Ball

α. Τo collect snow into balls, as on horses' hoofs. Ball, SIR ALEXANDER JOHN, a British admiral, who served with distinction in the first American war, and afterwards in the Mediterranean under Nelson. At the battle of the Nile he commanded the Alexander, and it is said that from a peculiar combustible thrown from that ship the explosion of the French man-of-war L'Ori ent is to be attributed. e afterwards besieged Malta, in 1800, which place was compelled to surrender. D. at Malta, of which island he had been made governor, in 1809. Balla, or Ballagh, a village of Ireland, in the co. Mayo, 8 m. S.E. of Castle bar; pop . about 620. Ballad, n. [Fr. ballade ; It. ballat a , from ball are , to dance.] ( Lit. ) A song originally adapted to a dance or ball; a popular song; a short narrative poem of the lyric order; a short air. Specifically, a short epic song of an entirely lyrical nature. If we trace the English and Scottish ballad to its origin, we must have recourse to those songs which existed among the inhabitants of the island before the Norman conquest, and were of a kind common to all the Teutonic nations. It is related of King Alfred that he sung ballads to his harp in the camp of the Danes. Among the Scand in avian nations, the three great divisions, or cycles, of the Teutonic poetry of the Middle Ages, -the stories of the Nibelungen - Lied , those of Charlemagne, (particularly such as relate to his wars against the Arabians and the battle of Roncesvalles,) and the tales of King Arthur's Round Table, - consist of what, at a later period, were called ballads . Tacitus informs us that ballads were the only annals known among the ancient German nations. In Wales, the bards , or writers of ballad-poetry, have from the earliest ages exercised an almost omnipotent influence over their countrymen; an influence surviving, in a great measure, up to the present day. Even in the New World, the American savages had their war-songs and rude poetry, in which they sung the praises of those who had fought and died for their nation. In proce of time, as manners refined, the ballad in every country by degrees included a wider range of subjects: it was no longer solely employed in rehearsing valorous exploits, but included in its rhymes the marvellous tale or the wild adventure, occasionally becoming the vehicle of sentiment and pa ion. No festivity was esteemed complete among our ancestors in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries, which was not set off with the exercise of the minstrel's talents; who usually sang his ballad to his own or some other harp, and was everywhere received with respect. As intellectual gratification advanced, however, these rude performances gradually lost their attraction with the superior ranks in society. When language became refined, and political taste elevated, by an acquaintance with the Greek and Latin authors, the subjects of the epic muse were no longer dre ed in the homely garb of the popular ballad, but a umed the borrowed IMG:content-0502.jpg:[graphic] orna ment and stately air of heroic poetry; and every poetical attempt in the sublime and beautiful cast was an imitation of the cla ic models. The native poetry of the country was reserved merely for the humorous and burlesque, and the term "ballad" was brought, by custom, to signify a comic story, told in low familiar language, and accompanied by a droll trivial tune. It was much used by the wits of the time as a vehicle for laughable ridicule and mirthful satire; and a great variety of the most pleasing specimens of Fig . 275. ENGLISH BALLAD-SELLER, (1650.) this kind of writing is to be found in the witty æra of English genius, which we take to be comprehended between the beginning of Charles II.'s reign, and the times of Swift and Prior. Since that period, the genius of the age has chiefly been characterized by the correct, elegant, and tender; and a real or affected taste for beautiful simplicity has almost universally prevailed. Andrew Fletcher, of Saltoun, said, if he were permitted to make the ballads of a nation, he cared not who should make the laws , ("Political Works," 1749;) s0 strong a belief had he in the revolutionizing tendency of an heroic ballad or song. To give an instance of the truth of this remark, we need only mention how the popular, though comparatively sensele , ballad of Lillibullero a isted to bring about the English Revolution of 1688. It is generally allowed among well-read men that the best specimens known of the old popular ballads are to be found in Scotland, or more properly, perhaps, on the Scottish border between Scotland and England. The earliest ballad now remaining in the English language is believed to be a "Cuckoo Song" of the latter part of the reign of Henry III. The song speaks for itself, although we give a modernized version. IMG:content-0503.png:[blocks in formation] Among the finer of the old English B. that have come down to us are, Chevy Chase, The Robin Hood Ballads , Sir John Suckling's Ballad on a Wedding, . Sir Walter Scott, in his "Scottish Minstrelsy," has presented us with the choicest examples of the old Scots B. Among its more modern specimens of note are, Fair Helen of Kirkconnel Lea; Johnnie Armstrong: Lady Lindsay's Auld Robin Gray ; the Banks and Braes o' Bonnie Doon, of Burns; Annie Laurie, . Ireland. from the muse of Carol an, and later, of Moore, the "Bard of Erin," has given to the world B. poetry of touching pathos and beauty. Need we mention the "Irish Melodies" of the latter poet? - his Harp that once through Tara's Halls, that one, of the many, which is so dear to the Irish heart? -Of the modern English B. (strictly speaking) we have Cowper's John Gilpin ; Goldsmith's Edwin and Angel in a ; Aytoun's Lays of the Scottish Cavaliers ; Praed's Ballads : the Bon Gaultier Ballads; Macaulay's Armada , and Lays of Ancient Rome ; the ballads of Thackeray: Cole ridge's Ancient Mariner , ., . -The French B. never reached any degree of perfection, because their fabiaux , legends, ., early degenerated into interminable metrical and prose romances of chivalry. From 1830 to 1840, with the taste for the study of the Middle Ages, the B. came into fashion, and very succe ful illustrations of the modern style may be found in the works of Alfred de Mu et, and the earlier poetical effusions of Victor Hugo. - No modern nation has cultivated the composition of ballad poetry so a iduously as the Germans. The Lenore of Bürger brought in a new era of ballad writing in Germany. He confined the name 'ballad,' as Cole ridge has also done in imitation of him, to an enic narrative, with something fabulous and supernatural in The American Dictionary and Cyclopedia the background, but still po e ing enough of earth to interest the ma of humanity. Schiller, Göthe, and Uhland have followed in his wake; and the latter has done much in modern times to familiarize the German mind with this species of composition. The ballad poetry of the northern nations, particularly those of Iceland, of the Faroe Isles, of Denmark, and Norway and Sweden, retain their ancient character to the present day. - In Italy, the ballad never flourished: the poetry of that country has always retained a certain antique spirit, and the Italians never partook, to any great extent, in the crusades, being fully occupied at home in the wars of the free cities. The Portuguese never cultivated the ballad much. Almost all their poetry of this kind is to be traced to a Spanish origin. The Ru ians have lyricoepic poems, of which some, in old Ru ian, are excellent. A curious circumstance in this connection is the resemblance which appears between the B. of peoples often widely separated and distinct in race, the same incidents, and sometimes the same story, recurring. This may have been due to the great popularity of these poems during the med iæval period, and their wide extension in consequence. Probably the Crusades had much to do with this. See BARD, FABLIAUX, JONGLEUR, LAY, MINNESINGER, MINSTREL, NIBELUNGEN-LIED, ROMANCE, ROUNDELAY, TROUBADOUR, TROUVÈRE, . -. n. To compose or sing ballads; to allude to, or make mention of, in ballads.