European Balladry

Extract

The traditional Ballad has attracted not only the student of literature, the musician, the folk-lorist, and the philologist, but also those who are concerned with all matters of human interest. It has the peculiar distinction of having fascinated two classes that might be considered poles apart—simple peasants and men of high intellectual attainments. In the jargon of the day, it is for “high-brows” and “low-brows.”