Excerpt from The Jargon of Master Francois Villon, Clerk of Paris, A. D. 1452: Being Seven Ballads From the Thieves' Argot of the Xvth Century The seven Ballads in thejargon or the Thieves' Argot of that period, which are herewith set forth, appear to be advice and Warning - Sermons, they have been called - to his companions, the Brothers of La Coquille, and they are supposed to have been written about the year The theme of the Hangman's noose and of the Yawning prison seems to have beenever foremost in Villon's mind, and from these ideas he was never able to disasso/ ciate himself. Nor is this so strange, since the Archers of the Guard and the rack and gallows played a most if not the most imz portant part in the daily life of the xvth Century Parisian, and Villon himself was acquainted with them only too well. We are told that there were nineteen gibbets, in and around Paris, in the time of Louis XI and that the populace went en fete to all the public executions, chanting songs in ballad form and enjoying them/ selves to the uttermost. For our Poet these gibbets and gaunt Montfaulcon appear to have had a special fascination and likewise horror, he having escaped the hangman's clutches on two different occasions. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.