[Illustration: “FIFTY SONGS FOR A FAR-R-R-R-DEN!"] MODERN STREET BALLADS BY JOHN ASHTON AUTHOR OF “SOCIAL LIFE IN THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE,” ETC. [Illustration] _WITH FIFTY-SIX ILLUSTRATIONS_ London CHATTO & WINDUS PICCADILLY 1888 [_The right of translation is reserved_] INTRODUCTION. Over Street Ballads may be raised the wail of “Ichabod, Ichabod, their glory is departed.” They held their own for many centuries, bravely and well, but have succumbed to a changed order of things, and a new generation has arisen, who will not stop in the streets to listen to these ballads being sung, but prefer to have their music served up to them “piping hot,” with the accompaniment of warmth, light, beer, and tobacco (for which they duly have to pay) at the Music Halls; but whether the change be for the better, or not, may be a moot question. These Street Ballads were produced within a very few hours of the publication of any event of the slightest public interest; and, failing that, the singers had always an unlimited store to fall back upon, on domestic, or humorous subjects, love, the sea, etc., etc. Of their variety we may learn something, not only from this book, but from the ballad of “Chaunting Benny” of which the following is a portion:-- .......... “My songs have had a tidy run, I’ve plenty in my fist, Sirs, And if you wish to pick one out, I’ll just run through my list, Sirs. Have you seen “My daughter Fan,” “She wore a wreath of roses,” And here you see “My son Tom,” “The Sun that lights the roses,” “Green grow the rushes O,” “On the Banks of Allan Water,” “Such a getting out of bed,” with “Brave Lord Ullin’s daughter.” “Poor Bessie was a Sailor’s bride,” “Sitting on a rail,” Sirs, “Is there a heart that never loved?” “The Rose of Allandale,” Sirs, “The Maid of Judah,” “Out of Place,” with “Plenty to be sad at,” “I say, my rum un, who are you?” with “What a shocking bad hat,” etc., etc. Rough though some of these Street Ballads may be, very few of them were coarse, and, on reading them, we must ever bear in mind the class for whom they were produced, who listened to them, and--practical proof of interest--bought them. In this collection I have introduced nothing which can offend anybody except an absolute prude; in fact, “My bear dances only to the genteelest of tunes.”