In the reigns of James the First and his successor, the taste of the
people for nature and simplicity kept up the profession of
ballad-singing. We are to look upon ballad-singers from this time as a
corporation. Custom had established yearly festivals for them in the
_classic regions_ of St. Giles's, which were frequented by the wits of
the day--Swift, Gay, Bolingbroke, Steele, &c. From these high followers
of the muses, yearly contingents of ballads were expected. Swift
contracted for the humourous songs: Gay who had, as Goldsmith says, "a
happy strain of ballad-thinking," was set down for the pathetic ones;
and those of a miscellaneous character were divided amongst a number of
amateur bards. No importunities, even of his friends, could induce Pope
to attend any of these assemblies. He was prevailed on to write an
epitaph for a young creature whom he had seen, and who was known by the
name of Clarinda: favoured by the great, if she had not been attached to
the life of a ballad-singer, she might, with her accomplishments, have
risen to distinction and fortune.
Gay and Swift had naturally a relish for low society, and were hailed by
the fraternity as the most precious sources of profit.
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