42

418

Monmouth's Entertainment at Court:

At last came by a Gentleman,
Who made me zoon to understand
I need not be avear'd;

Quoth he, "Come on, and vollow me!
Chil shew thee straight His Majesty :
Vor thease are but his Guard."

But Tom, not any Wake or Vair
Can shew zich numbers as are there,
Still cringing low, and bowing,
That one may zwear, and tell no lie,
They wearier are, than thou or I

With Thrashing or with Plowing.

No Ants did vaster lead or drive,
Or Bees buz to or fro the Hive;
I mar'l they were not dizzy:
Nay, zure the Nation's great avairs
Lay heavily upon their cares,

They look'd zo wise and busie.

At last came in His Majesty,
Not taller much than thou or I;
Yet, whatzoe'er I ail'd,
With only gazing on His Vace,
I trembl'd like a Love-zick Lass

Just on the point to yield.

He look'd, methought, above the rest,
Tho' not by half zo vinely drest,

Which made me vall a zwearing,
"A Pox upon the Parliament,
That will not let us pay him Rent;
Gold's only for his wearing!"

A Ribbon vine came cross avore,

Zich as our Landlord's Bridemen wore;
At end of which was hung

A curious thing, that shone as bright
As Maudlin's eyes, or morning light,

When guilded by the Zun.

But now the News: chil tell the truth:
Hard by His zide there stood a Youth,

That look'd as trim and gay

As if he had not Guilty bin
Of wishing e're to be a King,
Unless a King of May.

A New Song of a Devonshire Lad.

It was the zame our Vicar zed

Vor Treason shou'd have lost his Head,
Vor which vive hundred Pound

By Proclamation offer'd was

To any that shou'd take his Grace

In any Kerson ground.

419

[28 June, '83.

[Christendom. 84

Won Zunday morn, thou may'st remember,

I think the twantieth of Zeptember,

Our Parson read a thing,

[Declaration, p. 421.

How this zame Spark (a vengeance on him!)
With vorty moor, did take upon him

To kill our Gracious King.

But scant the vrighted harmless Zwain,
That meets a Wolf upon the plain,

Was zo agast with vear:

"Wounds! if His Majesty " (quoth I,)
"Doth keep no better Company

Chil stay no longer here."

With that the Mon that brought me in,
By the Jacket pull'd me back again;

Quoth he, "Pray hear ye reason:
He was a What-d'ye-call't, 't is true,
But 's Pardon makes him vree as you,
Vrom Knavery or Treason."

"Whaw, whaw!" quoth I, "a pretty nick,
To make Rogues honest by a trick

Zo often try'd in vain;

90

96

[= Rebel.

102

As if my Bull shou'd gore me once,

I'd trust the zenseless Beast with horns

To gore me o're again.

"Chil e'n to Devonshire agen,

Where honest Men are honest Men,

108

And Rogues are hang'd for Rogues:

Ods wounds! were I His Majesty,

E'r zich a Zon shou'd countenanc'd be,
Chi'd prize him as my Dogs."

114

[White-letter. Reprinted by Nat. Thompson. Date, the end of November, 1683. No hack-writer, of the ordinary ballad-monger class, wrote this clever ditty. We must look for the author among the courtly wits and jovial dramatists of that prolific age for such men, but it may be long before we can identify him.]

A Merry New Ballad on Prince Perkin.

"If you have e'er a Fop that's proud of a String,
And fain would aspire to the throne of a King,
Bring him to my Mill, I will presently shew
If he's qualified for a Monarch or no.

WE

Then make haste, customers, bring in your tribes,
I'll quickly despatch them without any Bribes.
For I'm so zealous for Whig-landers' crew,

I'll cure their Distempers with one turn or two."

[Monmouth's Garter.

-The Happy Return of the Old Dutch Miller.

E have seen, throughout the ballads from the loyal adherents of James Duke of York, the pertinacity with which they attached to Monmouth the nickname of "Perkin" or false pretender (from Perkin Warbeck, who claimed to be Edward the Fourth's younger son, and not murdered by Richard the Third). In the preceding ballad, moreover, although seemingly applied to Tekeli, the undercurrent of allusion was none the less to Monmouth. Many of the Dramatists, beside the lyric Poets of that day, found it unsafe to plant their hardest hits without the excuse of a boxing-glove, and the name of Fancy. Wearing a mask was permitted to ladies, who visited the theatres on first nights of new comedies, and found it convenient, when the jests were broad, to repel impertinent observers who looked to see whether blushes betrayed a quick perception of improprieties; or if the absence of blushes told of a hardened character that had sunk below the ability to feel shame. Surely, then, the ballad-writers were entitled to the privilege of masquerade, and veiling the titles of persons satirized in nicknames, initials, dashes and anagrams, although by so doing they give the commentator extra trouble. In the Fencing-matches of Court satire the weapons were frequently envenomed, hence the legal proprieties demanded that each rapier-point should be baited with a golden button of wit. Hewlettes prefer bludgeons and Rosealley ambuscades, after their kind: "it is their nature so to do." Hitherto unprinted (to the best of our belief), this "Merry New Song on Prince Perkin" errs not on the score of excessive caution. Then Perkin thought 'twas time to prove

His claim to King-ship fair;

And faith! 'tis fit the Peerless Son'

Should be the People's Heir.-A Narrative of the Old Plot.

