Musa Pedestris - Three Centuries of Canting Songs and Slang Rhymes

John Stephen FarmerProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 4.0
Word count
225K words
Chapters
23

Tags

English Originals Folk LiteratureLanguage and Writing English EvolutionLiterary GiantsSlang StudiesAcademic StudyBallad CollectionPopular ExplanationCultural ChangeFolk CustomsCross-Cultural ViewMusical Rhythm

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today. Musa Pedestris - Three Centuries of Canting Songs and Slang Rhymes [1536 - 1896] Author: Farmer, John Stephen, 1854-1916, Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Jul 1, 2005

Editor's review

Compiled by John Stephen Farmer, this book gathers canting songs and slang rhymes spanning roughly three centuries, from 1536 to 1896, and stands as a unique document in the history of the English language and in folklore studies. Its materials reveal the vivid speech of the lower classes and marginal groups, offering reference value for research on the evolution of English slang, the ballad tradition, and social history. As editor, Farmer brought scattered songs together into a collection, letting readers see how language shifts with the times. The book suits linguistics and folklore researchers consulting it as source material, as well as enthusiasts of English slang and folk ballads. It is best read as a historical sourcebook rather than a systematic treatise; notes and background explanations can help clarify how word meanings changed.

Who it's for

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Reading tips

  1. Begin with the editor's preface and notes to understand the scope and editorial method.
  2. Browse in chronological order and observe how slang and ballad themes change over time.
  3. When encountering obscure cant, check notes and dictionaries and keep vocabulary notes.
  4. Read closely the period that interests you; there is no need to finish it all at once.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23

FAQ

What kind of content does this book collect? It collects English canting songs and slang rhymes from 1536 to 1896. It is a sourcebook of language and folklore rather than a systematic linguistic treatise, and is best treated as a collection of materials.
What language foundation does reading this book require? The book is in the original English and contains a great deal of historical slang and cant with archaic wording. Readers need strong English reading ability and a willingness to check notes and dictionaries for word meanings.
Is this book suitable for learning modern English slang? Not really. Its materials span three centuries, and much of the cant is no longer in use; its value lies mainly in historical and linguistic study. Those wanting modern slang should choose contemporary sources.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

John Stephen Farmer Author · British · 1854–1916

John Stephen Farmer (1854–1916) was a British lexicographer and writer born in Bedford. He is best known for the seven-volume slang dictionary Slang and its Analogues (1890–1904), compiled with W. E. Henley, which systematically collected and explained English slang and remains an important reference for research in the field. He also edited Musa Pedestris: Three Centuries of Canting Songs and Slang Rhymes, a collection of canting songs and verse, and The Public School Word-book, which records the vocabulary of British public schools. The library also holds his Regimental Records of the British Army, showing that his interests extended beyond language. Farmer was likewise interested in spiritualism and served as the first editor of the magazine Light. He died in 1916. Public information is limited, and many details of his life are unknown; his scholarly value lies chiefly in his compilation of slang and colloquial materials.