"
This is a very _hobbling_ version (from the recitation of a "gipsy
vagabond") of a ballad frequently reprinted. It first appeared in Ramsay's
_Tea-Table Miscellany_; afterwards in Finlay's and Chambers' Collections.
None of these versions were known to Mr. Sheldon.
I have now extracted enough from the _Minstrelsy of the English Border_ to
show the mode of "ballad editing" as pursued by Mr. Sheldon. The instances
are sufficient to strengthen my position.
One of the most popular traditional ballads still {51} floating about the
country, is "King Henrie the Fifth's Conquest:"--
"As our King lay musing on his bed,
He bethought himself upon a time,
Of a tribute that was due from France,
Had not been paid for so long a time."
It was first printed from "oral communication," by Sir Harris Nicolas, who
inserted two versions in the Appendix to his _History of the Battle of
Agincourt_, 2d edition, 8vo. 1832. It again appeared (not from either of
Sir Harris Nicolas's copies) in the Rev. J.C. Tyler's _Henry of Monmouth_,
8vo. vol. ii. p. 197. And, lastly, in Mr. Dixon's _Ancient Poems, Ballads,
and Songs of the Peasantry of England_, printed by the Percy Society in
1846.
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