth to singChevy Chace." Many other ballads were sung to the same tune, so that we are not always sure as to whether the original is referred to or some more modern song. The philosopher Locke, when Secretary to the Embassy sent by Charles II. to the Elector of Brandenburg, wrote home a description of the Brandenburg church singing, in which he says, "He that could not though he had a cold make better music with a chevy chace over a pot of smooth ale, deserved well to pay the reckoning and to go away athirst."[85]The writer here probably referred to any song sung to this tune.]

It will be well to arrange under three heads the subjects on which a few words require to be added to Percy's preface, viz. 1. the title, 2. the occasion, 3. the author. 1. In the old version the title given in the ballad itself isthe hunting of the Cheviat, and in theComplaynt of Scotlandeit is referred to asThe Huntis ofChevot. The title of the modern version is changed toChevyChase, which Dr. E. B. Nicholson has suggested to be derived from the old French wordchevauchée, a foray or expedition (seeNotes and Queries, 3rd series, vol. xii. p. 124); but this explanation is not needed, as the original of the modern title is found in ver. 62 asChyviat Chays, which naturally became contracted intoChevyChase, asTeviotdaleintoTevidale(ver. 50).

2. The ballad is so completely unhistorical that it is difficult to give any opinion as to the occasion to which it refers, but apparently it was written, as Bishop Percy remarks, to commemorate a defiant expedition of one of the Lords of the Marches upon the domain of another, but that the names of Percy and Douglas led the writer into a confusion with the battle of Otterburn, which was fresh in the people's memory owing to the ballad of theBattleof Otterburn. In fact Professor Child throws out the hint that possibly Sidney referred to theBattle of Otterburnand not to theHunting of the Cheviat, as he only mentions the old song ofPercieand Douglas, but it has so long been believed that Sidney spoke ofChevy Chasethat we should be sorry to think otherwise now. In the note immediately following the modern version (see Book iii. No. 1.) Bishop Percy suggests the possibility that the ballad may refer to the battle of Pepperden fought in 1436, but this view is highly improbable for the following reason. In both the ancient and modern versions the battle of Humbledown is alluded to as a future event caused by the death of Percy at Chevy Chase. Now as Humbledown was fought in the year 1402, and as the battle of Otterburn was the only conflict of importance on the Borders which preceded it, and as, moreover, Otterburn is mentioned in the ballad, there cannot well be any reference to a battle fought so many years afterwards.

3. Bishop Percy is unnecessarily severe in his remark upon Hearne, as that learned antiquary was probably correct in identifying the Richard Sheale of the old ballad with Richard Sheale the minstrel. Whether, however, the latter was the author, as is argued by C. in Brydges'British Bibliographer(vol. 4, pp. 95-105), is another matter. The other examples of the minstrel'smuse are so inferior to this ballad that it is impossible to believe him to be the author. Doubtless it was recited by him, and being associated with his name the transcriber may naturally have supposed him to be its maker. Sheale really flourished (or withered, as Mr. Hales has it) at a rather earlier period than the date 1588 mentioned by Percy would lead us to imagine, for he appears to have been writing before 1560, nevertheless the language is of a much earlier date than this, and, moreover, a ballad of the Borders is not likely to have been invented at Tamworth, where Sheale lived.

Chevy Chasewas long a highly popular song, and Bishop Corbet, in hisJourney into France, speaks of having sung it in his youth. The antiquated beau in Davenant's play of theWitsalso prides himself on being able to sing it, and inWit's Intepreter, 1671, a man when enumerating the good qualities of his wife, cites after the beauties of her mind and her patience "her curious voice wherewith she useth to singChevy Chace." Many other ballads were sung to the same tune, so that we are not always sure as to whether the original is referred to or some more modern song. The philosopher Locke, when Secretary to the Embassy sent by Charles II. to the Elector of Brandenburg, wrote home a description of the Brandenburg church singing, in which he says, "He that could not though he had a cold make better music with a chevy chace over a pot of smooth ale, deserved well to pay the reckoning and to go away athirst."[85]The writer here probably referred to any song sung to this tune.]

