The Bab Ballads
W. S. Gilbert
Read by Graham Redman
The Bab Ballads are a collection of light verse by W. S. Gilbert, illustrated with his own comic drawings. Gilbert wrote the Ballads before he became famous for his comic opera librettos with Arthur Sullivan. In writing the Bab Ballads, Gilbert developed his unique "topsy-turvy" style, where the humour was 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 would recycle in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas. The Bab Ballads take their name from Gilbert's childhood nickname, and he later began to sign his illustrations "Bab". (summary from Wikipedia) (3 hr 1 min)
Chapters
| Captain Reece | 4:55 | Read by Graham Redman |
| The Rival Curates | 4:07 | Read by Graham Redman |
| Only A Dancing Girl | 2:29 | Read by Graham Redman |
| General John | 2:55 | Read by Graham Redman |
| To A Little Maid - By A Policeman | 1:32 | Read by Graham Redman |
| John And Freddy | 3:36 | Read by Graham Redman |
| Sir Guy The Crusader | 3:00 | Read by Graham Redman |
| Haunted | 3:51 | Read by Graham Redman |
| The Bishop And The 'Busman | 3:56 | Read by Graham Redman |
| The Troubadour | 4:14 | Read by Graham Redman |
| Ferdinando And Elvira; Or, The Gentle Pieman | 5:24 | Read by Graham Redman |
| Lorenzo De Lardy | 4:20 | Read by Graham Redman |
| Disillusioned - By An Ex-Enthusiast | 3:02 | Read by Graham Redman |
| Babette's Love | 4:28 | Read by Graham Redman |
| To My Bride - (Whoever She May Be) | 3:09 | Read by Graham Redman |
| The Folly Of Brown - By A General Agent | 4:25 | Read by Graham Redman |
| Sir Macklin | 4:04 | Read by Graham Redman |
| The Yarn Of The "Nancy Bell" | 4:54 | Read by Graham Redman |
| The Bishop Of Rum-Ti-Foo | 4:40 | Read by Graham Redman |
| The Precocious Baby. A Very True Tale | 4:08 | Read by Graham Redman |
| To Phoebe | 1:13 | Read by Graham Redman |
| Baines Carew, Gentleman | 4:45 | Read by Graham Redman |
| Thomas Winterbottom Hance | 4:49 | Read by Graham Redman |
| The Reverend Micah Sowls | 4:18 | Read by Graham Redman |
| A Discontented Sugar Broker | 5:14 | Read by Graham Redman |
| The Pantomime "Super" To His Mask | 3:11 | Read by Graham Redman |
| The Force Of Argument | 4:32 | Read by Graham Redman |
| The Ghost, The Gallant, The Gael, And The Goblin | 4:45 | Read by Graham Redman |
| The Phantom Curate. A Fable | 4:24 | Read by Graham Redman |
| The Sensation Captain | 5:00 | Read by Graham Redman |
| Tempora Mutantur | 2:53 | Read by Graham Redman |
| At A Pantomime. By A Bilious One | 4:07 | Read by Graham Redman |
| King Borria Bungalee Boo | 5:11 | Read by Graham Redman |
| The Periwinkle Girl | 4:02 | Read by Graham Redman |
| Thomson Green And Harriet Hale | 3:53 | Read by Graham Redman |
| Bob Polter | 5:14 | Read by Graham Redman |
| The Story Of Prince Agib | 4:41 | Read by Graham Redman |
| Ellen McJones Aberdeen | 5:40 | Read by Graham Redman |
| Peter The Wag | 5:03 | Read by Graham Redman |
| Ben Allah Achmet; - Or, The Fatal Tum | 4:37 | Read by Graham Redman |
| The Three Kings of Chickeraboo | 4:18 | Read by Graham Redman |
| Joe Golightly - Or, The First Lord's Daughter | 4:45 | Read by Graham Redman |
| To The Terrestrial Globe. By A Miserable Wretch | 1:28 | Read by Graham Redman |
| Gentle Alice Brown | 6:12 | Read by Graham Redman |