Related Research Articles
"An Invitation to Lubberland" was a broadside ballad first printed in 1685. Many believe that it inspired the hobo ballad which formed the basis of the song Big Rock Candy Mountain recorded in 1928 by Harry McClintock. Lubberland is the Swedish name for Cockaigne, land of plenty in medieval myth.
"Geordie" is an English language folk song concerning the trial of the eponymous hero whose lover pleads for his life. It is listed as Child ballad 209 and Number 90 in the Roud Folk Song Index. The ballad was traditionally sung across the English speaking world, particularly in England, Scotland and North America, and was performed with many different melodies and lyrics. In recent times, popular versions have been performed and recorded by numerous artists and groups in different languages, mostly inspired by Joan Baez's 1962 recording based on a traditional version from Somerset, England.
Robin Hood and the Tanner is Child ballad 126. It is a late seventeenth-century English broadside ballad and one of several ballads about the medieval folk hero Robin Hood that form part of the Child ballad collection, which is one of the most comprehensive collections of traditional English ballads but has now been subsumed and surpassed by the Roud Folk Song Index.
Tis A Plaine Case Gentlemen is an English broadside ballad housed in the Huntington Library. It was originally printed by Stephen Bukley in 1643, and is well known for its opening lines: "OH the distraction of this Factious age! / Have not wile-men (who are starke mad with rage, / Brought this faire Land to such a combustion, / That through their means we may feare confusion.".
A Ballad upon the Popish Plot is an early modern English broadside ballad about a fabricated conspiracy known as "The Popish Plot" that occurred between 1678 and 1681 in the Kingdoms of England and Scotland, during a period of widespread social and cultural prejudice against Catholicism. The song records an indictment of the Plot—a crucial consequence of national religious conflict that arguably began with the English Reformation—in the form of the ballad, one of the most time-honored and influential styles of popular music.
The Clarret Drinker's Song: Or, The Good Fellows Design is an English broadside ballad published by John Oldham in 1680 and is set to the standard tune of "Let Caesar Live Long." An original copy of the ballad is located in the National Library of Scotland, however online facsimiles and recordings are available for public consumption.
Frauncis new Jigge, betweene Frauncis a Gentleman, and Richard a Farmer is an English broadside ballad published by George Attowell in the early 17th-century, and is set to the tune of "Go from my Window Walshingham." The original copy of the ballad has, over the years, sustained surface damage and uneven inking, but is nevertheless available for view at the Pepys Library of Magdalene College, Cambridge. Online facsimiles of the ballad, as well as audio recordings sung to the original tune, are available online.
"A free admonition without any fees / To warne the Papistes to beware of three trees" is an English broadside ballad published by William Birch in 1571 and is not currently set to any tune An original copy of the ballad is located in the Huntington Library, however online facsimiles are available for public consumption.
"Royal Courage" or "King William's Happy Success in Ireland" is an English broadside ballad published by Thomas Betterton between 1682 and 1692, and is set to the tune of "Let the Soldiers Rejoice". The original copy of the ballad is available for view at the Pepys Library of Magdalene College, Cambridge. Online facsimiles of the ballad, as well as audio recordings sung to the original tune, have been made available online for public consumption.
The Wandering Jew's Chronicle is an English broadside ballad dating back to the 17th century, with The Wandering Jew as its narrator. From the point of view of the titular character, this ballad tells the history of the English monarchs, beginning with William the Conqueror, and continuing through King Charles II in early versions, and King George II in later versions. The ballad, according to Giles Bergel, dates back to an initial publication of 1634. Copies of the ballad can be found at the British Library and Magdalene College. Online facsimiles of the text are also available for public consumption.
"The Lamentable and Tragical History of Titus Andronicus,"also called"Titus Andronicus' Complaint," is a ballad from the 17th century about the fictional Roman general, Titus, and his revenge cycle with the Queen of the Goths. Events in the ballad take place near the end of the Roman Empire, and the narrative of the ballad parallels the plot of William Shakespeare's play Titus Andronicus. Scholarly debate exists as to which text may have existed first, the ballad or the play. The ballad itself was first entered on the Stationers' Register in 1594, the same year the play was entered. Surviving copies of the ballad can be found in the British Library, in the Huntington Library, and at Magdalene College, Cambridge. Online copies of the facsimiles are also available for public consumption at sites such as the English Broadside Ballad Archive.
Cromwell's Panegyrick is a printed English broadside ballad composed in the year 1647. Copies of it are in collections including the British Library, Society of Antiquaries, The National Archives, Huntington Library, and the National Library of Scotland. Online facsimiles of the ballad are available online for public consumption. Though the ballad's title claims to be a panegyric, it quickly becomes a mock-panegyric, taking the theme of praise and turning it on its head. In this way, the ballad becomes more of a satire as opposed to a true panegyric. For instance, though it describes in part Cromwell's role in the Second English Civil War, which broke out officially in 1648, it also mentions how large and bulbous Cromwell's nose was: "Well may his Nose, that is dominicall, / Take pepper int." The ballad undercuts all of Cromwell's accomplishments in the military, and goes so far as to claim – as many did of Cromwell in the 1640s and 50s – that he was an individual motivated purely by a desire for power and kingship, thus painting him in a Machiavellian light.
