Anthologies of English balladry and popular song, preserving cross-century collections that should be read beside the chronological ballad rooms.
Pages
A Book of Old English Ballads — Hamilton Wright Mabie's introduction to A Book of Old English Ballads (1903) — a masterful essay on the nature, origin, and enduring power of the popular ballad, tracing its roots in community authorship and the age when poetry lived on the lips of the people.
The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, Vol. 3 — Francis James Child — Volume 3 of Francis James Child's monumental critical edition of the English and Scottish ballads (ballads 100–157 of 305), from the local sacred-texts.com mirror, with the mirror's own disclosed gaps noted.
The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, Vol. 4 — Francis James Child — Volume 4 of Francis James Child's monumental critical edition of the English and Scottish ballads (ballads 158–217 of 305), from the local sacred-texts.com mirror, with the mirror's own disclosed gaps noted.
The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, Vol. 5 — Francis James Child — Volume 5 of Francis James Child's monumental critical edition of the English and Scottish ballads (ballads 218–305 of 305), from the local sacred-texts.com mirror, with the mirror's own disclosed gaps noted.