NOTES

I.-ENGLAND

I

Agincourt, or the English Bowman's Glory. To a pleasant new Tune. Quoted in Heywood's King Edward IV., and, therefore, popular before 1600. This ballad has been severely edited, and I omit several stanzas. It is printed in full in Hazlitt's edition of Collier's 'Shakespeare's Library,' vol. i. (Reeves & Turner, 1825).

Published in 1589.

II

III-IV

Both were published in Poemes Lyrick and Pastorall (1605?) and Poemes (1619). As to the first :-l. 6. Caux ('commonlie called Kidcaux,' says Holinshed) was the district north-east of the mouth of the Seine.

1. 83. bilbos. Swords, from Bilbao.

92. ding. To belabour with blows.

V-VI

The first is from John of Gaunt's dying speech (King Richard II., Act ii. sc. 1). King Richard II. was probably written early in 1593. It was published anonymously in 1597. The second is from King John, Act v. sc. 7. 1594 is the date assigned to Shakespeare's King John, which was first printed in the First Folio (1623). These and the two succeeding numbers follow the text of 'The Globe Edition' of Shakespeare's Works. I am indebted to the publishers of that edition, Messrs. Macmillan & Co., and to the

Delegates of the Clarendon Press, Oxford, for kindly extending to readers of this volume the benefits of the scientific labours of Dr. W. G. Clark and Mr. W. A. Wright.

VII

From various parts of King Henry V. The play was written in 1598, and performed for the first time early in 1599. The first complete version was published in the First Folio (1623).

1. 23. rivage. The shore.

27. sternage. (To sternage of=astern of, so as to follow.)

40. puissance. Strength.

87. battle. An army, or division of an army.

144. Crispian. The daie following,' says Holinshed, 'was the five and twentieth of October in the year 1415, being then fridaie, and the feast of Crispine and Crispinian, a daie faire and fortunate to the English, but most sorrowfull and unluckie to the French.' 174. Whiffler. Herald or usher.

183. ostent. Clear, visible.

VIII

King Henry VIII., Act ii. sc. 3.

IX

Printed by Percy (Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, 1765). 'From an old black-letter copy.'

Cailiver (1. 21)=Caliver, a kind of light musket.

X

There are broadsides of this ballad in the Roxburghe and Bagford Collections. The version here given is taken from Mr. Henley's volume, Lyra Heroica (David Nutt, 1891), by permission of editor and publisher. The full title of the Roxburghe broadside is as follows:-'The Honour of Bristol, shewing how the Angel Gabriel of Bristol fought with three ships, who boarded as many times, wherein we cleared our Decks, and killed five hundred of their Men, and wounded many more, and make them fly into Cales, where we lost but three men, to the Honour of the Angel Gabriel of Bristol. To the tune of Our Noble King in his Progress.'

Calés (1. 13), pronounced as a dissyllable, is, of course, Cadiz.

XI-XII

The first is entitled: To the Lord General Cromwell, May 1652: On the Proposals of certain Ministers at the Committee for Probagation of the Gospel, and was written against the intolerant Fifteen Proposals of John Owen and the majority of the Committee. This sonnet first appeared at the end of Philip's Life of Milton (1694).

Hireling wolves (1. 14)=the paid clergy.

The second is from the chorus of Samson Agonistes (11. 12681286). Samson Agonistes was first published in 1671, in the small octavo volume which contained Paradise Regained.

XIII-XIV

The Horatian Ode was first printed in 1776, in Captain Edward Thompson's edition of Marvell's Works.

1. 15. side. Party.

32. Bergamot. A kind of pear.

67, &c. The finding of the human head at Rome, regarded as a happy omen, is mentioned by Pliny (Nat. Hist., xxviii. 4). The second appeared in Poems (1681).

XV

Produced in 1643. The author was a famous ballad-monger of Charles I.'s time. The original refrain was 'When the King comes home in peace again' (Roxburghe Collection of Ballads, iii. 256; Loyal Garland, 1671 and 1686; Ritson, Ancient Songs). The song was written to support the declining cause of the Royal Martyr. It helped to keep up the spirits of the Cavaliers in the days before the Restoration (1660), which event it was used to celebrate. When the Revolution (1688) drove the Stuarts into exile, this song became a weapon in the hands of the Jacobites.

XVI

This was a very popular loyal song in the reign of Charles II. Both words and music are given in Playford's Musical Combanion (1667).

XVII-XVIII

The first is from Dryden's opera, King Arthur, or the British Worthy (1691). As to the first: A battle is supposed to be given

behind the scenes, with drums, trumpets, and military shouts and excursions; after which, the Britons, expressing their joy for the victory, sing this song of triumph.'-Author's Note.

The second is an extract from Annus Mirabilis (1667).

XIX

This famous song, which Heine once declared expressed the whole character of the English people, made its first appearance in The Masque of Alfred (1740).

XX

This song is at least as old as the reign of Queen Anne. In the British Museum there are many half-sheet copies, with music. earliest begins, 'Here's a health to the Queen,' &c.

The

ΧΧΙ

The first print of our National Anthem is to be found in Harmonica Anglicana, a collection of part songs (circa 1742). This copy consists of two stanzas only. The third made its appearance when Harmonica Anglicana was extended to two volumes, with the new title Thesaurus Musicus. The copy printed in the Gentleman's Magazine (October 1745) contains the three stanzas given here, and is called, 'A Song for Two Voices sung at both play-houses.'

XXII

Sung in Garrick's pantomime, The Harlequin's Invasion, produced December 31, 1759.

XXIII

Odes ('Printed for A. Millar in the Strand,' 1746), and Dodsley's Museum (iv., 1749).

XXIV-XXV

The first was written' after reading Hume's History in 1780' (Benham). The second was written in September 1782. The Royal George (108 guns) was being repaired at Spithead (August 29, 1782), when she capsized and sank instantly. Rear-Admiral Richard Kempenfelt was then under orders to proceed to the relief of Gibraltar.

XXVI-XXVIII

The first is from The Oddities, a Table Entertainment (17891790), and its original title was Poor Tom, or the Sailor's Epitaph. The second was first sung in The Wags, or the Camp of Pleasure (October 18, 1790). The third was first sung in A Tour to Land's End (1798), and its original title was Yo heave ho! The first collected edition of Charles Dibdin's songs was issued in five volumes from 1790 to 1799.

XXIX

The air of The British Grenadiers is at least as old as the reign of Elizabeth, and is one of the most characteristic of the English National airs. The words here given are from a copy (with music) about a hundred and fifty years old.

XXX

Chappell dates this song 1758. The matter is not free from doubt, but the reference in the second stanza to 'Brighton Camp' is a clue. There were encampments along the south coast (1758-9) when Hawke and Rodney were watching the French fleet in Brest Harbour. The song appears to be English, although it has appeared in several collections of Irish music. I have omitted several stanzas which appear in Chappell's version (Popular Music of the Olden Time, vol. ii. p. 710).

XXXI

From Lock and Key, 'a musical entertainment,' first performed at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden (circa 1790).

XXXII

From two of the Prophetic Books entitled Jerusalem and Milton respectively, and both published in 1804.

XXXIII

Poems (1807). Composed August 1802. Calais at 12 in the morning for Dover.