American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (ASECS)

The Popular Marketing of "Old Ballads": The Ballad Revival and Eighteenth-Century
Antiquarianism Reconsidered
Author(s): Dianne Dugaw
Source: Eighteenth-Century Studies, Vol. 21, No. 1 (Autumn, 1987), pp. 71-90
Published by: Johns Hopkins University Press . Sponsor: American Society for
Eighteenth-Century Studies (ASECS) .
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 The Popular
Marketing of "Old
Ballads":The Ballad
Revivaland
Eighteenth-Century
Antiquarianism
Reconsidered

DIANNE DUGAW

As IT IS CURRENTLY UNDERSTOOD, the ballad revivalemergedin

eighteenth-century Englandas an activityof the scholarlyand lit-
eraryelite. Writerssuch as Percy,Ritson,Prior,Goldsmith,and
Scottadmired,collected,and commenteduponold ballads to fulfill
an antiquarianagenda. For them,these ballads wereremnantsof
an earlierstageinthenation'sliterature and history,
and exemplified
the untainted,untutoredgeniusof the Englishpeople.Approached
as theexclusiveactivityofpolitecircles,antiquarianism-theballad
revivalin particular-is notbelievedto have affectedthe common
people themselves,whose songsand storiescontinuedto circulate
in oral tradition,
filledthestallsof broadsideprinters,and provided
literaryantiquarianswiththesubjectsfortheirstudy.AlbertFried-
man,forexample,pointedlyexcludesthepossibility thattheballad
revivalwas feltat the popularlevel:

By "balladrevival"we usuallymeana revivalof interest in theballad

similarin natureto theMiltonic,Spenserian, and Elizabethanrevivals.
... an openlyacknowledged in theballadon thesophisticated
interest
level.... [Friedman'semphasis]Paradoxically,then,theballadrevival
did notreallyaffecteitherthestallor folkballads,butonlytheliterary

71

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72 EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY
STUDIES

world'sperception
ofthem,andinnosolidsensecan thisphenomenon
be
considereda revival.1

However, as I willshow,theballadrevivalwasnotconfined to"the

sophisticated level,"as Friedman butin factflourished
insists, on
thepopularlevelas well.Trainedonlytoviewliterary culturefrom
thetopdown,modern scholarshaveoverlooked thesignificant pop-
ularityof"ancient"balladsin thelowbrow streetliterature
soldin
eighteenth-century printers'stalls.Thefactis,ordinary people,who
did notbelongto whatFriedmancalls the"literary world,"pur-
chasedballadsmarketedexplicitly fortheirhistorical and anti-
quarianvalue.Indeed,we can findin eighteenth-century streetlit-
erature an appreciation forandrevivalofoldsongswhosesupposed
antiquitywastheirprimeselling point.Thiscommercial andpopular
appreciation forold balladsparallelsandactuallyreciprocates the
literaryantiquarianism at thepolitelevel,whichscholarshaveal-
waysemphasized.
Thefirst antiquarian collection
ofballadswasan anonymous eigh-
teenth-century worksituated midway between thepoliteandpopular
audiences-somewouldsaytilteddecidedly towardthelatter.The
first
volumeofA Collection of Old Ballads waspublished in 1723
by JamesRoberts,thelargestjob-printer in Londonat thetime,
and thesame publisher whoprinted manyof thepamphlets and
novelsof Daniel Defoe and Eliza Haywood.2 A compendium of
"antiquesongswritten Agesago,"thiscollection immediately be-
camea bestseller, toall appearances oneofthemostpopularbooks
of the 1720s.Alreadyin thefirst year,VolumeOne soldoutand
wentintoa secondeditiononlytwomonths afterthepublication of
the firstedition.As thefulltitleof VolumeOne announces, the

'AlbertFriedman,The Ballad Revival:Studies in theInfluenceof Popular on

Sophisticated
Poetry(Chicago:Univ.ofChicagoPress,1961),pp.9-10.Forother
examplesofthisapproach,
see SigurdB. Hustvedt,
Ballad CriticisminScandi-
navia and Great Britainduringthe EighteenthCentury(New York: American
Scandinavian
Foundation,
1916;London:Oxford
University
Press,1916),passim.;
HenryA. Beers,A Historyof English Romanticismin the EighteenthCentury
(NewYork:HenryHolt,1898;rptNew York:Gordian,1966),pp. 265-305;and
BertramH. Davis,ThomasPercy(Boston:Twayne, 1981),pp.72-108and125-39.
2ACollection
ofOldBallads,3 Vols.(London:J.Roberts,1723-1725).Volumes
OneandTwoofthefirst editionofthisanonymously publishedworkappearedin
1723,VolumeThreein 1725.Fordiscussion of Roberts,see MichaelTreadwell,
"LondonTradePublishers1675-1750,"TheLibrary, SixthSeries,Vol.4 (1982):
99-134.

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 THE POPULAR MARKETING OF OLD BALLADS 73

collectionwascommitted fromthestartto an antiquarian agenda:

A Collectionof Old Ballads. Corrected fromthebestand most
Ancient CopiesExtant.WithIntroductions Historical,Critical,or
Humorous.Awarethattheostensible antiquity ofhisballadswas
sellingthecollection, theanonymous editor, laterin thefirst year,
brought out a secondvolume which contained"Songs, more An-
tique,anduponfarolderSubjects"thanthoseinthefirst. Thethird
volumewasaddedin 1725,a thirdeditionofVolumeOne in 1727,
and,by 1738,theentirethree-volume collectionappearedin a sec-
ondedition.3
As thecommercial successofA Collection ofOldBalladsattests,
alreadyin the 1720speoplequitebelow"thesophisticated level"
appreciated a workthatdrewattention to theantiquity andhistor-
ical valueof ballads,a workmanifestly antiquarian in character.
Theanonymous editorcreatedthisantiquarian character inA Col-
lectionof Old Ballads bywriting longandself-consciously learned
headnotesto individualballads.Theseprefatory remarkssupply
anecdotesand oftenelaborateemendations to theballadstoriesas
wellas discussions oftheirorigins,style,and factualauthenticity.
In his introductions,theeditorstressestwoprincipalthemes:(1)
the supposedantiquity and historicityof the ballads,whichare
takenforthemostpartfromlate seventeenth-century broadsides
andgarlands; and(2) thepedagogical valueoftheseverseheirlooms
whichhelpto preserve thenation'shistory.
A Collection ofOldBalladspresents within itsantiquarian frame-
worka varietyof seventeenth-century streetballad wares.Long
narrative songsdepictthetrials,tribulations, and occasionalvic-
toriesofhistorical
figures:"A Lamentable BalladofFairRosamund,
KingHenrytheSecond'sConcubine," "QueenEleanor'sConfes-
sion,""The Lamentation ofJaneShore,""KingEdwardandJane
Shore,""ChevyChase,""TheSevenChampions ofChristendom,"
"QueenElizabeth'sChampion, theEarlofEssex,"andothersongs
on famousand not-so-famous personages in Englishhistory. Next,
thereareballadsofoutlaws likeRobinHoodandJohnny Armstrong,
and paeansto working-class heroeslikeDick Whittington and the

