A great feature in the love song of the folk-singer is the use of allegory. The words “thyme,” “rue,” the “broom,” “barley,” “wearing the green gown,” and several other similes are freely used, and have an original meaning, for the most part, hidden from the modern singer. The ever popular “I sowed the seeds of love,” in which is inextricably entangled that other song, “The sprig of thyme,” is an inoffensive example of this type. The latter runs— “Come all you pretty fair maids That are just in your prime, I’d have you weed your garden clear And let no one steal your thyme. I once had a sprig of thyme, It prospered night and day; By chance there came a false young man And he stole my thyme away,” etc. As can be well realised, examples of love songs could be given to any extent. The folk-singer delights in something that gives a thrill of mysticism, and there are many having this characteristic in traditional remembrance. “The unquiet grave” is an example in point. It begins— “Cold blows the wind over my true love, And cold blows the drops of rain. I never, never had but one true love, And in the greenwood he was slain,” etc. “The Cruel Ship’s Carpenter,” and “The Nightingale” have each a ghost, as in a like manner has the one just quoted. Of the mystic class is “The Prickly Bush.” It is undoubtedly very old and is found in different forms among country singers. A copy occurs in _English County Songs_— “‘O Hangman hold thy hand,’ he c‘ied, ‘O hold thy hand awhile, For I can see my own dear father Coming over yonder stile. Oh, the prickly, prickly bush, The prickly, prickly bush, It pricked my hand full sore; If ever I get out of the prickly bush, I’ll never get in any more,’” etc. Common all over the country, with place names that vary according to the district, is “The Lover’s Test,” sometimes called “Scarborough Fair.” The lover in this demands a cambric shirt made without needle and thread, and other impossibilities, with the reward that the lady shall then be his true love. The lady, equally ready, demands an acre of land between the sea foam and the sea sand. This is to be ploughed with a ram’s horn, and to be sown all over with one peppercorn, and so on. When all this is done the lover can come for his cambric shirt. The story is a version of “The Elfin Knight,” and of the same type as “Captain Wedderburn’s Courtship.” XII. THE PASTORAL The pastoral song is fairly frequent, especially in the Southern counties of England. Its chief theme is the joys of country life. Such are the songs in which the ploughman is the chief personage, and one who glories in his calling. In _Sussex Songs_ we find a very typical example—