They sayd, 'Fye upon thee; we may thee curse! "Theire' leases continue, and we fare the worse.' "And then I was forced a begging to goe To husbandmens houses, who greeved right sore, 100 And sware that their landlords had plagued them so, That they were not able to keepe open doore, Nor nothing had left to give to the poore. Therefore to this wood I doe me repayre With hepps and hawes; that is my best fare. 105 "Yet within this same desert some comfort I have The which the riche glutton will answer one day." 110 115 "Why then," I said to him, "me-thinks it were best upon, That whosoever gives almes they will Then laid he him down, and turned him And prayd me to goe and leave him to rest. blest; For then those wold love us that now sell their land, 125 And then good' house-keeping wold revive' out of hand." II. Plain Truth and Blind Ignorance. This excellent old ballad is preserved in the little ancient Miscellany entitled, The Garland of Goodwill. Ignorance is here made to speak in the broad Somersetshire dialect. The scene we may suppose to be Glastonbury Abbey. 1i. e. faithen: as in the midland counties they say housen, closen, for houses, closes. A. VOL. II. C |