3Fora summary ofthepublishing history

ofA Collection of Old Ballads,see
ArthurE. Case,A Bibliography
ofEnglishPoeticalMiscellanies 1521-1750(Ox-
ford:Bibliographical
Society,1935 [for1929]),No. 326. The editor'spromiseof
"SongsmoreAntique"can be foundin A Collection of Old Ballads,I, 288.

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74 EIGHTEENTH-CENTURYSTUDIES

disadvantaged apprentice who"behavedchivalrously" in Turkey.

Finally,thethreevolumescontainshorter drinking and courtship
songs,manyofthemwitha Scottishflavor. In all,A Collection of
Old Ballads presents 159songtextswith45 engraved illustrations.
The attitude ofthemiddlebrow editortowardtheballadsin his
collectionis ambivalent and nota littlefacetious.If he indulges
himself fullyintheroleofantiquarian scholar,commenting at length
onthebackground, style,andsignificance oftheballadsbefore him,
he is also at timesutterly disingenuous in thiseditorialposture,
usingit humorously andsatirically. In hispreface, forexample,he
proclaims slylythat"severalfineHistorians are indebtedto His-
toricalBalladsforall theirLearning." Elsewhere, we detectin his
remarks humorous andironicallusions, orwefindthesolemnity of
elaborateand seemingly seriousheadnotes utterly undercut byri-
baldor far-fetched ballads.4
Muchof thisfacetiousness in A Collectionof Old Ballads ac-
tuallyplaysoffhighbrow literarydebatesof theday.In hisintro-
ductions,forexample,theeditoralludesto suchtopicsas thepas-
toralcontroversy, whichprompted thesatiresofPopeandGay,and
to thequarrelbetween theAncients andtheModerns, whichis the
context forAddison's Spectatorpapersonballadry.5 Thegreatpop-
ularityof A Collectionof Old Ballads actuallyshowsthat"so-
phisticated" literarydisputes, suchas thepastoralcontroversy-
and,as I willsuggest-theballadrevival, werenotbeyondtheken
of an ordinary readership. But,whatever thesignificance and re-
ceptionof the editor'sfacetiousness and literary references, the
advertisingannouncement for"Songs,moreAntique,anduponfar
olderSubjects"makesclearthattheeditor'santiquarian approach
wassellingthebook.Middlebrow bookbuyers ofthe1720swanted
theirballads"Antique":collectedtogether and couchedin a ret-

4Forthe referenceto historians, see Collectionof Old Ballads, I, vii. For ex-
amples of ironicjuxtapositionsof headnotesand ballads, see "The Dragon of
Wantley,"I, 37-42, and "The Scotch Lover's Lamentation:Or, Gilderoy'slast
Farewell,"I, 272-74.
'For an exampleof such literaryallusions,see the introduction
to "King Alfred
and the Shepherd,"I, 43-52. For Addison'sremarks,see The Spectator,No. 70
(May 21, 1711), No. 74 (May 25, 1711), and No. 85 (June7, 1711). For Pope's
unsignedand utterlyfacetiousdiscussionof the pastoral,see The Guardian,No.
40 (April 27, 1713). See also JohnGay's satireon the pastoral,The Shepherd's
Week(London:R. Burleigh,1714),whichthroughout makescomicaluse ofpopular
ballads.

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 THE POPULAR MARKETING OF OLD BALLADS 75

rospective framework ofdates,sources,analogues, andlearnedcom-

mentary.
If in the1720sthepublisher JamesRobertspresented to a mid-
levelreadership England'sfirst antiquarian treatment of "old bal-
lads" as culturalheirlooms, alreadybythe 1730sthisantiquarian
workwas plundered, and its contents and methodtakenoverby
unequivocally low-level printers:thebroadsideandchapbookpub-
lishers,WilliamandCluerDicey.In the1720s,WilliamDicey,joint
publisher ofTheNorthampton Mercury, beganprinting broadsides
andchapbooks, perhaps toprovide hiscustomers withproducts less
expensive thanhisnewspaper. Diceybeganthisballad-printing en-
terprise withan obviousindebtedness to A Collection of Old Bal-
lads: he deriveda good partof his earlyballad stockfromthe
anonymous 1723 collection,whosecontents he liberally filched-
texts,headnotes, and all.6
illustrations
Almostas soonas he beganpublishing ballads,WilliamDicey
expanded hisstreet business
literature bytaking overtheBowChurch
Yardprinting houseinLondon, whichhissonCluereventually made
thechapbookand broadsidecenterof thekingdom. wouldbe It
difficult to exaggeratethe Diceys'mid-century predominance in
balladprinting andstreetliterature ingeneral. Theybuiltforthem-
selvesa broadside andchapbookempirethatdominated thecheap
literature market untilthelastdecadesofthecentury. Diceysheets
and chapbookscirculated throughout theentirekingdom, soldby
booksellers and copiedbyprinters bothin Londonand elsewhere.
BywayofNorthampton andBowChurchYardbroadsides, theideas
andmaterials ofEngland's firstantiquarianballadcollection reached
a wideandapparently receptivelower-classreadership. In theeigh-
teenthcentury thecommonpeoplein thecountryside and in the
citypurchased songsthatwereunmistakably proffered as "antiques"

