XXXVIII. FOLK-SONGS OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY

A large number of folk-songs originated in the 15th and still more in the 16th century. From the nature of the type they can seldom be exactly dated unless they relate to a known historical occurrence. The following selections are taken from Erk and Böhme’s admirable Deutscher Liederhort, 3 volumes quarto, Leipzig, 1893-4. As any translation into smooth modern verse would destroy a part of the characteristic flavor of the songs, they are printed as in Erk and Böhme, but with occasional modernizations of spelling and grammar.

In this chapter, textual notes are shown alongside the poems, as in Part II.