Star.
London, England, 1822-09-06 00:00:00

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ZNGLISK BALLAD-SINGERS.

(From the New Monthly Magazine.).

The minstrels were once a great and flourishing
body in England. 134 their(digntty,being interwoven
with the illusory splendours of feudal institutions, de-.
clinetLin proportion to the advance of moral cultiva- '
tion : they became in time vulgar Mountebanks and
jugglers, and in the reign of,Elizabeth—the reign of
robust intellect—they were , absolutely suppressed as
rogues and, vagabonds. • Banished from the streets
and highways, they fled to alehouses, anclfollowed the•
trades of fiddlers and.pipers: minstrelsy was no longer
known iu England. The instruments so long in use
by this order of musicians would now astonish by
• their slumber and the rudeness of their plan and
fa'aric. There has not been 'for an age any trace of:
this peculiar order, if we except the instance of a than
well known in Derbyshire, who appeared at the close
of the last century in the streets of the Metropolis
Is ith the, canister and string*, singing the fine old
ballad of Lord Thomas aiid-fair Eleanor. From.the
earliest times songs were chanted in 'our streets; but
before the reign of Elizabeth, they were invariably
accoinpanied by the sound of soine tousical instru-
ment. The suppression of the minstrel order was fol-
lowed, by the rise of the ballad-singers—La race that
relied for success exclusively on the merits of their
voices. This revolution, tlwegh a curious part 'of
knowledge, is scarcely 'distinguished, or not alleged
•with sufficient stress, in most of our histories of litera-
. ture.-t -'llre,subjects of many of the songs banded
down by the-minstrels, were still held in honour:by
the ballad-singers. The feats of Clym of the Clough,
Randle of Chester, and Sir Topaz, grown faded under
,the keepijig of the minstrels, were now refreshed and
,brought 'wore boldly before the sense in. the new
version. Robin Hood had his honours enlarged
under the new dynasty—more maidens, more heroes
than ever, wept tit and were inspired by the history
of his. fortunes. -I)rayton's 'allusion to the propaga-
tion of Robin's fame may give an idea of the diffu-
sion of the ballad-singers:
" In this our. spacious isle I think there is not one
- But he bath heard some talk of him and little John ;
And to the end of time the tales shall ne'er be done
Of Scarlock,'Grorge-a-Greee,*and Muck the Miller's son !"
The 'new. race,-the ballad-singers—started with a
fellaisle,of•popularity : they had.the glory of being
-opposed by, and-triumphing over the unanimous hos-
tlity of the votaries of the Muses from the highest to
the least worthy. The poets of the first rata. con-
' fes*d their uneasiness at the success of the innovators.
Of this fact we have abundant evidence in Spencer's
Tears of the Muses—and even the supremeShakspeare
himself would bring their calling into contempt
It is worth while to attend to the grounds of differ:.
once bet wren the mitistiels and their more simple sue-
cesSors. :Ile forrner,.were the creatures of feudal
yasiiy, and followed the fate of some very wicked
notions of government both domestic and politic—
the ballad-singers addressed themselves to the people.
They courted: no obligation from the rich—they wore
..,,,so livery of the great—they moved in independence—
the-members of . a pure democratic institution. The
times had .passed away when the wonted phrase of
subset viency at the beginning of each song, " Fair
loidynges and ladies all," &c. was to be heard.§ But
the ballad singers ,did not enjoy alone empty popu-
latity,, as. may, be understood from the perseverance
of the old singers, and the number of candidates that
yearly sought refuge in the profession from the risks
of a more uncertain state of life. One of the most
popular singers of this early time was a boy; who,
from the character of his voice and manner, is dis-
tinguished by the name of Outroaring Dick ; an epi-
thet .as honestly bestowed as anY descriptive com-
pound on any hero in Greek or Latin story. He was
bred to a mechanical employment; but he had a
voice, the possession. of which would teach a less en-
terprizing spir it•to aspire above all the gross toils of
handicraft. His success .was as permanent in the end
as it was steady in its growth. He first renounced
the mechanical life; in time his prosperity enabled
him to confine his journeys of business to the adjacent
counties—the home circuit—and the decline of his
life was spent in the dignified repose of an amateur.—
His earnings, according to Mr. Wharton, amounted to
about 105. a day: he was well known thrimghout Es-
sex, and was not missed for many, years from the great
fair of Braintree. But Cheeke, for such was his real
name, was haunted in the midst of his glory by a rival.
Will Wimbsrs had a voice quite of as much com-
pass and .flexibility, but nut of as much pathos as
Dick. Dick was the more popular man of the two ;
he consulted times and tastes, and had a greater oar
viety of songs; Wimbats had a select list, from which
Ise never departed. Cheeke was free and easy, and
had a tuna for the humorous; his rival was all for dole-
ful tragedies. The former was sought as a compas
nion, the latter pleased best in the public exercise qt
his talents.o But the-most universally esteemed balk
lad-singer of his age was Mat Nash, a man from the
" North Countrie, - the "„icing of ballad-singers, as it
had. been formetly of•the minstrels. Nash had a mas-
euline.weiserneot style:All the Border ballads he bad
nearly spade his. Own; 'by the force and enthusiasm of
his manner-of singing them. His." Hunts up,"asong
which obtained for the author so much favour in-a
former reign,- was one of his most celebrated !Aria,'
But undotibtedly his forte was the famous otd'ballad
of,Clsevy Chaet•then called the Hunting of Cheriot.
This wosahe song *hill ;Sir Philip Sidney declaied
snowed his heort more than a trumpet.
If instead of thea' blind Crowder, with no rougfiet
• This was one or the in*truments in use among, the tutolenj
• minstaels*Dr. Percy gives a envious' list of them. - ,
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t. Pry Persy inakes.no distinctiow betimes the minstrels so
the balead-apsuts.kfts.jivee 4T proper from Puttenharn, an ass.
sLurtif henry VlTltit 'stole, WitJb ill TiriFw, to chicidatv *me
of ballad-singing, and this very passage.Li cited b .)%11:.
iis .4i plehiii ertie•Fligl4ll minstrel of th. eAsys of ' '
(Pmstenteltn.) - . -
t die et' tile'reh of the ialtwasAiyitiviii ~ 4 ': :Is*
other as•eompfaining of** Rennie ma& by the,
« When I was looVd upon:* ',says he • •!_there,;aUtiltstitgfii
of that idle ilipitlik see'eradoa of ballititgei,-04 '
i - - Areli)fe-
nicely chanec.& in' rvery,Street , and fre • oni overire4
Essen and th'e' ?hill% s!ntntles.'°—(Vidi
...erten a acssapt. of
Monday, !id rot: , . • • • •
• S Their is asi,netter Criterion of the rising linpaete44-0 the
People in these-lisys than,this, that the great awetary Ceita
made a cone:L.4oh of vulgar ballad's in order to 4stertalu.thOffit,
ler ~,i tartipt4o4-:pcf6n uhf Oat,more solid chisel . ~fit
.sbeer the " Whitt of she tittles* ittell as sliagtdi a -iii•.
and Irietchef SattntSit)iiist t isy, thAe sit 4 Fouittep;
4 .4
Ulla. er s'eferfets,* tired little *to 1s le the reit
. 1 Mr. *fling in e)thie thilie..P4ll.3l. iiiiii t'W
bilis- Poetry, estts inane of she peon!

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