Note 866 — Chapter V · THE DIFFERENCING ELEMENTS OF COMMUNAL POETRY (continued 3)
Reading edition
It has been repeatedly noticed that older English dances are known by the ballads sung to them. Even some of the tragic ballads were used for the dance; but one must think of gay little songs and refrains as staple for the merry rounds; nothing else will fit the seasons when “maydes daunce in a ring.”