The manuscript copy is subscribed at the end "Expliceth quoth Rychard Sheale." Richard Sheale (it has been shown by a writer in the _British Bibliographer_, vol. iv. p. 97-105) was a minstrel by profession, and several other pieces in the same MS. have a like signature with this. On this ground it has been very strangely concluded that Sheale was not, as Percy and Ritson supposed, the transcriber, but the actual author of this noble ballad. The glaring objection of the antiquity of the language has been met, first, by the supposition that the author belonged to the north of England, and afterwards, when it appeared that Sheale lived at Tamworth, about a hundred miles from London, by the allegation that the language of a person in humble life in Warwickshire or Staffordshire would be very far behind the current speech of the metropolis. It happens, however, that the language of the ballad is very much older than the other compositions of Sheale, as a moment's inspection will show. Besides, Sheale's poetical abilities were manifestly of the lowest order, and although he styles himself "minstrel," we have no reason to think that he ever composed ballads. He speaks of his memory being at one time so decayed that he "could neither sing nor talk." Being a mere ballad-_singer_ and story-teller, he would naturally be dependent on that faculty. The fact is very obvious, that Richard Sheale was a mere reciter of songs and tales; at any rate, that all we have to thank him for in the matter of _Chevy Chase_ is for committing to paper the only old copy that has come down to our times.[2] The _Hunting of the Cheviot_ is mentioned in the _Complaynt of Scotland_ with other, very ancient, ballads. It was consequently popular in Scotland in 1548, ten years before the time that we _know_ Sheale to have written anything. The mention of James the Scottish King forbids us to assign this piece an earlier date than the reign of Henry VI. It has been customary to understand Sidney's saying of the "old song of Percy and Douglas"--that it moved his heart more than a trumpet--exclusively of _Chevy Chase_. There is no question which ballad would stand higher in the estimation of the gentle knight, but the terms by which the war-song he admired is described are of course equally applicable to _The Battle of Otterbourne_. By the way we may remark that if we do understand Sidney to have meant _Chevy Chase_, then, whatever opinion writers of our day may have of its antiquity, and however probable it may seem to them that _Chevy Chase_ was written by a contemporary of Sir Philip, it appeared to the author of the _Defence of Poetry_ to be "evil apparelled in the dust and cobweb of an uncivil age"! * * * * * [1] The Editor of the _Reliques_ afterwards met with the following passage in Collins's _Peerage_, which he thought might throw some light on the question of the origin of the ballad.