ndon_.
16_th_ _May_, 1826.

_My dear Sir_,

_I like your Danish Ballads much_, _and though Oehlenslaeger seems a
capital poet_, _I love the old rhymes best_. _There is more truth
and simplicity in them_;_ and certainly we have nothing in our
language to compare with them_. . . . '_Sir John_' _is a capital
fellow_, _and reminds one of Burns'_ '_Findlay_.' '_Sir Middel_' _is
very natural and affecting_, _and exceedingly well rendered_,--_so
is_ '_The Spectre of Hydebee_.' _In this you have kept up the true
tone of the Northern Ballad_. '_Svend Vonved_' _is wild and
poetical_, _and it is my favourite_. _You must not think me
insensible to the merits of the incomparable_ '_Skimming_.' _I think
I hear his neigh_, _and see him crush the ribs of the Jute_. _Get
out of bed_, _therefore_, _George Borrow_, _and be sick or sleepy no
longer_. _A fellow who can give us such exquisite Danish Ballads has
no right to repose_. . . .

_I remain_,
_Your very faithful friend_,
_Allan Cunningham_.

_Contents_.

PAGE.

Introductory Verses. By Allan Cunningham. [_Sing_, ix
_sing_, _my friend_; _breathe life again_]

The Death-Raven. [_The silken sail_, _which caught the 1
summer breeze_]

I give herewith a reduced facsimile of the first page of
the original Manuscript of this Ballad. No other MS. of
it is known to be extant.

Fridleif and Helga. [_The woods were in leaf_, _and 21
they cast a sweet shade_]

Sir Middel. [_So tightly was Swanelil lacing her vest_] 28

Previously printed (under the title _Skion Middel_, the
first line reading, "_The maiden was lacing so tightly
her vest_,") in _The Monthly Magazine_, _November_ 1823,
p. 308. Apart from the opening line, the text of the
two versions (with the exception of a few trifling
verbal changes) is identical.

Another, but widely different, version of this Ballad is
printed in _Child Maidelvold and Other Ballads_, 1913,
pp. 5-10. In this latter version the name of the
heroine is Sidselil in place of Swanelil, and that of
the hero is Child Maidelvold in place of Sir Middel.

Elv