# Political Ballads of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries/Volume 1/Preface

Nearly one hundred and fifty years have elapsed since the last Collection of State Poems was published. And that collection, which was comprised originally in two, but afterwards augmented to four volumes, relates only to a period of our history extending over little more than half a century—namely, from the usurpation of Cromwell to the accession of Queen Anne. But for the fact that the volumes in question are “by various hands,” and therefore represent more fully than any others the satirical wit of the limited period to which they refer, they would scarcely deserve a passing notice, so very partial and inaccurate are the contents of them. They contain, moreover, few political ballads, properly so called; but consist almost entirely of long and insipid “poems,” chiefly from the pens of Buckingham, Rochester, and other exalted personages, who exercised in their day considerable ​influence about the Court, and in the government of the country, and who, rather as an exercise of a supposed necessary accomplishment than from any baser motive, occasionally amused themselves with ridiculing the foibles of majesty, and exposing the intrigues of their rivals for his confidence. Such writers are manifestly no exponents of the popular mind: the vast majority of their compositions have long since fallen into neglect, almost oblivion, and are never likely again to interest, much less influence, any class of readers.
Whilst every other department of literature has been thoroughly explored, amplified, and variously illustrated, our modern Political Songs and Ballads—the best popular illustrations of history—constitute the solitary exception to the general rule. Two causes in particular may be assigned for the singular indifference with which such compositions have been hitherto treated. In the first place, they are so diffusely scattered as to render hopeless any attempt by a single individual to make, if such a thing were desirable, an entire collection of them, or indeed any approximation to it; and secondly, their rarely possessing any literary merit.
There are, however, few compositions more ​interesting in themselves, or that offer more valuable material to the historical inquirer, than these ephemeral productions. Referring to an age less fastidious in its tastes and expressions than our own, too many of them, it cannot be denied, are not only faulty in construction, but also objectionable in matter. Yet these are not the only criteria by which they should be judged. The ordinary rules of criticism, indeed, do not apply to them. They are the emphatic songs of a liberty-loving people; they contain the out-pourings of unconquerable spirits, the unequivocal sentiments of resolute men; in a word, they are the rude but most expressive monuments of the great political struggles in which our jealous ancestors were engaged; and on that account they merit, if not our critical admiration, at all events deliverance from absolute oblivion. In the absence of these artless effusions, our social history would be incomplete. They exhibit as well the manners as the feelings of past generations. The student, by looking narrowly into them, may oftentimes be enabled to deduce most important conclusions respecting the origin and issue of former insurrections and factions; just in the same manner as the geologist, who, detecting on the surface of ​the sedimentary rock the latent impressions of some primeval storm, or the footprints of races long extinct, determines the course of the one and the character of the other.
“The popular songs of a nation (remarks an able writer on Political Literature) constitute one of the most palpable manifestations of its political feelings and sympathies; and this is more strikingly the case, if other legitimate channels for the expression of public sentiment be choked or dried up by the repressive hand of power. The song-writer is an ubiquitous and privileged character. He pursues his avocation in the family circle, in the workshop, in the tavern, at the gay festival, in the squalid alley, in the barrack-room, and in the mess-room of the sailor. His strains are hearty, bold, and genial; the embodiment of thought, emotion, and melody. The popular song is easy, simple, and born of the incidents of the day. It is the intellectual personification of the feelings and opinions of a people. It is the delight of the multitude, the joy and solace of the many. It laughs in derision at despotic power, lightens the social burdens of life, and inspires the patriot with hope. Of the popular satirical song much has been written, but nothing ​definitely settled. There is a schism among critics on its nature and character. It is a compound of delicate essences and incommunicable graces which bids defiance to definition. But we know that popular songs must be the energetic and faithful transcripts of general experience and feelings. Their necessary characteristics are fancy, passion, dramatic effect, rapidity, and pathos. They are not transferable; the popular satire and humour of one country cannot be adequately relished by another; nor, in the fame country, are such productions so influential on public opinion in subsequent periods of its history, as when they first appeared. Time blunts the instrument, and deadens the national perceptions of the witty and ridiculous.”
The real value and importance of such ephemeral productions may be best discerned in the volumes of the late Lord Macaulay, the only native historian who has thought them worthy of his particular study and use. It is no disparagement to the literary fame of that distinguished writer, to affirm that they have imparted to his pages a vitality which the profoundest knowledge of the principles of human action, combined with the greatest erudi​tion and the highest defcriptive powers, could never have effected without them. It was from these long-neglected picture-writings of great historical scenes, and of the celebrated individuals who are crowded in them—“in their habit as they lived”—that he derived so much of his wonderfully minute knowledge of all that related to the stirring times of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. To these despised and inexhaustible sources of information, he was principally indebted for his life-like delineations of character; for his descriptions of popular commotions; and, not unfrequently, for his knowledge of the motives by which public men were actuated, at particular conjunctures, in their conduct.
The admirable use made of them by Lord Macaulay, in his historical fragment and essays, has suggefted the idea of collecting and republishing the following specimens. They have been gleaned from exceedingly rare (not a few, I believe, unique) single-sheets and broadsides, old manuscripts, and contemporary journals, in the national and other libraries. A few have been extracted from very scarce volumes, which were published at the close of the seventeenth or early in the eighteenth century; and fewer still have been derived from more ​modern books, in order to give a greater completeness to the series. Thus by far the larger portion will be entirely new to the generality of readers.
In my selection of the Ballads I have been guided (so far, that is, as the limited means at my disposal would admit) by a desire to reproduce such only as are particularly characteristic or illustrative of the periods to which they respectively refer; and, at the same time are not unfitted to meet the general eye. Licentiousness, unfortunately, as every literary antiquary knows, is the rule rather than the exception with this class of popular compositions.
It is almost unnecessary to state that the names of the various parties alluded to in these pages are rarely to be found in the original broadsides, or in the early volumes whence they have been obtained. Sometimes names of individuals have been omitted altogether, at others their initials only have been given, for reasons too obvious to mention. In restoring them (which was by no means the leafs onerous part of my editorial labours), without the usual distinguishing brackets, I have been led to do so simply to avoid fatiguing the eye of the reader, and disfiguring almost every page with very needless ​additions. As a guarantee, however, for accuracy in these important respects, I beg to assure the reader that, in every doubtful instance, I have never relied exclusively upon my own judgment, but invariably have sought that of some literary friend better qualified than myself to solve the difficulty. I feel confident, therefore, that no error of the kind referred to will be detected in the following pages.
My original intention was to include in the present collection the most celebrated political ballads referring to the reigns of the last two Georges; but finding my prescribed limits would not admit of anything like justice being done to them, I have been reluctantly compelled to abandon that part of my scheme. Should, however, the present series happily meet with the approbation of the public, I shall furnish with pleasure the remaining instalment, in the shape of an additional volume.
London, October, 1860.