Preface
Very many years ago, having observed the growing contempt with which some English and Anglo-Scottish critics spoke about our northern traditional ballads and their collectors, I began to make notes thereon, with no other purpose in view than the satisfying of my own mind, as to whether the doubts and innuendoes circulated anent "thefts," "fabrications," and "sophistications" were, or were not, sufficiently based for an honest and fair mind to entertain.