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A Tankard of Ale |
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" We are na fu' ; we are na fu' ; But just a drappie in the ee. The cock may craw ; the day may daw— But still we'll drink the barley bree."
I have made no attempt to preserve an exact chronological order, but have arranged the songs in what is the most satisfactory sequence that I could devise.
The notes are reduced to a minimum, for while many interesting ones might have been made, this book is rather intended for tapsters than for antiquaries—for those who would drink sack (were any to be had) rather than for those who propound learned theories as to what it really was.
In many instances a song has been reproduced before in several collections. In such cases I have contented myself with merely indicating one of the works where it may be found. Among the numerous books and broadsheets consulted in the compilation of my anthology I may mention the following: " The Percy Society's Edition of Songs and Carols " ; " ChappelPs Collections"; Evan's " Old Ballads " ; " The Roxburghe Ballads"; D'Urfey's "Pills to Purge Melancholy"; J. W. Ebsworth's Collections; Ashton's " Wit, Humour, and Satire of the Seventeenth Century" ; Ritson's " Ancient Songs " ; Robert Bell's " Ancient Poems, Ballads, and Songs of the English Peasantry " ; W. T. Marchant's " In Praise of Ale " ; and Sir Alexander Croke's " Essay on Rhyming Latin Verse." A special mention must be made of " Songs of the Vine," an admirable anthology compiled by the late William G. Hutchison
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