The Persé owt of Northombarlande.And a vowe[87]to God mayd he,That he wolde hunte in the mountaynsOff Chyviat within dayes thre,In the mauger[88]of doughtè Dogles,[89]5And all that ever with him be.The fattiste hartes in all CheviatHe sayd he wold kill, and cary them away:Be my feth, sayd the dougheti Doglas agayn,I wyll let[90]that hontyng yf that I may.10Then the Persé owt of Banborowe cam,[91]With him a myghtye meany;[92]With fifteen hondrith archares bold;[93]The wear chosen out of shyars thre.[94]This begane on a monday at morn15In Cheviat the hillys so he;[95]The chyld may rue that ys un-born,It was the mor pitté.The dryvars thorowe the woodes went[96]For to reas[97]the dear;20Bomen bickarte uppone the bent[98]With ther browd aras[99]cleare.Then the wyld[100]thorowe the woodes wentOn every syde shear;[101]Grea-hondes thorowe the greves glent[102]25For to kyll thear dear.The begane in Chyviat the hyls abone[103]Yerly[104]on a monnyn-day;[105]Be[106]that it drewe to the oware off none[107]A hondrith fat hartes ded ther lay.30The blewe a mort uppone the bent,[108][109]The semblyd on sydis shear;[110]To the quyrry[111]then the Persè wentTo se the bryttlynge[112]off the deare.He sayd, It was the Duglas promys35This day to meet me hear;But I wyste he wold faylle verament:[113]A gret oth the Persè swear.At the laste a squyar of NorthombelondeLokyde at his hand full ny,40He was war ath[114]the doughetie Doglas comynge:With him a myghtè meany,[115]Both with spear, 'byll,' and brande:[116][117]Yt was a myghti sight to se.Hardyar men both off hart nar hande45Wear not in Christiantè.The wear twenty hondrith spear-men goodWithouten any fayle;[118]The wear borne a-long be the watter a Twyde,Yth[119]bowndes of Tividale.50Leave off the brytlyng of the dear, he sayde,And to your bowys look ye tayk good heed;[120]For never sithe[121]ye wear on your mothars borneHad ye never so mickle need.[122]The dougheti Dogglas on a stede55He rode all his men beforne;[123]His armor glytteryde as dyd a glede;[124]A bolder barne[125]was never born.Tell me 'what' men ye ar, he says,[126]Or whos men that ye be:60Who gave youe leave to hunte in thisChyviat chays in the spyt of me?The first mane that ever him an answear mayd,Yt was the good lord Persè:We wyll not tell the 'what' men we ar, he says,[127]65Nor whos men that we be;But we wyll hount hear in this chaysIn the spyte of thyne, and of the.The fattiste hartes in all ChyviatWe have kyld, and cast[128]to carry them a-way.70Be my troth, sayd the doughtè Dogglas agayn,[129]Ther-for the ton[130]of us shall de this day.Then sayd the doughtè DoglasUnto the lord Persè:To kyll all thes giltless men,75A-las! it wear great pittè.But, Persè, thowe art a lord of lande,I am a yerle[131]callyd within my contre;Let all our men uppone a parti[132]stande;And do the battell off the and of me.80Nowe Cristes cors[133]on his crowne,[134]sayd the lord Persè.[135]Who-soever ther-to says nay.Be my troth, doughtè Doglas, he says,Thow shalt never se that day;Nethar in Ynglonde, Skottlonde, nar France,85Nor for no man of a woman born,But and[136]fortune be my chance,I dar met him on man for on.[137][138]Then bespayke a squyar off Northombarlonde,Ric. Wytharynton[139]was his nam;90It shall never be told in Sothe-Ynglonde, he says,To kyng Herry the fourth for sham.I wat[140]youe byn great lordes twaw,[141]I am a poor squyar of lande;I wyll never se my captayne fyght on a fylde,95And stande my-selffe, and looke on,But whyll I may my weppone welde,I wyll not 'fayl' both harte and hande.That day, that day, that dredfull day:The first Fit[142]here I fynde.100And youe[143]wyll here any mor athe hountyng a the Chyviat,Yet ys ther mor behynde.

