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Early collections of English ballads were made by Samuel Pepys ( 1633 – 1703 ) and in the Roxburghe Ballads collected by Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Mortimer ( 1661 – 1724 ).

In the 18th century there were increasing numbers of such collections, including Thomas D ' Urfey's Wit and Mirth: or, Pills to Purge Melancholy ( 1719 – 20 ) and Bishop Thomas Percy's Reliques of Ancient English Poetry ( 1765 ).

The last of these also contained some oral material and by the end of the 18th century this was becoming increasingly common, with collections including John Ritson's, The Bishopric Garland ( 1784 ), which paralleled the work of figures like Robert Burns and Walter Scott in Scotland.

It has been suggested that the increasing interest in traditional popular ballads during the eighteenth century was prompted by social issues such as the enclosure movement as many of the ballads deal with themes concerning rural laborers.

James Davey has suggested that the common themes of sailing and naval battles may also have prompted the use of popular ballads as naval recruitment tools