6Fordiscussion of the Diceys,see VictorE. Neuburg,"The Diceysand the

Chapbook Trade,"TheLibrary, 5thSeries,XXIV(1969):219-31.See also,Robert
S. Thomson, "TheDevelopment oftheBroadside BalladTradeandIts Influence
upontheTransmission ofEnglishFolksongs" (Ph.D. diss.,CambridgeUniversity,
1974),p. 92ff.Friedman's admirable studybriefly
acknowledges thefactofthe
Diceyborrowings (p. 152). However, becausehe assumesthatprinted and oral
songsarecompletely separatetraditions,
Friedman failstosee theimplications
of
theDiceyprints fortheBalladRevival.Fordiscussion ofthismisleading
separation
ofprinted andoraltraditions, see DianneM. Dugaw,"Anglo-American Folksong
Reconsidered:The Interface of Oral and WrittenForms,"Western Folklore43
(1984): 83-103.

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76 EIGHTEENTH-CENTURYSTUDIES

in the mannerof A Collection of Old Ballads. If Friedman'sre-

strictionof theballad revivalto theliteratiweretrue,we wouldnot
expectto findthe Dicey ballads appearingas theydo: sometimes
framedby scholarlycommentary and advertisedfortheirage and
historicity.
Northampton and Bow ChurchYard broadsidesnot onlymake
evidentthe Diceys' indebtednessto A Collection of Old Ballads
fortheirsongs,but also show how enthusiastically the broadside
and chapbookpublisherstookup the antiquarianapproachof the
collection.Often the Diceys actually revisedand elaboratedthe
facetiouseditorialcommentsofA Collection ofOldBallads,purg-
ing themof ironicimplicationsand reshapingthemfortheirown
earnestand practicaluse. In toutingthe pedagogicaland historical
value of his ballads,the editorof A Collection of Old Ballad pro-
claims in his introductory remarksthat thereare "Children,who
neverwould have learn'd to read, had theynot took a Delightin
poringover JaneShore,or Fair Rosamond."7 In the contextof
otherremarksinthepreface,thisobservation is,at theleast,playful.
However,in itsreappearanceon Dicey prints,itis notonlyreshaped
as an earnestrecommendation, butexpandedas well.In catalogues
and on singlesheets,theDiceysprescribetheirwares"For Children
to learn to read" in phrases that unmistakablyecho those in A
Collectionof Old Ballads. On theirbroadsidereissueof "Chevy
Chase" we findthe followingunironicelaborationof the deadpan
remarkson childrenand readingin the prefaceto A Collection of
Old Ballads:

NOTE: As theUse oftheseOld Songsis verygreat,inrespectthatmany

Childrenneverwouldhavelearn'dto Read had theynottooka delight
inporingoverJaneShore,orRobinHood,&c. whichhasinsensibly stole
intothema curiosityand Desireof ReadingotherthelikeStories,till
theyhaveimprov'd themselvesmorein a shorttimethanperhapsthey
wouldhavedonein someYearsat School:In orderstillto makethem
moreuseful,I promiseto affix inwhichI shallpointout
an Introduction,
whatis Fact and whatis Fictionin each Song;whichwill(as maybe
readilySuppos'd)givenotonlychildren,butPersonsofmoreripeYears
an insight
intotheReality,Intent,andDesign,as wellas manytimesthe

7Collectionof Old Ballads, I, vii.

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 OF OLD BALLADS
THE POPULARMARKETING 77

Authorand Timewhensucha Songwas made,whichhas nothitherto

beenexplain'd.8

Obviouslyindebtedto A Collectionof Old Ballads fortheirre-

marks,theDiceyspropose, in all seriousness,
thattheircustomers
appreciatethesearchaicballads,and indeedstudyand interpret
themquiteas earnestlyas BishopPercywas to studythemin the
1760s.In removingfromtheoriginal remarks all hintofirony,
the
Diceystransform themintoa sincererecommendation. Moreover,
in theirrevision
theyadd to theoriginalpassagetheirpromiseto
discoverthe"Timewhensucha Songwas made,"and to pursue
suchstylisticmatters
as "Reality,Intentand Design."9Conspicu-
ouslypurposeful,thisexpansionof theoriginalremarks actually
manifeststhesameconcernwithorigins and stylethatguidedthe
literaryantiquarians"on the sophisticatedlevel." Indeed, Percy
himselfmade occasionaluse of theremarksin A Collectionof Old
Ballads inwaysnotunlikewhatwefindintheDiceyrevisions
here:
he transformed
ironicandplayful
comments intoearnestcommen-
10
tary.
Revisionsof the headnotesto individualballads in A Collection
of Old Ballads furthershowhow the broadsidepublishers,taking
a purposefullyantiquarianapproach,turnedjocular commentsinto
fortheballads.As withtheiradaptation
genuineintroductions of
theremarks on reading,theysupplanttheoriginaleditor'sface-
witha toneofsentimental
tiousness and unequivocalappreciation

8From "AnUnhappy memorable Songofthehunting inChevy-Chace between

Earl Piercyof England,and Earl Douglasof Scotland,"in [PercyCollectionof
BroadsideBallads],HarvardUniversity,HoughtonLibrary,pEB75P4128c, no.36.
91nthecomment fromwhichtheDiceyremarks are derived,theeditorofA
Collectionof Old Ballads makesno claimsbeyondseparating "whatis Factand
what Fiction."His completestatementreads: ". . . I have endeavouredto make
ouroldSongsstillmoreuseful,bytheIntroductionswhichI haveprefix'dto'em;
andin whichis pointed
outwhatis FactandwhatFiction"(p. vii).Fora recent
discussion
of thejournalistic
functionof earlierbroadside
ballads,see Lennard
Davis, Factual Fictions:The Originsof theEnglishNovel (New York:Columbia
Univ.Press,1983).Davis discussesthetopicalandjournalisticnatureof street
literature
oftheseventeenthcentury, whenballads,howeverold theymighthave
been,weretoutedas "newe"and "trewe."As mydiscussion makesclear,this
appearance oftopicality
andjournalisticframingof thetextsconspicuouslydis-
appearsineighteenth-century
ballads,replacedbya modeandtonewhichare,by
comparison, sentimental
andretrospective.
'0Fordiscussion
of Percy'suse of A Collection
of Old Ballads,see Stephen
Vartin,"ThomasPercy'sReliques:Its Structureand Organization"(Ph.D. diss.,
NewYorkUniversity, 1972),pp. 80-94.

