The New Student's Reference Work/Ballad

Bal'lad, originally a song sung or acted in a dance. The name is used for any simple narrative poem of short stanzas in which a story is told in a forcible, straightforward manner. Ballads are found among all European nations, and belong to times when, in the nation to which they belong, life was simple and civilization not so far advanced as English civilization is at present. Percy’s Reliques of Ancient English Poetry and Sir Walter Scott’s Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border are famous collections of these old English and Scottish ballads. The ballad of Chevy Chase is probably the most famous in the English language. The story of Robin Hood was also a favorite subject of popular song, and has been sung in various forms.