The Bab Ballads

The Bab Ballads is a collection of light verses by W. S. Gilbert, illustrated with his own comic drawings. The book takes its title from Gilbert's childhood nickname. He later began to sign his illustrations "Bab". Gilbert wrote the "ballads" collected in the book before he became famous for his comic opera librettos with Arthur Sullivan. In writing these verses Gilbert developed his "topsy-turvy" style in which the humour is derived by setting up a ridiculous premise and working out its logical consequences, however absurd. The ballads also reveal Gilbert's cynical and satirical approach to humour.

They became famous on their own, as well as being a source for plot elements, characters and songs that Gilbert recycled in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas. They were read aloud at private dinner-parties, at public banquets and even in the House of Lords. The ballads have been much published, and some have been recorded or otherwise adapted.

By : W. S. Gilbert (1836 - 1911)

01 - Captain Reece 02 - The Rival Curates 03 - Only A Dancing Girl 04 - General John 05 - To A Little Maid - By A Policeman 06 - John and Freddy 07 - Sir Guy The Crusader 08 - Haunted 09 - The Bishop And The 'Busman 10 - The Troubadour 11 - Ferdinando And Elvira; Or, The Gentle Pieman 12 - Lorenzo De Lardy 13 - Disillusioned - By An Ex-Enthusiast 14 - Babette's Love 15 - To My Bride - (Whoever She May Be) 16 - The Folly Of Brown - By A General Agent 17 - Sir Macklin 18 - The Yarn Of The Nancy Bell 19 - The Bishop Of Rum-Ti-Foo 20 - The Precocious Baby. A Very True Tale 21 - To Phoebe 22 - Baines Carew, Gentleman 23 - Thomas Winterbottom Hance 24 - The Reverend Micah Sowls 25 - A Discontented Sugar Broker 26 - The Pantomime Super to His Mask 27 - The Force Of Argument 28 - The Ghost, The Gallant, The Gael, And The Goblin 29 - The Phantom Curate. A Fable 30 - The Sensation Captain 31 - Tempora Mutantur 32 - At A Pantomime. By a Bilious One 33 - King Borria Bungalee Boo 34 - The Periwinkle Girl 35 - Thomson Green and Harriet Hale 36 - Bob Polter 37 - The Story Of Prince Agib 38 - Ellen McJones Aberdeen 39 - Peter The Wag 40 - Ben Allah Achmet; - Or, The Fatal Tum 41 - The Three Kings Of Chickeraboo 42 - Joe Golightly - Or, The First Lord's Daughter 43 - To The Terrestrial Globe. By a Miserable Wretch 44 - Gentle Alice Brown