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78 EIGHTEENTH-CENTURYSTUDIES

of these"old Songs." Headnotesto theballad "Maudlin,The Mer-

chant'sDaughterof Bristol,"one fromA Collectionof Old Ballads
and the otherfroma laterbroadside,illustratethe waythe collec-
tion'sindividualintroductions
weretransformed in theirbroadside
and chapbookrevisions.The Collectionof Old Ballads introduction
to the ballad reads:
Tho' I do notprofessmyselfan Admirer of the followingSong; yet
considering its titleto Antiquity,
it mayjustlyclaima place here;and
severalof myReadershaveearnestly desiredto haveit inserted.
There
is onepassagein it whichpettyCriticks haveverymuchcarp'dat, and
thatis theTimeMaudlin'sLoverLay underCondemnation; butif they
hadconsider'd thathe wasinoneoftheInquisition Prisons,wherePeople
sometimes layseveralYears,theywou'dhavefound theirCavilveryunjust.
I mustown,I cannotso easilyansweranother Objection,and thatis the
MercyshewnbytheJudges totheThreePrisoners,thoseveryPiousMen
neverhaving sincethefirst ofthatCourtgivenanother
foundation instance
ofit.II
The editor'sopeningdoubtsabout includingthesongat all and his
finalsarcasticquip about "Pious" judges create a disjunctionbe-
tweenheadnoteand ballad: theflippantand ironicheadnoteclearly
directsourattentionelsewhere.Onlywithwryequivocationdo these
facetiousremarksservethe ballad thatfollowsthem.
In contrast,thefollowingunironicbroadsideheadnoteintroduces
theballad of "Maudlin,The Merchant'sDaughterof Bristol"with-
out equivocation.It impliesan unmistakably more wholehearted
acceptanceof the historicity
and value of the ballad thanwhatwe
findin the facetiousremarksof A Collectionof Old Ballads. The
broadsiderevisionreads:
Thereis onePassagein thisSongmuchcarp'dat, and thatis theTime
Maudlin'sLoverlayunderCondemnation, butyoumayremark thatPeople
lie manyYearsin theInquisition Prisons.Butthereis another
Objection
I cannotso readilyanswerwhichis theMercyshewnbytheJudges, since
we havenotanother Instanceextant.12

If theoriginalremarkhas been shortenedand simplified,

it has also
been editedin such a waythatthebroadsidecommentator actually

of Old Ballads,III, 201.

"A Collection
"2From"Maudlin, The Merchant'sDaughterof Bristol,"in [A Collectionof
Broadsides],HoughtonLibrary,25242.13, Vol. I, p. 13.

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 THE POPULAR MARKETING OF OLD BALLADS 79

treatstheballadwithgreaterseriousness thandid theeditorofA

Collectionof Old Ballads. The introduction has forits aim illu-
minating theballadtext.Perhapsthebroadside commentator could
haveprofessed himself,as theearliereditorcouldnot,"anAdmirer"
ofthesong.In anycase,he was someonewhoacceptedquitecon-
sciously andpurposefully an antiquarianandrevivalist approachto
theballad.
ThattheDiceysrelieduponthe 1723 collection bothfortheir
songtextsand fortheirapproachto thesetextsis apparent.It is
equallyapparent, moreover, thatthisreliancewas selective, man-
ifestingan antiquarianagendatopreserve "oldballads."Ofthe159
piecesinA Collection of Old Ballads,theDiceypressesreprinted
inbroadside- andchapbook-form morethanseventy songs,ofwhich
the greaterpartwerethe old historical narratives of kingsand
queens,concubines andoutlaws, thosesongswhichtheoriginal ed-
itorhad placedat thefront ofeachvolumeandhadprefaced with
longandlearnedheadnotes. The Diceysdidnot,forthemostpart,
reprinttheshorter drinkingand courtship songs,and theScottish
whichare placed-almostentirely
ditties, without commentary-
at thebackofeach volumeofA Collection of Old Ballads.
Fromtheirdetailedcopyingoftheillustrations in A Collection
of Old Ballads, we have additionalevidenceof the Diceys' in-
debtedness. Furthermore, theseelaboratewoodcutillustrations, an
advertised suggestthattheDiceysweresellingnotjust
attraction,
old-fashionedballads,butold-fashioned ballad-sheetsas well.A Bow
Church-Yard catalogueof 1754boasts"CUTS moretrulyadapted
to each Story,thanelsewhere."913Thisconcernwiththeappropri-
atenessof the illustrations-something of a newdevelopment in
ballad printing-reflectsthepublishers' and presumably thecus-
tomers'interestin thefolioballadsheetsthatwerethemselves be-
coming objectsofstudy. Increasinglytoward theendofthecentury,
thefoliobroadsides wereprinted so as to accentuate thearchaism
oftheoldballadstheycontained. Apparently trading ontheantiq-
uityoftheselong,historical ballads,eighteenth-century publishers
begantodrawattention totheirarchaism byprinting themonheavy,
old-fashionedfoliopaperdecorated withwoodcuts thatwereeither

a cataloguein theBodleianLibrary,
'3From Oxford,
258.c.109,reproduced
in
Thomson,p. 288ff.

