Cavalier Songs and Ballads of England from 1642 to 1684 Part 20

At first he was a grocer who now we Major call, Although you would think no, Sir, if you saw him in Whitehall, Where he has great command, and looks for cap in hand, And if our eggs be not addle, shall be of the next new moddel.

Sing hi ho, Mr Salloway, (89) the Lord in heaven doth know When that from hence you shall away, where to the Devil you'l go.

Sing hi ho, etc.

Little Hill, (90) since set in the House, is to a mountain grown; Not that which brought forth the mouse, but thousands the year of his own.

The purchase that I mean, where else but at Taunton Dean; Five thousand pounds per annum, a sum not known to his grannam.

Sing hi, the Good old Cause, (91) 'tis old enough not true You got more by that then the laws, so a good old cause to you.

Sing hi ho, etc.

Master Cecil, (92) pray come behind, because on your own accord The other House you declined, you shall be no longer a lord; The reason, as I guess, you silently did confess, Such lords deserved ill the other House to fill.

Sing hi ho, Mr Cecil, your honour now is gone; Such lords are not worth a whistle, we have made better lords of our own.

Sing hi ho, etc.

Luke Robinson (93) shall go before ye, that snarling northern tyke; Be sure he'll not adore ye, for honour he doth not like; He cannot honour inherit, and he knows he can never merit, And therefore he cannot bear it that any one else should wear it.

Sing hi ho, envious lown, you're of the beagle's kind, Who always bark'd at the moon, because in the dark it s.h.i.+ned.

Sing hi ho, etc.

'Tis this that vengeance rouses, that, while you make long prayers, You eat up widows' houses, and drink the orphan's tears; Long time you kept a great noise, of G.o.d and the Good old Cause; But if G.o.d to you be so kind, then I'me of the Indian's mind.

Sing hi ho, Sir Harry, (94) we see, by your demeanour, If longer here you tarry, you'll be Sir Harry Vane, Senior.

Sing hi ho, etc.

Now if your zeal do warme ye, pray loud for fairer weather; Swear to live and die with the army, for these birds are flown together; The House is turn'd out a doe, (and I think it was no sin, too); If we take them there any more, we'll throw the House out of the window.

Sing hi ho, Tom Scot, (95) you lent the Devil your hand; I wonder he helpt you not, but suffred you t' be trapand.

Sing hi ho, etc.

They're once again conduced, and we freed from the evil To which we long were used; G.o.d blesse us next from the Devil!

If they had not been outed the array had been routed, And then this rotten Rump had sat until the last trump.

But, hi ho, Lambert's here, the Protector's instrument bore, And many there be who swear that he will do it no more.

Sing hi ho, etc.

Come here, then, honest Peters, (96) say grace for the second course, So long as these your betters must patience have upon force, Long time he kept a great noise with G.o.d and the Good old Cause, But if G.o.d own such as these, then where's the Devil's fees?

Sing hi ho, Hugo, I hear thou art not dead; Where now to the Devil will you go, your patrons being fled?

Sing hi ho, my honey, my heart shall never rue, Four-and-twenty now for a penny, and into the bargain Hugh.

Ballad: The Tale Of The Cobbler And The Vicar Of Bray

Rara est concordia fratrum. Ovid.

By Samuel Butler.

The "Sir Samuel" of this Ballad is the same person - Sir Samuel Luke of Bedfords.h.i.+re - who is supposed to have been the unconscious model of the portrait which is drawn so much more fully in the inimitable Hudibras. Ralph is also the well-known Squire in the same poem. The Ballad, though published in Butler's "Posthumous Works," 1724, was rejected by Thyer in the edition of 1784, and is not included in the "Genuine Remains," published from the original ma.n.u.scripts, formerly in the possession of William Longueville, Esq. If not by Butler, it is a successful imitation of his style, and abounds in phrases of st.u.r.dy colloquial English, and is of a date long anterior to the popular song, "The Vicar of Bray."

In Bedfords.h.i.+re there dwelt a knight, Sir Samuel by name, Who by his feats in civil broils Obtain'd a mighty fame.

Nor was he much less wise and stout, But fit in both respects To humble st.u.r.dy Cavaliers, And to support the sects.

This worthy knight was one that swore He would not cut his beard Till this unG.o.dly nation was From kings and bishops clear'd:

Which holy vow he firmly kept, And most devoutly wore A grizly meteor on his face Till they were both no more.

His wors.h.i.+p was, in short, a man Of such exceeding worth, No pen or pencil can describe, Or rhyming bard set forth.

Many and mighty things he did Both sober and in liquor, - Witness the mortal fray between The Cobbler and the Vicar;

Which by his wisdom and his power He wisely did prevent, And both the combatants at once In wooden durance pent.

The manner how these two fell out And quarrell'd in their ale, I shall attempt at large to show In the succeeding tale.

A strolling cobbler, who was wont To trudge from town to town, Happen'd upon his walk to meet A vicar in his gown.

And as they forward jogg'd along, The vicar, growing hot, First asked the cobbler if he knew Where they might take a pot?

Yes, marry that I do, quoth he; Here is a house hard by, That far exceeds all Bedfords.h.i.+re For ale and landlady.

Thither let's go, the vicar said; And when they thither came, He liked the liquor wondrous well, But better far the dame.

And she, who, like a cunning jilt, Knew how to please her guest, Used all her little tricks and arts To entertain the priest.

The cobbler too, who quickly saw The landlady's design, Did all that in his power was To manage the divine.

With s.m.u.tty jests and merry songs They charm'd the vicar so, That he determined for that night No further he would go.

And being fixt, the cobbler thought 'Twas proper to go try If he could get a job or two His charges to supply.

So going out into the street, He bawls with all his might, - If any of you tread awry I'm here to set you right.

I can repair your leaky boots, And underlay your soles; Backsliders, I can underprop And patch up all your holes.

The vicar, who unluckily The cobbler's outcry heard, From off the bench on which he sat With mighty fury rear'd.

Quoth he, What priest, what holy priest Can hear this bawling slave, But must, in justice to his coat, Chastise the saucy knave?

What has this wretch to do with souls, Or with backsliders either, Whose business only is his awls, His lasts, his thread, and leather?

I lose my patience to be made This strolling varlet's sport; Nor could I think this saucy rogue Could serve me in such sort.

The cobbler, who had no design The vicar to displease, Unluckily repeats again, - I'm come your soals to ease:

The inward and the outward too I can repair and mend; And all that my a.s.sistance want, I'll use them like a friend.

The country folk no sooner heard The honest cobbler's tongue, But from the village far and near They round about him throng.

Some bring their boots, and some their shoes, And some their buskins bring: The cobbler sits him down to work, And then begins to sing.

Death often at the cobbler's stall Was wont to make a stand, But found the cobbler singing still, And on the mending hand;