The PRE FACE.

THE Reader is here prefented with felect remains of our ancient English Bards and Minstrels, an order of men who were once greatly refpected by our ancestors, and contributed to foften the roughness of a martial and uplettered people by their fongs and by their mufic.

The greater part of them are extracted from an ancient folio manufcript, in the Editor's poffeffion, which contains near 200 poems, fongs, and metrical romances. This MS. was written about the middle of the last century, but contains compofitions of all times and dates, from the ages prior to Chaucer, to the conclufion of the reign of Charles 1.

This manufcript was fhown to feveral learned and ingenious friends, who thought the contents too curious to be configned to oblivion, and importuned the poffeffor to felect fome of them, and give them to the prefs. As most of them are of great fimplicity, and feem to have been merely written for the people, he was long in doubt, whether, in the present ftate of improved literature, they could be deemed worthy the attention of the public. At length the importunity of his friends prevailed, and he could refufe nothing to fuch judges as the author of the RAMBLER, and the late Mr. SHENSTONE.

Accordingly fuch fpecimens of ancient poetry have been felected, as either fhew the gradation of cur language, exhibit the progrefs of popular opinions, difplay the peculiar manners and cuftoms of former ages, or throw light on our earlier classical poets.

They

They are here diftributed into THREE VOLUMES, each of which contains an independent SERIES of poems, arranged chiefly according to the order of time, and fhowing the gradual improvements of the English language and poetry from the earlieft ages down to the prefent. Each VOLUME, or SERIES, is divided into three BOOKS, to afford fo many pauses, or refting-places to the Reader, and to affift him in diftinguishing between the productions of the earlier, the middle, and the latter times.

In a polished age, like the prefent, I am fenfible that many of these reliques of antiquity will require great allowances to be made for them. Yet have they, for the most part, a pleafing fimplicity, and many artless graces, which in the opinion of no mean critics* have been thought to compenfate for the want of higher beauties, and if they do not dazzle the imagination, are frequently found to intereft the heart.

To atone for the rudeness of the more obfolete poems, each volume concludes with a few modern attempts in the fame kind of writing: And to take off from the tedioufnefs of the longer narratives, they are every where intermingled with little elegant pieces of the lyric kind. Select ballads in the old Scottish dialect, moft of them of the first-rate merit, are also interfperfed among thofe of our ancient English Minstrels : and the artlefs productions of thefe old rhapfodifts, are occafionally confronted with specimens of the compofition of contemporary poets of a higher clafs: of those who had all the advantages of learning in the times in which they lived, and who wrote for fame and for pofterity. Yet perhaps the palm will be frequently due to the old trolling Minitrels, who compofed their rhimes to be fung to their harps, and who looked no farther

* Mr. ADDISON, Mr. DRYDEN, and the witty Lord DORSET, &c. See the Spectator, No. 70. To these might be added many eminent judges now alive.- The learned SELDEN appears alfo to have been fond of collecting these old things. See below,

farther than for prefent applaufe, and prefent fubsist

ence.

The Reader will find this clafs of men occafionally deferibed in the following volumes, and fome particulars relating to their hillory in an Effay fubjoined to this preface.

It will be proper here to give a fhort account of the other collections that were confulted, and to make my acknowledgments to thofe gentlemen, who were so kind as to impart extracts from them: for while this felection was making, a great number of ingenious friends took a fhare in the work, and explored many large repofitories in its favour.

The first of thefe that deferved notice was the Pepyfian library at Magdalen College, Cambridge. Its founder, SAM. PEPYS, Efq; fecretary of the Admiralty in the reigns of Charles II. and James II. had made a large collection of ancient English ballads, near 2000 in number, which he has left pafted in five volumes in folio; befides Garlands and other fmaller mifcellanies, This collection he tells us was "Begun by Mr. SELDEN; improved by the addition of many 68. pieces elder thereto in time; and the whole conti"nued down to the year 1700; when the form peculiar till then thereto, viz. of the black Letter with pictures, feems (for cheapnéfs fake) wholly laid afide for that of the white Letter without pictures." In the Afhmole Library at Oxford is a small collection of ballads made by Anthony Wood in the year 1676, containing fomewhat more than 2co. 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

A life of our curious collector Mr. PEPYS, may be seen in "The continuation of Mr. Collier's Supplement to his Great Diction "1715, at the end of vol. 3d folio. Art. PEP.

folio volumes, digefted under the feveral reigns of Hen. viii, Edw. vi, Mary, Elizabeth, James I. &c.