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80 EIGHTEENTH-CENTURYSTUDIES

markedly antiqueorelaborateenoughto depictdetailsofold-fash-

ioneddress,weaponry, shipdesign,castles,andso on.(See Figures
1 and 2.)
The Diceysactuallyseemto have conceptualized theirballad
stockin thesametermsusedbytheballadrevivalists "on theso-
phisticated level."In 1761 whilein thethroesof completing his
Reliques, ThomasPercydescribes ina lettertoWilliamShenstone
his effortsto ransack"thewholeBritishEmpire"forballad "re-
liques,"whichhe characterizes as "curiousold songs"as opposed
to piecesof "fashionand novelty."1'4Indeed,in the letterPercy
actuallystateshisintentiontocarryhisquestto BowChurchYard
whereCluerDicey,"thegreatest printerofBalladsintheKingdom,"
has promised to providehim"copiesof all hisold StockBallads,
andengagedto romageintohisWarehouse foreverythingcurious
thatitcontains." Butthefactis,Diceyseemstohaveknown exactly
whatkindofcuriosities Percywanted,forhisowncataloguesand
advertising squibsreflecta classification
verysimilarto the di-
chotomy Percydescribes: "curiousoldsongs"ontheonehand,and
piecesof "fashionand novelty" on theother.Indeed,theDiceys
seemto have been the firstballad printers to separateout and
advertiseas "old"a portion
oftheirstock.Diceycatalogues of1754
and 1764delineateas a distinct category "Old Ballads."The ad-
vertisement for1754reads:
A CATALOGUE OF MAPS, PRINTS, COPY-BOOKS, DRAWING-
BOOKS, &c. HISTORIES, OLD BALLADS, Broad-Sheetand other
PATTERS,GARLANDS, &c. PRINTED andSOLD by WILLIAMand
CLUER DICEY, at theirWAREHOUSE,Oppositethe SouthDoor at
Bow-Churchin Bow-Church-Yard,
LONDON. Printedin the YEAR
M.DCC.LIV.15

Thisdistinction
betweenthe"Old Ballads"andtheothersongsin
stockis further
emphasized bythevariations in broadsideformat
whichtheDiceysinaugurated, thefirststreetsongprinters to do
so:theheirloom"Old Ballads,"prizedfortheirlengthandantiquity,
wereprintedin theold-fashionedfolioformat withoftenelaborate

'4Thomas Percy,The Correspondence of ThomasPercyand WilliamShenstone,

ed. Cleanth Brooks,Vol. 7 of The PercyLetters,eds. Cleanth Brooksand A. F
Falconer(New Haven and London:Yale Univ.Press, 1977), pp. 108-09.
'5BodleianLibrary,258.c.109, reproducedin Thomson,p. 288.

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 THE POPULAR MARKETING OF OLD BALLADS 81

I~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ i . ....

WN~~~~~~W

FIGURE 1. EngravingfromA Collectionof Old Ballads (London: J.

Roberts,1723), II, opp. p. 191.

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82 EIGHTEENTH-CENTURYSTUDIES

C)

00

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 THE POPULAR MARKETING OF OLD BALLADS 83

woodcut illustrations;
thelatestsongsoftheday-shortlyrics,comic
andtheatre
ditties, andpleasure-garden pieces-wereprinted inthe
newfashion, on narrowslipsheets.Afterlistingby titlemanyof
theirotherwares,including, itemsinthe"Old-
as a separatesection,
Ballads"category, the Diceysadvertisetheirnewer,shorter slip-
songsat theendofthecatalogue,saying:
TherearenearTwoThousand SortsofSLIPS; ofwhichtheNew
different
Sortscomingoutalmostdailyrenderit impossible
to makea Complete
Catalogue.

The Diceysevidently knewthatpeoplewereinterested in curious

andarchaicsongsandcateredtothatinterest. Whentheeighteenth-
century literary world's"Ballad Revival"was yetat a veryearly
point,theywerepublishing "Old Ballads"withsomething of an
antiquarian agendaoftheirown.
If it is clearthatthelowbrow printersat BowChurchYardhad,
andknewtheyhad,,curious"Old Ballad"antiquities, itis alsoclear
fromPercy'sintention to visitCluerDiceythatthecentury's most
famousliterary antiquariansuspectedas much.Indeed,Percydid
visitDicey-whomhedescribed as "anAcquaintance ... ofa much
lowerstamp"-and fromhim purchaseda sizable collectionof
broadsideballads.16 In fact,ofthe 180 piecesin Percy'sReliques
of AncientEnglishPoetrymorethansixtyare balladsthatwere
alreadycirculating on Diceybroadsides at thetimetheReliques
cameoutin 1765.ManyoftheseareamongtheballadsthatPercy
is known to havepurchased at BowChurchYard.
Of course,theexactrelationship oftheDiceybroadside ballads
to theircounterparts in theReliquesis impossible to determine.
Percy,everanxiousto accentuatethescholarly seriousness of his
workand to distancehis"reliques"fromcommonstreetsong fare,
nowhere acknowledges hisindebtedness toDicey.Furthermore, be-
cause Diceygotmanyof his ownantiqueballadsfromthe 1723
Collection of Old Ballads,a workmanifestly familiar to Percy,it
is extremely difficult
totracetheprovenance ofthoseballadsinthe
Reliquesthatwerealso "Old Ballads"onpopularbroadsides ofthe
time.But thiscomplexity of provenance and influence is exactly

'6See [PercyCollection
of BroadsideBallads],HarvardUniversity,
Houghton
Library,pEB75P4128c.

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84 EIGHTEENTH-CENTURYSTUDIES

thepoint:it supports theidea ofa "balladrevival"wellbelowthe

sophisticatedlevel.Moreover, theantiquarianinterest
in"Old Bal-
lads" at the popularlevel-consciousand purposeful in its own
right-actually antedated andintersectedwiththeliterary "Ballad
Revival"thatscholarsusuallystudy.
Percy'sacknowledged visittoBowChurchYardshowsthatCluer
Diceycouldnothavebeenobliviousto thesophisticated literary
world'sincreasinglysentimentalappreciation
ofballadsandpopular
literature.
NorwasPercytheonlyliterary figure
ofthe1760swho
is known to havefoundhiswaytotheDiceyprintshop in searchof
OnJuly10th,1763,JamesBoswellrecords
curiosities. inhisjournal:
... somedaysago I wentto theold printing-office
in BowChurch-yard
keptbyDicey,whosefamily havekeptitfourscore
years.Thereareushered
intotheworldofliterature Jackand theGiants,TheSevenWiseMenof
Gotham, andotherstory-bookswhichinmydawning yearsamusedmeas
muchas Rasselasdoesnow.I sawthewholeschemewitha kindofpleasing
romantic feelingto findmyselfreallywhereall myold darlingswere
printed.I boughttwodozenofthestory-books and had themboundup
withthistitle,CuriousProductions.I thought
myself likeoldLordSom-
ervilleor someothermanof whim,and wishedmywhimsmightbe all
as quiet."7

