The Book of Ballads

William Edmondstoune Aytoun was a poet, who is remembered for parodies and light verse and who had a greatly influenced on the style of later Scottish humorous satire. Called 'the first modern professor of English literature', Aytoun was an ardent collector of ballads, and a poet who wrote in the historical ballad style. 

“The Book of Ballads”, written in collaboration with Theodore Martin, was published in 1845 under the pseudonym Bon Gaultier. It included, in the phrase of George Kitchin, "a mannequin's parade of Victorian modes": parodies of national ballads, of the Eastern tale, of the philosophical poem, of the reflective poem, of the "poetical puff," of the epigram, of thieves' literature, of young ladies' literature, and of the leading stylists of the day.

A series of humorous articles on the fashions and follies of the time will like for everyone, who is interested with history and culture. Enjoy the reading!