I was amused to note that Child, referring to the Percy collection, especially disliked certain ballads therein, saying they were not the 'harmless coprolites of a remote age' but 'rank and noxious specimens of comparatively modern dirt, such as would suit the age of Charles II, in whose the collection seems to have been made'.

He had quite a turn of phrase, didn't he?

[Ref: Article by Sigrid Rieuwerts from the '90s.]