Boswell'sremarkstestifyto thewidespread distribution

of Dicey
broadsidesandchapbooksthroughout Britain:
afterall,Boswellspent
his"dawning years"inScotland.In addition,Boswell'svisittoBow
ChurchYardsuppliesfurther proofof Dicey'sacquaintance with
persons-andpresumably withideas-from"theliterary world."
CluerDicey,notonlyin hisownrevivalist marketing of"Old Bal-
lads,"butinhisdealingswithliterary
figureslikePercyandBoswell
withthat"pleasingromanticfeeling"
as well,had amplefamiliarity
aboutpopularsongsand storieswhichunderlaymid-eighteenth cen-
turyliteraryantiquarianismat all levels:the perceptionthatsuch
wererelics,old and valuable.'8
balladsand histories

'7JamesBoswell,Boswell's LondonJournal1762-1763, ed. FrederickA. Pottle

(New York:McGraw-Hill,1950), p. 299.
"8Wefindinteresting, iftangential, evidenceforClare Dicey's familiarity
further
withthe productsand fashionsof "polite"culturein a set of "Divers Views ...
fromGravesendto Twickenham"whichwas published(ca. 1755-70) underthe
imprintof C. Dicey & Co. in AldermaryChurch Yard. The twelvebroadside
"Views" includea woodcutdepictionafteran engravingby Heckell of Alexander
Pope's villa, one of the subjectsmostcelebratedin politeart and societyof the

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 THE POPULAR MARKETING OF OLD BALLADS 85

We can assumethatBoswell'ssentimental collecting intentions

werenotloston thesavvybusinessman, Dicey,particularly when
Boswellreturned to BowChurchYardtopurchase forhis"Curious
Productions" somefivedozenadditional chapbooks, andeventually
hundreds more.And,although Boswell'sjournalentrymightlead
onetothinkthatonly"story-books" makeup his"CuriousProduc-
tions,"thefactis thathe was an irrepressible singer,and of the
chapbooks hepurchased from Dicey,a greatmanycontain thelengthy
old balladsthathad appearedinA Collection of Old Ballads and
thatwerebeginning to reapearin otherliterary and antiquarian
collectionsof thelast quarterof thecentury.19 Indeed,Boswell's
chapbookcollecting seemsto add itsowncomplicating wrinkleto
ourpictureof eighteenth-century antiquarianism
literary and the
balladrevival,forBoswellis notusuallyassociatedinanywaywith
thesemovements. ButthevisitsofbothPercyand Boswellto the
BowChurchYardprintshop musthavereinforced whatCluerDicey
alreadyknew,and whatwe shouldacknowledge: thateighteenth-
century Britainwas beingswept,bottomto top,by a spiritof an-
tiquarianism,a sentimental loveforold balladsand
and revivalist
histories.
Although information is scarce,literaryand anecdotalevidence
suggests thatsingerswellbelowthe"sophisticated level"ofa Bos-
wellalsoconsidered theseDiceyballads"old"andalsoappreciated
themas heirlooms. It is clearthatamongthecommon peoplethe

1760s.TheDiceyprintis inLondonMaps and Views,Catalogue23 (July1980),

RobertDouwmaPrints & Mapsltd.,93 GreatRusselllSt.,London,itemno.560.
The Heckellengraving is No. 7 in MorrisR. Brownell, AlexanderPope's Villa
[ExhibitionCatalogue](London:GreaterLondonCouncil,1980).
'9Boswell's"CuriousProductions" contains83 chapbooksnowin Harvard's
Houghton Library,25276.2.Alsoat Harvardis a muchlargercollection of"His-
tories,Ballads,&c." whichalso seemsto havebeenformed by JamesBoswell
togetherwithAlexander Boswell.The 55 volumesare uniformly boundin half-
calfwiththename"Boswell"on each volume.A manuscript noteon thethird
flyleaf
ofVolume28 reads:"collected byBoswell, theFriendofDr.Johnson." On
thefly-leafof thefirstvolumeof his "CuriousProductions" Boswellinscribed:
"JamesBoswell, InnerTemple1763.Havingwhena boy,beenmuchentertained
withJacktheGiant-Killer, andsuchlittleStoryBooks,I havealwaysretained a
kindof affectionforthem,as theyrecallmyearlydays.I wentto thePrinting
in BowChurchyard,
Office and boughtthiscollection and had it boundup with
theTitleofCuriousProductions. I shallcertainly,
sometimeorother, writea little
StoryBookin thestileof these.It willnotbe a veryeasytaskforme; it will
requiremuchnatureand simplicity, anda greatacquaintance withthehumours
andtraditionsoftheEnglishcommon people.I shallbe happytosucceedforHe
whopleasesthechildren willbe remembered withpleasurebythemen."

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86 EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY STUDIES

Dicey"Old Ballads"weresungandsungwidely-atleastin some

senserevived.Virtually
all the"old songs"mentioned by authors
with
familiar populartraditions are "Old Ballad"titleswe findin
theBow ChurchYardcatalogues.Moreover, depictionsof lower-
classsingers
likeMr.Burchell in TheVicarof Wakefield showthat,
evenat thepopularlevel,at leastas Goldsmith portrays it,these
songsand storieswereperceived as old treasures:

He [Mr.Burchell]sat downto supperamongus, and mywifewas not

ofhergooseberry
sparing wine.Thetalewentround;he sungus old songs
(emphasismine),andgavethechildrenthestoryoftheBuckofBeverland,
withthehistoryof PatientGrissel.The adventures
of Catskinnexten-
tertained
them,and thenFairRosamond's bower.20

We cannotsay withcertainty thattheseare broadsideballads.

