"God save your worshippe," then said the messenger, "Therefore, in any case, faile not to be in place." 66 Our king he provides a great feast for your sake.” Then sayd the miller, " By my troth, messenger, Thou hast contented my worshippe full well: 20 25 30 Hold, here are three farthings, to quite thy gentleness, The pursuivant smiled at their simplicitye, To the kings court againe he repair'd; When he was gone away, thus gan the miller say: "Here comes expenses and charges indeed; 35 40 Now must we needs be brave, tho' we spend all we have, 45 For of new garments we have great need. Of horses and serving-men we must have store, With bridles and saddles, and twentye things more." 66 Tushe, Sir John," quoth his wife, "why should you frett or frowne? You shall ne'er be att no charges for mee; For I will turne and trim up my old russet gowne, And on our mill-horses swift we will ride, With pillowes and pannells, as we shall provide." 50 In this most statelye sort, rode they unto the court; 66 The king and his nobles, that heard of their coming, 55 60 65 Quoth Dicke, "A bots on you! do you know mee?" Quoth our king gentlye, "How should I forget thee? 70 66 "Thou whore-son unhappy knave," then quoth the knight, Speake cleanly to our king, or else go sh*** " The king and his courtiers laugh at this heartily, While the king taketh them both by the hand; With the court-dames and maids, like to the queen of spades, 75 The millers wife did soe orderly stand, A milk-maids courtesye at every word; And downe all the folkes were set to the board. There the king royally, in princelye majestye, 80 Quoth Sir John Cockle, "I'll pledge you a pottle, 85 V. 57, for good hap: i. e. for good luck; they were going on an hazardous expedition. V. 60. Maid Marian, in the Morris dance, was represented by a man in woman's clothes, who was to take short steps in order to sustain the femalo character. But then sayd our king, "Now I think of a thing; 66 Why art thou angry?" quoth our king merrilye; "In faith, I take it now very unkind: 90 I thought thou wouldst pledge me in ale and wine heartily." Zounds, a blacke-pudding is better than all." "Aye, marry," quoth our king, "that were a daintye thing, Could a man get but one here for to eate:" 95 With that Dicke straite arose, and pluckt one from his hose, 100 'Tis meat for your master: good sir, you must stay." Thus in great merriment was the time wholly spent, Old Sir John Cockle, and Richard, incontinent 105 66 Many thankes for their paines did the king give them, 110 Then Sir John Cockle the king call'd unto him, And gave him out of hand three hundred pound yearlye: "Take heed now you steale no more of my deer; And once a quarter let's here have your view; 115 120 XXII. The Shepherd's Resolution. This beautiful old song was written by a poet, whose name would have been utterly forgotten, if it had not been preserved by Swift, as a term of contempt. "Dryden and Wither" are coupled by him like the Bavius and Mævius of Virgil. Dryden, however, has had justice done him by posterity: and as for Wither, though of subordinate merit, that he was not altogether devoid of genius will be judged from the following stanzas. The truth is, Wither was a very voluminous partywriter; and as his political and satirical strokes rendered him extremely popular in his lifetime, so afterwards, when these were no longer relished, they totally consigned his writings to oblivion. George Wither was born June 11, 1588, and in his younger years distinguished himself by some pastoral pieces, that were not inelegant; but growing afterwards involved in the political and religious disputes in the times of James I. and Charles I., he employed his poetical vein in severe pasquils on the court and clergy, and was occasionally a sufferer for the freedom of his pen. In the civil war that ensued, he exerted himself in the service of the Parliament, and became a considerable sharer in the spoils. He was even one of those provincial tyrants whom Oliver distributed over the kingdom, under the name of Major-Generals, and had the fleecing of the county of Surrey; but, surviving the Restoration, he out-lived both his power and his affluence; and giving vent to his chagrin in libels on the court, was long a prisoner in Newgate and the Tower. He died at length on the 2nd of May, 1667. During the whole course of his life, Wither was a continual publisher, having generally for opponent Taylor the Water-poet. The long list of his productions may be seen in Wood's Athene Oxon. vol. ii. His most popular satire is entitled, Abuses whipt and stript, 1613. His most poetical pieces were eclogue, entitled, The Shepherd's Hunting, 1615, 8vo, and others printed at the end of Browne's Shepherd's Pipe, 1614, 8vo. The following sonnet is extracted from a long pastoral piece of his, entitled, The Mistresse of Philarete, 1622, Svo, which is said in the preface to be one of the author's first poems; and may therefore be dated as early as any of the foregoing. SHALL I, wasting in dispaire, Dye because a woman's faire? Or make pale my cheeks with care Be shee fairer than the day, If she be not so to me, What care I how faire shee be? 5 Where they want of riches find, Thinke what with them they would doe 30 And, unlesse that minde I see, What care I how great she be? Great or good, or kind or faire, 35 40 |