Transcribed from the 1884 George Routledge and Sons editions by David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org [Picture: Book cover] FIFTY “BAB” BALLADS Much Sound and Little Sense BY W. S. GILBERT [Picture: Baby at piano] _WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY THE AUTHOR_ {1} * * * * * LONDON GEORGE ROUTLEDGE AND SONS BROADWAY, LUDGATE HILL NEW YORK: 9 LAFAYETTE PLACE 1884 * * * * * [Picture: Dalziel Brothers: Engravers and Printers] * * * * * PREFACE. THE “BAB BALLADS” appeared originally in the columns of “FUN,” when that periodical was under the editorship of the late TOM HOOD. They were subsequently republished in two volumes, one called “THE BAB BALLADS,” the other “MORE BAB BALLADS.” The period during which they were written extended over some three or four years; many, however, were composed hastily, and under the discomforting necessity of having to turn out a quantity of lively verse by a certain day in every week. As it seemed to me (and to others) that the volumes were disfigured by the presence of these hastily written impostors, I thought it better to withdraw from both volumes such Ballads as seemed to show evidence of carelessness or undue haste, and to publish the remainder in the compact form under which they are now presented to the reader. It may interest some to know that the first of the series, “The Yarn of the _Nancy Bell_,” was originally offered to “PUNCH,”—to which I was, at that time, an occasional contributor. It was, however, declined by the then Editor, on the ground that it was “too cannibalistic for his readers’ tastes.” W. S. GILBERT. 24 _The Boltons_, _South Kensington_, _August_, 1876. CONTENTS.