^;'«ip;»fs>st*g»ii BHLLJIDS ^^^mmi Hi pg -^^i - BRJIVE €mml\ Mnxvmxiii^ | Ixhxmu BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME PROM THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF m^nvQ m. Sage 1891 fl. Ul ^HrQ %\m...\ 97'* PN 611o!h2L26'"""'""'' "^'^ „Ballads of the brave: 3 1924 027 334 998 Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924027334998 BALLADS OF THE BRAVE. BY THE SAME EDITOR. SENT BACK BY THE ANGELS : Kn6 otbetr ffiallaSs of IBome anS Ibomel^ %iU. Limp Cloth, One Shilling- [CASSELL AND CO.] POOR FOLKS' LIVES : Sallafts and fStocfes in Verse. Limp Cloth, 1/-. Cloth, 3/6. [SIMPKIN, MARSHALL AND CO.] Ballads of the Brave poems of Cbivalr^, lEnterprise, Courage anb Constancy FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE PRESENT DAY SELECTED AND ARRANGED BY FREDERICK LANGBRIDGE, M.A. EDITOR OF "poets AT PLAY" AND ''WHAT TO READ" , WITH NOTES LONDON METHUEN AND CO., i8 Bury Street, W.C. 1890 A-s.'S i-svf o TO W. C. BENNETT, LL.D., WHOSE HISTORICAL BALLADS HAVE DONE SO MUCH TO INTERPRET TO ENGLISH MEN AND WOMEN THE LIFE AND THOUGHT OF THEIR COUNTRY DURING THE VARIOUS CHARACTERISTIC STAGES OF HER DEVELOPMENT, 3- Dedicate tbesc pagea, WITH ADMIRATION AND GRATITUDE. F. L PEEFACE. JTiia volume is the outcome of cm opinion — recently expressed to me hy an experienced schoolmaster, but long latent in my ovni mind — that, in spite of the existence of a vast numher of boohs of good poetry for hoys, a good Boy^-Foebry-Bodk is still very hard to find. In other woi-ds, it appeals to me that, while there are ma/ny collections of poems which we should like hoys to lihe, there a/re very few coUectvms of poems which they do like. In making this compilation, therefore, I have held a brief for high-spirited lads, a/iid heme fixed as a poem's primary qualification for admission either th-e spirit of courage or adventure, or else a happy na/rraiive style. Hoioever, 1 did not woAit my hook to be a mere accwmulation of fighting pieces — I did not want '•'heads to he broke" all over every page — cmd I have iticluded in my defi/nition of coiira^e, the courage which bears as well as that which dares ; the courage which knows how to be beaten as well as that which does not know when it is beaten ; the courage of the Quaker as well as that of the Crusader. I have tried to make the book a record of noble doing — as far as it has found expression in English poetry, or in poetry other tha/ii English which has acquired naturcdization with us — in every age, in every cowntry, in every field, in every phase. Al- tlwugh, in the nature of thiiigs, the mail-clad da/ring of the knight rings louder down these pages tha/n the dariwj of the missiona/ry, the martyi , or the hospital nwse, still I hope that I have made it clear that I rate constancy and quiet devotion to duty no whit lower as expressions of viii PREFACE. cmwage, than the most splendid dash or the most romantic chivalry. I venture to hope tluit the collection will he found, iwt oidy acceptable as a play-iooh, hut also solidly useful as a class-hook, of poeti-y. Its chrww- logical arrangement will, I trust, render it of some service as a companion to, and a commenta/ry on, an ordinary look of history. The large com- pass of the vohime made its adequate am/notation a task of considerable difficulty. Besides, a grain of oral explanation is worth a ton of printed notes — which a boy lias a deeply-rooted habit of skipping, and, if not allowed to follow his bent, a positive genius for misunderstanding. In the way of elucidation, therefore, I have attempted little or 'tiothing be- yond the furnishing of a few very brief a/iid very simple historical intro- ductions. The dates which are prefixed to most of the selections are those which a/re generally accepted. I thought it better to give these — mere giiesses as they sometimes a/rc — rather than to leave the poems suspended in a chronological void. But, while mainly a/iid primarily offering this book to a public of boys, I am iiot without hope that it does — tentatively and imperfectly indeed — something which had not been done, and tuhich tieeded doing in the i/iiterests of general literature. Among the Antlwlo- gies there was, I think, an empty place. This place, perhaps, may be temporarily occupied, though I dare not hope that it tvUl be finally filled, by ^'Ballads of the Bmve." FREDERICK LANQBRIDGE. S. John's Rectory, Limerick, August Gth, ISSO, The Editor desires to record his thorough appreciation of the Tdndness of the following Authors in placing at his disposal copyright poems which greatly en- hance the value of his booh: — Sir Edwin Arnold, Mr. A. C. Auchmuty, Mr. Alfred Austin, the Rev. 8. Baring-Gould (in conjunction viith Messrs. Sheffing- ton cfc Son), Dr. W. G. Bemiett, Prof. Blachie (in conjunction with Mr. Walter Scott), Mr. William Cory, Mr. H. Gholmondetey-Pennell (in conjunction with Messrs. Chatto