P. 206. =A New Song.= From the Madden collection (_Slipsongs_, ii. 270, No. 1227). The following extracts will explain the reference. ‘Captain Edgcumbe, with his little squadron, had been obliged to return from off Minorca on the appearance of the French. He had left behind him Captain Carr Scrope of the Dolphin, who commanded the naval detachment on shore, to act as signal officer in the event of the appearance of a British squadron before the island.’ When Byng appeared he sent the Phœnix, Chesterfield, and Dolphin ‘to reconnoitre the mouth of Mahon harbour, to pick up intelligence, and to endeavour to send ashore a letter to General Blakeney ... the enemy’s fleet appeared in the S.E., and the detachment had to be recalled’ (Clowes, iii. 147-8). In the absence of Scrope, the Dolphin was commanded by Benjamin Marlow. Scrope, who was on shore all the time, could not have distinguished himself in the way the ballad makes him do, though he did good service during the siege (see Entick, _History of the Late War_, ii. 282, 301). The ballad is a specimen of the fictions circulated to increase the popular hatred of Byng. P. 207. =The Letter of a Certain Admiral=, printed in _Bungiana_ (a collection of poems and letters against Byng, published in 1756), p. 17. It appeared in _The Evening Advertiser_ for July 3, and is a parody of Byng’s despatch of May 25. P. 209. =A Rueful Story.= From a broadside in the possession of the editor. Said to be printed ‘at the sign of the Gibbet, near Execution Dock; and sold by all well-wishers to Old England.’ P. 210. =Admiral Byng and Brave West.= Printed with the tune in W. Christie’s _Traditional Ballad Airs_, ii. 261, 1881. In the last line ‘deen’ apparently means ‘done.’ P. 211. =Song on the Isle of Aix.= From the Madden collection (_Slipsongs_, ii. 337, No. 1418). Verse 4 seems to refer to the old ballad on Henry V.’s conquest of France. ‘Recruit me Cheshire and Lancashire, and Derby hills that are so free,’ says that King (see Hales and Furnivall, _Bishop Percy’s Folio M.S._ ii. 597). P. 212. =Bold Sawyer.= From a slipsong in the possession of the editor. Also in the British Museum (pressmark 11621. l. 1 [190]). Printed in Ashton’s _Real Sailor Songs_, p. 13. In verse 1 Sawyer = James Sayer, captain of the Nassau. In verse 12, ‘Maclome’ is possibly a misprint for ‘Mahon.’ Goree was taken December 28, 1758. P. 214. =Captain Barton’s Distress.= From the Madden collection (_Slipsongs_, i. 118). For the shipwreck, see Duncan, _Mariner’s Chronicle_, iii. 118. P. 216. =Gilchrist and Hotham’s Bravery.= From the Madden collection (_Slipsongs_, i. 322, No. 680). ‘And’ is omitted in the title of the original. The action took place March 28, 1759 (Entick, iv. 299).