The fattiste hartes in all CheviatHe sayd he wold kill, and cary them away:Be my feth, sayd the dougheti Doglas agayn,I wyll let[90]that hontyng yf that I may.10

Then the Persé owt of Banborowe cam,[91]With him a myghtye meany;[92]With fifteen hondrith archares bold;[93]The wear chosen out of shyars thre.[94]

This begane on a monday at morn15In Cheviat the hillys so he;[95]The chyld may rue that ys un-born,It was the mor pitté.

The dryvars thorowe the woodes went[96]For to reas[97]the dear;20Bomen bickarte uppone the bent[98]With ther browd aras[99]cleare.

Then the wyld[100]thorowe the woodes wentOn every syde shear;[101]Grea-hondes thorowe the greves glent[102]25For to kyll thear dear.

The begane in Chyviat the hyls abone[103]Yerly[104]on a monnyn-day;[105]Be[106]that it drewe to the oware off none[107]A hondrith fat hartes ded ther lay.30

The blewe a mort uppone the bent,[108][109]The semblyd on sydis shear;[110]To the quyrry[111]then the Persè wentTo se the bryttlynge[112]off the deare.

He sayd, It was the Duglas promys35This day to meet me hear;But I wyste he wold faylle verament:[113]A gret oth the Persè swear.

At the laste a squyar of NorthombelondeLokyde at his hand full ny,40He was war ath[114]the doughetie Doglas comynge:With him a myghtè meany,[115]

Both with spear, 'byll,' and brande:[116][117]Yt was a myghti sight to se.Hardyar men both off hart nar hande45Wear not in Christiantè.

The wear twenty hondrith spear-men goodWithouten any fayle;[118]The wear borne a-long be the watter a Twyde,Yth[119]bowndes of Tividale.50

Leave off the brytlyng of the dear, he sayde,And to your bowys look ye tayk good heed;[120]For never sithe[121]ye wear on your mothars borneHad ye never so mickle need.[122]

The dougheti Dogglas on a stede55He rode all his men beforne;[123]His armor glytteryde as dyd a glede;[124]A bolder barne[125]was never born.

Tell me 'what' men ye ar, he says,[126]Or whos men that ye be:60Who gave youe leave to hunte in thisChyviat chays in the spyt of me?

The first mane that ever him an answear mayd,Yt was the good lord Persè:We wyll not tell the 'what' men we ar, he says,[127]65Nor whos men that we be;But we wyll hount hear in this chaysIn the spyte of thyne, and of the.

The fattiste hartes in all ChyviatWe have kyld, and cast[128]to carry them a-way.70Be my troth, sayd the doughtè Dogglas agayn,[129]Ther-for the ton[130]of us shall de this day.

Then sayd the doughtè DoglasUnto the lord Persè:To kyll all thes giltless men,75A-las! it wear great pittè.

But, Persè, thowe art a lord of lande,I am a yerle[131]callyd within my contre;Let all our men uppone a parti[132]stande;And do the battell off the and of me.80

Nowe Cristes cors[133]on his crowne,[134]sayd the lord Persè.[135]Who-soever ther-to says nay.Be my troth, doughtè Doglas, he says,Thow shalt never se that day;

Nethar in Ynglonde, Skottlonde, nar France,85Nor for no man of a woman born,But and[136]fortune be my chance,I dar met him on man for on.[137][138]

Then bespayke a squyar off Northombarlonde,Ric. Wytharynton[139]was his nam;90It shall never be told in Sothe-Ynglonde, he says,To kyng Herry the fourth for sham.

I wat[140]youe byn great lordes twaw,[141]I am a poor squyar of lande;I wyll never se my captayne fyght on a fylde,95And stande my-selffe, and looke on,But whyll I may my weppone welde,I wyll not 'fayl' both harte and hande.

That day, that day, that dredfull day:The first Fit[142]here I fynde.100And youe[143]wyll here any mor athe hountyng a the Chyviat,Yet ys ther mor behynde.

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