P. 274. _The Merchant's Garland_:--

"Syr Carnegie's gane owre the sea,
And's plowing thro' the main,
And now must make a lang voyage,
The red gold for to gain."

This is evidently one of those ballads which calls Mr. Sheldon "godfather."
The original ballad, which has been "baptized and remodelled," is called
"The Factor's Garland." It begins in the following homely manner:--

"Behold here's a ditty, 'tis true and no jest
Concerning a young gentleman in the East,
Who by his great gaming came to poverty,
And afterwards went many voyages to sea."

P. 329. _The rare Ballad of Johnnie Faa_:--

"There were seven gipsies in a gang,
They were both brisk and bonny O;
They rode till they came to the Earl of Castle's house,
And here they sang so sweetly O."

This is a very _hobbling_ version (from the recitation of a "gipsy
vagabond") of a ballad frequently reprinted. It first appeared in Ramsay's
_Tea-Table Miscellany_; afterwards in Finlay's and Chambers' Collections.
None of these versions were known to Mr. Sheldon.

I have now extracted enough from the _Minstrelsy of the English Border_ to
show the mode of "ballad editing" as pursued by Mr. Sheldon. The instances