TRADITIONAL ENGLISH BALLADS

The task of gathering old traditionary song is surely a pleasant and a lightsome one. Albeit the harvest has been plentiful and the gleaners many, still a stray sheaf may occasionally be found worth the having. But we must be careful not to "pick up a straw." One of your corespondents recommends, as an addition to the value of your pages, the careful getting together of those numerous traditional ballads that are still sometimes to be met with, floating about various parts of the country. This advice is by no means to be disregarded, but I wish to point out the necessity of the contributors to…