Nevertheless,theBowChurchYardcatalogues containall thetitles
(except"theBuckofBeverland") thatGoldsmith mentions in the
passagequotedhere,as wellas severalothershe nameselsewhere
in thisepisodeofthenovel.
Thislinkbetweenpopularsongtraditions and theDiceyprints
is further
demonstrated bythemanyballadsandstories mentioned
in theproseand poetryof JohnClare,himself rearedamongthe
lower-class
cottagers,apprentices,
milkmaids, andlaborers whowere
thebroadside andchapbook audience.2"Clare'sdescriptionsofpop-
ulartraditionscomefirsthand.Moreover, hiscomments onthesongs
andstoriesofhisyouthprovidean interesting glimpseat thecom-
plex traffickingbetweenthesetwoworldsof popularand polite
towhichClare,celebrated
literature as a "rusticpoet,"owedsome
part of his own career.Of thepopularsongsand stories
literary
Clarementions, inhisretorspective
particularly glancesat hisearly
years,a striking proportionwereprintedby theDiceys.Further-
more,Clare'sunpublished songandtunemanuscripts, though they
consistofsongscollectedinthe1820s,considerably aftertheperiod
whenthebroadside"Old Ballads"flourished, nevertheless contain
somevariants of theDiceybroadsidetexts.Clare'sremarks leave

200liverGoldsmith,The Vicarof Wakefield(London, 1766), Chapter6.

2For discussionof Clare's life,see Johnand AnneTibble,JohnClare: His Life
and Poetry(London: WilliamHeinemann,1956).

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 THE POPULAR MARKETING OF OLD BALLADS 87

little doubt of the currencyof the Dicey "Old Ballads" among

lowbrowsingers.22
But can we findin Clare's anecdotesabout these ballads some
evidenceof a popularantiquarianappreciationseparatefromyet
analogous to the revivalon the "sophisticatedlevel"? While it is
difficultto unravelfullyClare's complex attitudestowardthese
popular songs,some of his remarkssuggestthat the distinction
between"old ballads" and "piecesoffashionand novelty"mayhave
operatedforhim as well. Indeed, on the initialpage of the song
collectionthat he had intendedto consistof "old Ballads," he la-
mentsthe "senselessbalderdash"thathe has foundin theirplace.
He says:

I commenced sometime ago withan intention of makinga collection

of
oldBalladsbutwhenI had soughtaftertheminplaceswhereI expected
[to]findthem... I found thatnearlyall thoseold& beautifulreccolections
[sic] had vanishedas so manyold fashions ... & thosewhowereproud
of theirknowledge in suchthings-knew nothing butthesensless[sic]
balderdash thatis brawled over& sungat County FeastsStatutes& Fairs
23

Justwhat Clare meantby "balderdash,"we shall neverknowfor

sure. However,by the 1820s whenhe began collectingthe songs
thatpeopleweresingingin ruralNorthamptonshire, a markedchange
in the content,tone,and formatof printedstreetsongshad taken
place: shorter,more topical and journalisticballads and novelty
songs-the "New Sorts,"one mightsay-were replacingthe "cu-
riousold Songs" whoseantiquitythe Diceys and othereighteenth-
centuryprintershad earlieraccentuated.It maywell be thatClare
decries as "balderdash"these new topical and journalisticsongs,

22SeeforexamplesofClare'sreferences,
TheLettersofJohnClare,ed. J.W
andAnneTibble(London:Routledge andKeganPaul,1951),pp. 14 and 19.See
also TheProseofJohnClare,ed. J.W andAnneTibble(London:Routledge and
KeganPaul,1951),p. 257. Fordiscussion
ofClare'sfamiliarity
withDiceychap-
books and broadsides,see George Deacon, John Clare and the Folk Tradition
(London:SinclairBrowne, 1983),pp. 35-67and210-14.Deacon,likeFriedman,
rigidlyseparates
songsin printfromthosein oraltradition
as eighteenth-century
singers(andcollectors didnot.Thatheis categorizing
too)certainly songsinways
thatClarewas not,is apparent fromdeacon'ssurprise and reluctance
to accept
thatClareconsidersa broadside
versionof"TheDragonofWantley" quite"firmly
withinthecontext ofa continuing
villageoraltradition
inhispoem'RuralMorn-
ing"'(p. 211).
23Clare,"Northampton MS. 18,quotedin Deacon,43.

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88 EIGHTEENTH-CENTURYSTUDIES

lamenting the absenceof his "old Darlings":thoseretrospective

"OldBallads"ofkingsandqueens,ofoutlaws andconcubines which
appearedonthearchaicfoliobroadsides ofhisyouth. Clarecertainly
mentions such historical
balladsrepeatedly in his writings-and
nearlyalwayssentimentallyso.
Clare'ssongcollectingmayindeedoweitsinspiration to hisac-
quaintance withPercy'sReliques,whichhe first sawin 1820.His
delightwithPercy'scollection clearlywas thepleasureof recog-
nition:
D. [EdwinDrury] hassentme3 volscall'd'Percy's is some
Relics'there
sweet inthem& I think
Poetry itthemostpleasing bookI everhappend
from
[sic]onthetalesarefamiliar childhood ofmygrand-
allthestories
& hergossiping
mother neighbours in thesevols
I findversified 24

Clare'savoidance inthisletter
oftheterm"ballad"andhisreference
to the"versifying"of"stories"areconfusing:
arethePercyballads
verserenderings ofnarratives hisgrandmothertoldin prose?And
whythe word "tales"for the rhymed and metered reliques?But
perhapsin hisuse oftermsClareis simply imprecise,at leastfrom
ourvantagepoint.WemightrecallthattheDiceys,whenreferring
unmistakably to songs,use theterms"stories"
and"ballads"inter-
changeably. Boswelltooseemsto meanchapbooksongsas wellas
prosehistorieswhenhe usestheword"story-books."25
Howeverunsurewe maybe aboutthewording ofhisletter, we
canneverthelessbe certainthatClarefoundintheReliquesfamiliar
textsofa goodmanyoftheballadsthat,elsewhere in hiswritings,
hesaysthatheheardinhischildhood: "ChevyChase,""JaneShore,"
"Johnny Armstrong," "The Kingand theCobler,""GeorgeBarn-
well,""TheWandering Jew,""TheDragonofWantley," andmore.
These"oldballads"maywellhavebeensongsthathisgrandmother's
generationsanginthemid-eighteenth centurywhentheDiceyprints
and a fashionforantiquehistorical balladsflourishedamongthe
common people.In anycase,finding familiar
piecesamongPercy's
reliquesclearlyreinforced forClarethesentimentalreverence for
of
theold ballads his childhood thathe had voicedmany timesin

24Clare, Letters, p. 57.