We reserve for p. 470 another "New Song on Perkin's Disgrace," "Ye Loyal lads, be merry!" and for p. 640 "The Lamentation of the Duchess," mentioned on p. 415.

0°

[Trowbesh Collection of Manuscripts.]
A Yerry New

Ballad on Prince Perkin.

[TO THE TUNE OF, Old Sir Simon the King.]

Ur Rebell party of late upon all their ruines rec[k]on'd, "But Rebells again are in date, under Shaftsbury the Second:" Says Perkin, that wou'd be King;

Says Perkin, that wou'd be King:

'T was you, my Lord, and your good word,

Did us this happy thing.

"No more I 'le sculk for fear of Scarecrow Proclamation,

Nor do I come to swear for yt my Reservation,"

Says Perkin, that wou'd be King; says Perkin, etc.

"The World shall know I scorn to bow,

Or Recantations sing.

"My Pardon so obtain'd, has fool'd their Declaration,2

Which point so neatly gain'd, we are in our former station,"
Says Perkin, that wou'd be King, etc.

You have got much credit, my Lord, who did it,

The Rogues gather under your wing.

"It joys my heart to spye each Whig perk up his head, And in every Tory eie his sad defeat to read,"

Says Perkin, that wou'd be King, etc.

"The Town 's our own, The Cloak run down,' And made a ridiculous thing.

Be

6

12

18

[MS." Clock."

24

"Hereafter we 'll be Wiser, and carry our bodies swimming;
still
you my adviser, we 'll show 'em a trick for Trimming:'
Says Perkin, that wou'd be King, etc.

"When the Parliament sits, let 'em look to their hits,

We 'l make all England ring.

"Pull you down Rochester, let me alone with York!

30

Ere he shall command our goodly land, we 'll first bring in the Turk :"

Says Perkin, that wou'd be King, etc.

""T is not Succession gives him possession,

His sinking shall make us swim.

1 Shaftesbury the Second is Halifax, who had been mediator for Monmouth.

2 Declaration against Rye-House Plot; read in church, Sept. 2, 9 (p. 299). Perhaps we should read, "though the Cloak's run down.'

4 This Earl of Rochester is Laurence Hyde: see pp. 570, 574, Note 8.

36

422 "A Merry New Ballad on Prince Perkin" Monmouth.

"The Lawn-sleeve Church shall fall, and holy Kirk shall rise; Hang Bishops in Ropes, they are all Vice-Popes, and o're our souls tirannize; ""

Says Perkin, that wou'd be King, etc. "Atheism free and Debauchery

We'll into fashion bring.

"Walcot and Silly Hone like fools confess'd and hang'd;

Russell and Sidney like Sts lyed on, and all the Conspiracy sham'd:

Says Perkin, that wou'd be King, etc.

"T is no matter for Laws, we 'll keep up The Cause,

That more rebellious thing.

"And tho' we shou'd rebell, the danger 's ne're the more, We know before full well Old Rowley will quit ye score: Says Perkin, that would be King, etc.

Tho' Cæsar resents, he streight relents,

And the Law has then no sting.

"The King too we 'll abuse, and call the Council Fools,

42

48

[= Charles II.

54

As how indeed can we choose, when they're made such pitiful tools?" Says Perkin, that wou'd be King, etc.

"And this same Ballad shall stick in their Pallat,

And the Whigs shall merrily sing."

[Hitherto Unprinted. Date, the beginning of December, 1683.]

60

Since we meet the tune on our p. 432, it will be convenient here (before coming to the Algernon Sydney ballads,) to give the words of Nathaniel Lee's often-mentioned song, "Hail to the Myrtle Shade! It belongs to his tragedy of Theodosius, 1680. The music is in Jn. Playford's Choice Ayres, 1681, iii. 22.

HA

A Love Song (in Theodosius).

Ail to the Myrtle Shade! All hail to the Nymphs of the fields! Kings would not here invade those pleasures that Virtue yields. Beauty here opens her arms, to soften the languishing mind, And Phillis unlocks her charms: Ah, Phillis! why so kind? Phillis, thou Soul of Love! thou Joy of the neighbouring swains! Phillis, that crowns the grove, and Phillis that gilds the plains: Phillis, that ne'er had the skill to paint and to patch and be fine: Yet Phillis, whose eyes can kill, whom Nature has made divine. Phillis, whose charming Song makes labour and pain a delight; Phillis, that makes the Day young, and shortens the live-long Night; Phillis, whose lips, like May, still laugh at the sweets they bring, Where Love never knows decay, but sets with eternal Spring. This song was lengthened into a street-ballad (given later), "Love's Boundless Power; or, The Charmed Lover's Happiness Compleated; to the Tune, When busy Fame. Many Loyal Songs were written to this tune of Hail to the Myrtle Shade! such as the attacks on Titus Oates, "Hail to the Knight of the Post!"' and "Hail to the Prince of the Plot!" Also the "Hue and Song after Patience Ward," in 1683, "All Hail to London's fair Town!" given on p. 279.