Book Excerptto Johnson, 'ballad' essentially implies singing; but from about the middle of the eighteenth century the modern interpretation of the word began to come into general use. Footnote 1: For the subject of the origin of the ballad and its refrain in the _ballatio_ of the dancing-ring, see _The Beginnings of Poetry_, by Professor Francis B. Gummere, especially chap. v. The beginning of the whole subject is to be found in the universal and...