25SeetheDicey"Note"appendedto theballad,"ChevyChase"above(p. 76
and n. 8). See Boswell'sremarks
fromtheLondon Journalquotedabove(p. 84
andn. 17).

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 THE POPULAR MARKETING OF OLD BALLADS 89

his poemsand prose.This retrospective appreciation,

evidental-
readyin mid-century broadsidesand chapbooks, was stillbeing
promoted in thestreetliterature thatClarewouldhaveknownas
a childgrowing up in the1790s.
Towardtheendof theeighteenth century,thepopularappreci-
ationfor"Old Ballads,"whichtheDiceysseemto havesimulta-
neouslymetand fostered, continuedevenaftertheBow Church
Yardoffice no longerdominated thestreetsong market.Printersin
Londonand elsewhere followedthelead and duplicatedthestock
oftheDiceyprintshop. TheLondonprinters Evans,How,andPitts,
and theTewkesbury printer Harwardcarriedon themarketing of
balladsin thearchaicfolioformat. Pitts,in particular,
fromabout
1800to 1810-the first decadeof hiscareer-revived old pieces,
publishingthemas folioscomplete withseventeenth-centurywood-
cutillustrations.
In the1790s,justas antiquarian scholarssuchas
JosephRitsonwerebusyingthemselves withancient"rhymes of
RobinHood,"theWhiteChapelprinter LarkenHowissueda whole
seriesof folioRobinHood balladsin the styleof muchearlier
broadsides,complete withillustrations
madefromseventeenth-cen-
turywoodblocks.26Andsuchantiquarian productswerenotconfined
to thesouthof England.Self-consciously an eight-
retrospective,
page chapbookpublishedearlyin thenineteenth century by M.
Angusin Newcastleceremoniously announces itscontents
as:
The laidleywormofSpindelston
Heugh... A songabove500 yearsold,
madebytheoldmountain bard,DuncanFrasier,
livingon Cheviot,
A.D.
1270.Printedfroman ancientmanuscript.27

26SeeJosephRitson,RobinHood:A Collection ofall theancientpoems,songs,

andballads,nowextant, relative
to thatcelebrated Englishoutlaw:to whichare
prefixedhistorical
anecdotesofhislife(London:T. Egerton andJ.Johnson, 1795).
Thelateeighteenth-centuryprinterT. Sabineprefaced his"RobinHood'sgarland"
withcomments drawneitherdirectly fromA Collection of Old Ballads or from
a derivative
Diceyprint.See "RobinHood'sgarland," Houghton Library,27257.6.2.
Fora verybriefdiscussionofconscious archaisminturn-of-the-centurybroadsides,
seeLeslieShepard, JohnPitts:BalladPrinter ofSevenDials,London1765-1855
(London:PrivateLibraries Association,1969),p. 44.
27"Thelaidleywormof Spindleston Heugh,"in [109 Chapbookscollectedby
JohnBell,Newcastle],Houghton Library, 25252.19,No. 62. ThomasEvansin-
cludedthisballadalongwithalmostidentical remarks in the1784edition ofhis
Old Ballads,HistoricalandNarrative, withsomeofModernDate,4 Vols.(Lon-
don:T. Evans,1784).See Vol.III, pp. 171-78.As Evansnotes,itwaspreviously
publishedin W Hutchinson, TheHistoryof theFollowing Places in Northum-
berland(Alnwick:J.Catnach,n.d.),pp. 162-64.

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90 EIGHTEENTH-CENTURYSTUDIES

As thisbookish littletitleillustrates,
broadside
andchapbook read-
ersas farawayas Northumberland sharedtheantiquarian
interest
thatcoloredEnglishlettersin thesecondhalfof theeighteenth
century. Moreover, lower-class provincial
streetliterature
provided
at least one further appearanceof thatcuriousand remarkably
proteanantiquarianwork,A Collectionof Old Ballads. In 1839 the
Durhamprinter,GeorgeWalker,publishedforhis chapbookcus-
tomersa songcollection
of twenty-four
pageswiththe following
familiar
title:
A Collection
of Old Ballads,carefuely
[sic]reprintedfrom
thebestand
mostancientcopiesextant.Withintroductions,historical,
critical,and
humorous.28

Thuswesee thattheworldofbelleslettres wasnotat all unique

in thesentimental appreciationof old ballads:alreadybeforethe
middleoftheeighteenth century,
antiquariansentiments andmeth-
ods werein fashionwellbelowthe"sophisticated level."William
andCluerDiceybuilta prosperous businessin streetliteratureby
sellingtothecommon people-andeventually toBoswellsandPer-
cysas well-"ancient"ballads.Indeed,theeighteenth-century bal-
lad revivalwas a complexinterweaving ofinfluences-traditional,
commercial, scholarly, and literary.
educational, In it we findthe
literatinotat all in a vacuum,thecommonpeoplenotat all left
behind.Amidsta pervasive fashion
eighteenth-century forheirloom
songsandstories, "OldBallads"about"RobinHood,""Rosamund,"
"JaneShore,"and"TheDragonofWantley" circulated thekingdom
oncheapbroadsides andinlowlychapbooks. Meanwhile, gentlemen
poetsand scholarsexaltedthepast and the commonpeople,in-
dulgedthemselves in collectingand annotating, and occasionally
evenfoundtheirwaytotheprintshop at BowChurchYardlooking
for"Old Ballads."

of Colorado, Boulder
University

28ACollectionof Old Ballads, carefully fromthebestand most

re-printed
copiesextant.Withintroductions,
ancient andhumorous
critical,
historical, (Dur-
012331.g.3.(9.).
ham:GeorgeWalker,1839). This chapbookis in theBritishLibrary,

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