"I commenced sometime ago with an intention of making a collection
of Old Ballads, but when I had sought after them in places where I
expected to find them, namely, the hayfield and the shepherd's hut
on the pasture, I found that nearly all those old and beautiful
recollections had vanished as so many old fashions, and those who
knew fragments seemed ashamed to acknowledge it, as old people who
sung old songs only sung to be laughed at; and those who were proud
of their knowledge in such things knew nothing but the senseless
balderdash that is bawled over and sung at country feasts, statutes
and fairs, where the most senseless jargon passes for the greatest
excellence, and rudest indecency for the finest wit. So the matter
was thrown by, and forgotten, until last winter, when I used to
spend the long evenings with my father and mother, and heard them by
accident hum over scraps of the following old melodies, which I have
collected and put into their present form."
Two of the collection are omitted from this volume: the well-known
ballad of "Lord Randall," and a second the subject of which appeared
to render its inclusion inexpedient.