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
