Page:The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, Volume 09.djvu/13



delay of the publication of this Ninth Part of the English and Scottish Ballads has been occasioned partly by disturbances of health, but principally by the necessity of waiting for texts. It was notorious that there was a considerable number of ballads among the papers of Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe, and it was an important object to get possession of these, the only one of the older collections (with a slight exception) which I had not had in my hands. An unexpected opportunity occurred upon the sale of Sharpe's manuscripts last year. All the ballads, including, besides loose sheets, several sets of pieces, were secured by Mr Macmath, and turned over to me (mostly in transcripts made by his own hand) with that entire devotion to the interests of this undertaking which I have had so frequent occasion to signalize. A particularly valuable acquisition was the "old lady's complete set of ballads," mentioned by Scott in his correspondence with Sharpe, which was the original of most of the pieces in the Skene MS.

This Ninth Part completes the collection of English and Scottish ballads to the extent of my knowledge of sources, saving that William Tytler's Brown-MS. has not been recovered. Copies, from Mrs Brown's recitation, of all the pieces in this MS. are, however, elsewhere to be found, excepting in a single instance, and that of a ballad which is probably a variety of one or another here given in several forms (No 99 or No 158).

I have to thank Mr once more for his energetic and untiring co-operation; the Rev., of Sabine, for permission to make use of his ballad-gatherings; the Rev. , Mr , Mr , and Mr , for texts; Professor , of Leipzig, for the most liberal assistance in Slavic matters; Mr , of the University of Helsingfors, for a minute and comprehensive study of the Esthonian and Finnish forms of No 95; Dr Axel Olrik for Scandinavian texts and information relating thereto; Professor  for notes; and Mr , of Edinburgh, Dr , of Upsala, Miss , of London, Mr , of the Library of the University of Cambridge, Mr , late of Harvard College, and Mrs , for kind help of various descriptions.

It is intended that Part X (completing the work) shall contain a list of sources, a full and careful glossary, an index of titles and matters and other indexes, and a general preface.