[1782]

« This ballad is supposed to be written by Mordrid, chief of the bards, in the reign of Edwin, king of Northumberland, whose son Offa was slain in the battle of Hatfield Wood, near Doncaster, a.D. 633. It concludes with the words of the bard. Rapin says, on Hatfield Wood a bloody battle was fought between Ceadwalla, king of the Britons, and Penda, the Pagan king of Mercia, against Edwin, the first Christian king of Northumberland, in which Edwin and Offrido his eldest son were slain. »

From : The Ballads and Songs of Yorkshire, transcribed from private manuscripts, rare broadsides and scarce publications, by C.J. Davison Ingledew, London, Bell and Daldy, 1860.

Tra i numerosi e particolari libriccini in mio possesso relativi alla « balladry » angloscozzese, vi è quest’oltremodo rara collezione di ballate dello Yorkshire recuperata fortunosamente dalle dismissioni della biblioteca... (continua)