A new loyal song, upon King William's Progress into Ireland is an English broadside ballad believed to have been composed roughly around the 1690s. Online facsimiles of the ballad, as well as recordings of the ballad sung in its original tune, are available for public consumption. The ballad praises the future exploits William III of England will make in Ireland, specifically at the Battle of Boyne. Though the ballad is believed to have been composed around 1690, just one year after William deposed James II of England, the title of the ballad makes clear the fact that the composer was a supporter of William and his Glorious Revolution.
The Wandering Jew is an English broadside ballad dating back to the late 17th century. The ballad, subtitled "The Shoemaker of JERUSALEM. Who lived Jesus Christ was Crucified, and by him appointed to Wander till his Coming Again," tells the story of the legendary figure of the Wandering Jew, his interaction with Jesus Christ, and his subsequent eternal wanderings. Variations in the text reveal a stronger sense of Anti-Semitism in the ballad. Copies of the ballad can be found at the National Library of Scotland, the British Library, and the Huntington Library. Online facsimiles of the ballad are also available for public consumption at the UCSB English Broadside Ballad Archive.
A Voyage to Virginia is an English broadside ballad. Although surviving copies of the broadside date back to the late 17th century, the ballad could have been available in the early to mid-17th century. The ballad is told from the point of view of a soldier, who is saying farewell to his love, Betty. Copies of the broadside can be found at the British Library, the National Library of Scotland, and Magdelene college.
Robin Hood and Little John is Child ballad 125. It is a story in the Robin Hood canon which has survived as, among other forms, a late seventeenth-century English broadside ballad, and is one of several ballads about the medieval folk hero that form part of the Child ballad collection, which is one of the most comprehensive collections of traditional English ballads.
Packington's Pound is an English Broadside ballad that dates back, roughly, to the last quarter of the 16th century. It is most recognized by its tune, and, in fact, more tunes were set to "Packington's Pound" than ballads named "Packington's Pound." Claude Simpson in "The British Broadside Ballad and its Music" writes: "This [Packington's Pound] is the most popular single tune associated with ballads before 1700." Extant copies of the ballad can be found at the Huntington Library, the Pepys Library,and the National Library of Scotland.
England's Happiness in the Crowning of William and Mary is an English broadside ballad composed in 1689 and takes as its primary focus the coronation of William III of England and Mary II of England. William III and Mary II's coregency began in February 1689 when the Convention Parliament, summoned by William after his invasion of England in 1689, offered him the crown. Though this ballad never comments explicitly on William and Mary's 1689 penning of the English Bill of Rights, it nevertheless focuses heavily on one specific component of the act, namely the reestablishment of Protestant liberty, as William III and Mary II were both Protestants: "For a Protestant King and a Protestant Queen, / The like in old England long time hath not been."
England's Triumph, Or, The Kingdom's Joy for the proclaiming of King William and His Royal Consort, Queen Mary, in the Throne of England, on the 13th. of this instant February. 1688, or simply England's Triumph, is an English broadside ballad composed in 1689. As the title suggests, the ballad takes as its primary focus the coronation of William III of England and his consort Mary II of England, which took place in February 1689. William III and Mary II's coregency marked the end of the Glorious Revolution and the reign of James II of England. The coregency also brought about a shift in the religious paradigm of 17th-century England, which was Roman Catholic when James II sat upon the throne. Indeed, the ballad comments on the "vile pop'ry" that ruled the throne prior to the rule of William III, which saw the restoration of Protestant liberty. Extant copies of the ballad are available at Magdelene College in the Pepys Library. Alternatively, online facsimiles of the ballad are available online for public consumption.
The English Broadside Ballad Archive (EBBA) is a digital library of 17th-century English Broadside Ballads, a project of the English Department of the University of California, Santa Barbara. The project archives ballads in multiple accessible digital formats.
References
- ↑ Hinds, Kathryn (2001), Medieval England, Marshall Cavendish, p. 44, ISBN 0-7614-0308-6.
- ↑ English Broadside Ballad Archive
- ↑ Ballad's transcribed text
- ↑ Full text of Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur
- ↑ Full text of the Arthurian Romances of Chrétien de Troyes
- ↑ see http://d.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/text/geoffrey
- ↑ "EBBA 34079 - UCSB English Broadside Ballad Archive". ebba.english.ucsb.edu. Retrieved 26 December 2019.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
- ↑ "Order of the Garter" Encyclopedia Americana XII. New York: Encyclopedia Americana Corp. 1919. p. 300.