Relics of the old English and Scottish popular ballads, songs of the familiar broadside type, chanties, last remorseful moments of sinful seafaring men, and other verses are included in this noteworthy collection, which shows an astonishing range and variety of matter. It contains upwards of 175 pieces, with the musical notation for forty-two of them.

Mackenzie’s long identification with this special field vouches for the comprehensiveness and the enthusiasm of his work. All students of folk-lore and all lovers of folk-poetry will find it an unusually rewarding book. Few volumes have so completely captured the tang of the ocean or the romance, the bravery, and the labor connected with the lives of seagoing men.