Chapter 24 of The English and Scottish popular ballads, volume 4 (of 5) is here in full — 491 sentences across 99 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXIV
Chapter 24 of The English and Scottish popular ballads, volume 4 (of 5) is here in full — 491 sentences across 99 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
‘Oh, will ye fancy me, fair maid? Oh, will ye fancy me? O Or will ye go to be ladye o the Drum, An let a’ your shearin abe? O An let a’ your shearin abe? O An let a’ your shearin abe ?’
Chapter 24 of The English and Scottish popular ballads, volume 4 (of 5) is here in full — 491 sentences across 99 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/98 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
a musical percussion instrument; usually consists of a hollow cylinder with a membrane stretched across each end
From this reading “O Or will ye go to be ladye o the Drum, An let a’ your shearin abe?”
free from favoritism or self-interest or bias or deception; conforming with established standards or rules
From this reading “‘Oh, will ye fancy me, fair maid?”
something many people believe that is false
From this reading “‘Oh, will ye fancy me, fair maid?”
used to make a suggestion or a command including the speaker
From this reading “O Or will ye go to be ladye o the Drum, An let a’ your shearin abe?”
a female domestic
From this reading “‘Oh, will ye fancy me, fair maid?”
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
In this reading “‘Oh, will ye fancy me, fair maid?”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading O Or will ye go to be ladye o the Drum, An let a’ your shearin abe?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading O Or will ye go to be ladye o the Drum, An let a’ your shearin abe?
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading O Or will ye go to be ladye o the Drum, An let a’ your shearin abe?
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading O Or will ye go to be ladye o the Drum, An let a’ your shearin abe?
a musical percussion instrument; usually consists of a hollow cylinder with a membrane stretched across each end
From this reading O Or will ye go to be ladye o the Drum, An let a’ your shearin abe?
free from favoritism or self-interest or bias or deception; conforming with established standards or rules
From this reading ‘Oh, will ye fancy me, fair maid?
something many people believe that is false
From this reading ‘Oh, will ye fancy me, fair maid?
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading O Or will ye go to be ladye o the Drum, An let a’ your shearin abe?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading O Or will ye go to be ladye o the Drum, An let a’ your shearin abe?
used to make a suggestion or a command including the speaker
From this reading O Or will ye go to be ladye o the Drum, An let a’ your shearin abe?
a female domestic
From this reading ‘Oh, will ye fancy me, fair maid?
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading ‘Oh, will ye fancy me, fair maid?
a nonmetallic bivalent element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless nonflammable diatomic gas; constitutes 21 percent of the atmosphere by volume; the most abundant element in the earth's crust
From this reading O Or will ye go to be ladye o the Drum, An let a’ your shearin abe?
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading ‘Oh, will ye fancy me, fair maid?
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading O Or will ye go to be ladye o the Drum, An let a’ your shearin abe?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading O Or will ye go to be ladye o the Drum, An let a’ your shearin abe?
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading O Or will ye go to be ladye o the Drum, An let a’ your shearin abe?
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading O Or will ye go to be ladye o the Drum, An let a’ your shearin abe?
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading ‘Oh, will ye fancy me, fair maid?
an old word for “you”, speaking to more than one person
From this reading ‘Oh, will ye fancy me, fair maid?
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading O Or will ye go to be ladye o the Drum, An let a’ your shearin abe?
Chapter 24 of The English and Scottish popular ballads, volume 4 (of 5) by Francis James [Editor] Child holds 491 sentences, grouped into 99 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 24 holds 491 sentences of The English and Scottish popular ballads, volume 4 (of 5), unabridged, divided into 99 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 24 of The English and Scottish popular ballads, volume 4 (of 5) by Francis James [Editor] Child exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 491 sentences, grouped into 99 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 99 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 99 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 24 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading The English and Scottish popular ballads, volume 4 (of 5) by Francis James [Editor] Child on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 20473 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #63116 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #63116, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 4095 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The English and Scottish popular ballads, volume 4 (of 5) section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of The English and Scottish popular ballads, volume 4 (of 5) to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in The English and Scottish popular ballads, volume 4 (of 5), each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