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

From all these fome of the beft pieces were felected, and from many private collections, as well printed, as manufcript: particularly from one large folio volume which was lent by a lady.

Amid fuch a fund of materials, the Editor is afraid he has been fometimes led to make too great a parade of his authorities. The defire of being accurate has perhaps feduced him into too minute and trifling an exactnefs; and in pursuit of information he may have been drawn into inany a petty and frivolous research. It was however neceffary to give fome account of the old copies, tho' often for the fake of brevity one or two of thefe only are mentioned, where yet affiftance was received from feveral *. Where any thing was al tered that deferved particular notice, the paffage is diftinguished by two inverted commas'. And the Editor has endeavoured to be as faithful, as the imperfect ftate of his materials would admit: for these old popular rhymes have, as might be expected, been handed down to us with lefs care, than any other writings in the world.

The plan of the work was fettled in concert with the late elegant Mr. SHENSTONE, who was to have borne a joint fhare in it had not death unhappily prevented him: Most of the modern pieces were of his felection and arrangement, and the Editor hopes to be pardoned if he has retained fome things out of partiality to the judgment of his friend. The large MS. collection of poems was a prefent from HUMPHREY PITT, Efq; of Prior's-Lee, in Shropshire, to whom this public aç- knowledgment

* Thus in Book I. No. IV. of this vol. one MS. only is mentioned, tho' fome additional stanzas were recovered from another fragment: and this has fometime been the cafe elsewhere.

knowledgment is due for that, and many other obliging favours. To Sir DAVID DALRYMPLE, Bart. of Hales, near Edinburgh, the Editor is indebted for most of the beautiful Scottish poems, with which this fittle mifcellany is enriched, and for many curious and elegant remarks with which they are illuftrated. Some obliging communications of the fame kind were received from Mr. JOHN MCGOWAN, of Edinburgh: and many curious explanations of Scottish words in the gloffaries from Mr. JOHN DAVIDSON, of Edinburgh, and from the Rev. Mr. HUTCHINSON, of Kimbolton. Mr. WARTON, who at prefent does fo much honour to the Poetry Profeffor's chair at Oxford, and Mr. HEST of Worcester College, contributed fome curious pieces from the Oxford libraries. Two ingenious and learned, friends at Cambridge deferve the Editor's warmeft acknowledgments: to Mr. BLAKEWAY, late fellow of Magdalen College, he owes all the affiftance received from the Pepyfian library and Mr. FARMER, fellow of Emanuel, often exerted in favour of this little work, that extenfive knowledge of ancient English literature for which he is so diftinguished*. Many extracts from ancient MSS. in the British Museum and other repofitories, were owing to the kind fervices of Mr. ASTLE, to whom the public is indebted for the curious Preface and Index lately annexed to the Harleian catalogue. The worthy Librarian of the Society of Antiquaries, deferves acknowledgment for the obliging manner in which he gave the Editor accefs to the volumes under his care. In Mr. GARRICK's curious collection of old plays are many scarce pieces of ancient poetry, with the

To the fame ingenious friend the Editor is indebted for many corrections and improvements in this SECOND Edition: as alfo to the Rev. Mr. BowLE of Idmerston near Salisbury; to the Rev. Mr. COLE of Blecheley near Fenny-Stratford, Bucks; to the Rev. Mr. LAMBE of Noreham in Northumberland (author of a curious "Hiftory of Chefs." 1764. 8vo.) and to fome other gentleman in the north.