mas J. Wise_, _Hampstead_, _N.W._ / _Edition limited to thirty
copies_." The signatures are A (a quarter-sheet of two leaves), plus B &
C (two sheets, each eight leaves), inset within each other.

Issued in bright green paper wrappers, with untrimmed edges, and with the
title-page reproduced upon the front. The leaves measure 8.5 x 6.875
inches.

Thirty Copies only were printed.

_Contents_.

PAGE

The Serpent Knight. [_Signelil sits in her bower alone_] 7

The only extant MS. of this ballad originally bore the
title _The Transformed Knight_, but the word
_Transformed_ is struck out and replaced by _Serpent_, in
Borrow's handwriting.

Sir Olaf. [_Sir Olaf rides on his courser tall_] 10

_Sir Olaf_ is one of Borrow's most successful ballads.
The only extant Manuscript is written upon paper
water-marked with the date 1845, and was prepared for the
projected _Koempe Viser_.

The Treacherous Merman. ["_Now rede me mother_," _the 15
merman cried_]

This Ballad is a later, and greatly improved, version of
one which appeared under the title _The Merman_ only, in
the _Romantic Ballads_ of 1826. The introduction of the
incident of the changing by magic of the horse into a
boat, furnishes a reason for the catastrophe which was
lacking in the earlier version.

In its final shape _The Treacherous Merman_ is another of
Borrow's most successful ballads, and it is evident that
he bestowed upon it an infinite amount of care and
labour. An early draft of the final version [a reduced
facsimile of its first page will be found _ante_, facing
p. 40] bears the tentative title _Marsk Stig's Daughter_.
Besides the two printed versions Borrow certainly
composed a third, for a fragment exists of a third MS.,
the text of which differs considerably from that of both
the others.

The Knight in the Deer's Shape. [_It was the Knight Sir 18
Peter_]

Facing the present page is a reduced facsimile of the
first page of the Manuscript of _The Knight in the Deer's
Shape_.

The Stalwart Monk. [_Above the wood a cloister towers_] 24

_The Stalwart Monk_ was composed by Borrow about the year
1860. Whether he had worked upon the ballad in earlier
years cannot be ascertained, as no other Manuscript
besides that from which it was printed in the pr