Contributions of Common People to English Literature

1. Contributions of Common
People to English Literature

2. Old English literature encompasses
literature written in Old English (also
called Anglo-Saxon), during the 600-
year Anglo-Saxon period of England,
from the mid-5th century to
the Norman Conquest of 1066.

3. These works include genres such as
epic poetry, hagiography, sermons,
Bible translations, legal works,
chronicles, riddles, and others. In all
there are about 400 surviving
manuscripts from the period, a
significant corpus of both popular
interest and specialist research.

4. Most texts were written and
compiled in theme books for
monasteries and courts.
It also remains to be seen how
much the common people have done
in increasing the popularity of old
English literature.

5. Ballads in Anglo-Saxon Period
BALLAD: In common parlance, song
hits, folk music, and folktales or any
song that tells a story are loosely
called ballads. In more exact literary
terminology, a ballad is a narrative
poem consisting of quatrains of
iambic tetrameter alternating with
iambic tri meter.

6. Common traits of the ballad are
that (a) the beginning is often
abrupt, (b)the story is told through
dialogue and action. (c) the language
is simple or "folksy," (d) the theme is
often tragic--though comic ballads
do exist, and (e) the ballad contains a
refrain repeated several times.

7. BALLAD LORD RANDAL
published by: Sir Walter Scott in 1803
Lord Randall is a Medieval folk ballad about
young man who is poisoned by his lover at a meal.
The Man then goes home and his mother asks him
where he has been. He tells her he had dinner with
his significant other. They had boiled eels. The man
tells his mother that he is dying and that he needs to
rest.

8. 1
“O where ha you been, Lord Randal,
my son?
And where ha you been, my
handsome young man?”
“I ha been at the greenwood;
mother, mak my bed soon,
For I’m wearied wi hunting, and fain
wad lie down.”

9. 2
“Anwha met ye there, Lord Randal,
my son?
Anwha met you there, my handsome
young man?”
“O I met wi my true-love; mother,
mak my bed soon,
For I’m wearied wihuntin, an fain
wad lie down.”

10. 3
“And what did she give you, Lord
Randal, my son?
And what did she give you, my
handsome young man?”
“Eels fried in a pan; mother, mak my
bed soon,
For I’m wearied with huntin, and fain
wad lie down.”

11. 4
“And wha gat your leavins, Lord
Randal, my son?
And what gat your leavins, my
handsom young man?”
“My hawks and my hounds; mother,
mak my bed soon,
For I’m wearied wihuntin, and fain
wad lie down.”

12. 5
“And what becam of them, Lord
Randall, my son?
And what became of them, my
handsome young man?”
“They stretched their legs out an
died; mother, mak my bed soon,
For I’m wearied wihuntin, and fain
wad lie down.”

13. 6
“O I fear you are poisoned, Lord
Randal, my son!
I fear you are poisoned, my
handsome young man!”
“O yes, I am poisoned; mother, mak
my bed soon,
For I’m sick at the heart, and I fain
wad lie down.”

14. 7
“What d’ ye leave to your mother,
Lord Randal, my son?
What d’ye leave to your mother, my
handsome young man?”
“Four and twenty milk kye; mother,
mak my bed soon,
For I’m sick at the heart, and I fain
wad lie down.”

15. 8
“What d’ ye leave to your sister, Lord
Randal, my son?
What d’ ye leave to your sister, my
handsome young man?”
“My gold and my silver; mother, mak
my bed soon,
For I’m sick at the heart, an I fain
wad lie down.”

16. 9
“What d’ ye leave to your brother,
Lord Randal, my son?
What d’ ye leave to your brother, my
handsome young man?”
“My house and my lands; mother,
mak my bed soon,
For I’m sick at the heart, and I fain
wad lie down.”

17. 10
“What d’ ye leave to your true-love,
Lord Randal, my son?
What d’ ye leave to your true-love,
my handsome young man?”
“I leave her hell and fire; mother,
mak my bed soon,
For I’m sick at the heart, and I fain
wad lie down.”