Chapter XVIII: Part I: , p. 2 our p. 195. A Puritan of late (3)

_I tell thee, ~Kit~, where I have been_ 317 317

I went from _England_ into _France_ 64 213

If any one do want a House ii. 64 R^m

_If any so wise is, that Sack_ ii. 157 348 348

_If every woman were served in her_ 80 85 85

_If none be offended with the scent_ ii. 77 259 259

If that you will hear of a ditty ii. 149 253

_If thou wilt know how to chuse_ 21 32 32

If you will give ear ii. 46 R^g

_I’ll go no more to the Old Exchange_ 126 134 134

_I’ll sing you a sonnet, that ne’er_ 66 66

_I’ll tell thee, ~Dick~, where I have_ 97 101 101

_I’ll tell you a story, that never w. t._ 123 131 131

_In Eighty-eight, e’er I was born_ 77 82 82

_In the merry month of ~May~_ 99 99

_It chanced not long ago, as I was_ ii. 82 264 264

It was a man, and a jolly old man 95 222

_Ladies, I do here present you_ ii. 55 240 240

_Lay by your pleading, Law_ 118 125 125

_Lay by your pleading, Love lies a_ ii. 4 191 191

_Let dogs and divels die_ 31 41 41

_Let Souldiers fight for praise_ ii. 31 218 218

_Let the Trumpet sound_ ii. 142 333 333

_Let’s call, and drink the cellar dry_ 130 138 138

Listen, lordings, to my story ii. 32 240

Mine own sweet honey bird 153 R^c

_My bretheren all attend_ 91 95 95

_My Lodging is on the cold ground_ 290 290

_My Masters, give audience_ ii. 91 275 275

_My Mistris is a shittle-cock_ 51 60 60

_My Mistris is in Musick_ 154 163 163

_My Mistris, whom in heart_ 107 113 113

_Nay, out upon this fooling_ 79 84 84

_Nay, prithee, don’t fly me_ 25 36 36

_Ne’er trouble thy self at the times_ 219 219

_Nick Culpepper_ and _William Lilly_ 56 190

_No man Love’s fiery passion_ ii. 1 187 187

_No sooner were the doubtful people_ ii. 58 243 243

_Now, gentlemen, if you will hear_ 18 29 29

_Now I am married, Sir ~John~_ ii. 96 280 280

_Now, I confess, I am in love_ 1 5 7

Now _Lambert’s_ sunk, and gallant 12 198

_Now thanks to the Powers below_ 156 166 166

_Now that the Spring has filled_ ii. 110 296 296

_Now we are met in a knot_ ii. 138 328 328

O that I could by any Chymick ii. 31 239

_O the wily, wily Fox_ ii. 114 300 300

_Of all the Crafts that I do know_ 7 17 17

_Of all the rare juices_ 178 178

_Of all the Recreations, which_ 146 146

_Of all the Sciences beneath the Sun_ ii. 129 319 319

_Of all the Sports the world doth_ ii. 111 296 296

_Of all the Trades that ever I see_ ii. 40 225 225

_Of an old Souldier of the Queen’s_ 20 31 31

_~Oliver~, ~Oliver~, take up thy Crown_ ii. 72 254 254

_Once was I sad, till I grew to be_ 2^b 10 12

_Pox take you, Mistris, I’ll be gone_ ii. 118 304 304

_Pray, why should any man_ ii. 87 270 270

Riding to _London_, in _Dunstable_ 14 200

_Room for a Gamester_ ii. 10 197 197

_Room for the best Poets heroick!_ 96 100 100

_Saw you not ~Pierce~ the piper_ ii. 124 312 312

_She lay all naked in her bed_ ii. 115 300 300

She lay up to the navel bare ii. 116 R^o

_She that will eat her breakfast_ ii. 120 308 308

_Shew a room, shew a room_ ii. 145 337 337

_Sir ~Eglamore~, that valiant knight_ ii. 75 257 257

_Some Christian people all give ear_ 81 87 87

_Some wives are good, and some_ 302 302

_Stay, shut the gate!_ ii. 18 207 207

_Sublimest discretions have club’d_ 287 287

_The Aphorisms of ~Galen~_ ii. 94 277 277

_The best of Poets write of F._ 141 153 153

_The Hunt is up, the Hunt is up_ 20 30 30

_The Proctors are two, and no more_ 105 111 111

_The Spring is coming on_ 40 47 47

_The thirsty Earth drinks up_ 22 22

_The ~Turk~ in linnen wraps_ 13 25 25

_The Wise Men were but seven_ 232 232

_The World’s a bubble, and the life_ 104 110 110

_There dwelt a Maid in the C. g._ 37 46 46

_There is a certain idle kind of cr._ 140 152 152

_There was a jovial Tinker_ 17 27 27

There was a Lady in this land 134 223

_There was an old man had an acre_ 44 52 52

There was three birds that built 139 R^a

_There was three Cooks in C_ ii. 129 318 318

_There’s a lusty liquor which_ 132 140 140

_There’s many a blinking verse_ ii. 35 221 221

_Three merry Boys came out_ 220 220

_Three merry Lads met at the Rose_ 143 143

_’Tis not the Silver nor Gold_ 109 115 115

_To friend and to foe_ 38 23 23

_Tobacco that is wither’d quite_ 16 26 26

_~Tom~ and ~Will~ were Shepherd_ 149 149

Upon a certain time 146 R^b

Upon a Summer’s day 148 230

_Wake all you Dead, what ho!_ 151 151

_Walking abroad in the m._ 76 81 81

_We Seamen are the honest boys_ 152 162 162

_What an Ass is he, Waits, &c._ ii. 90 273 273

_What Fortune had I, poor Maid_ ii. 152 341 341

_What is that you call a Maid._ ii. 68 249 249

_What though the ill times do run_ 116 124 124

What though the times produce 161 R^d

_When blind god ~Cupid~, all in an_ ii. 2 188 188

_When first ~Mardike~ was made_ 4 12 12

_When first the ~Scottish~war_ 89 93 93

_When I a Lady do intend to flatter_ ii. 158 348 348

_When I do travel in the night_ ii. 73 255 255

_When I’se came first to ~London~_ ii. 133 323 323

_When ~Phœbus~ had drest_ ii. 69 250 250

_When the chill ~Charokoe~ blows_ 155 164 164

_White bears have lately come_ 149 159 159

_Why should a man care_ ii. 146 337 337

_Why should we boast of_ Arthur ii. 122 309 309

_Why should we not laugh_ ii. 136 326 326

_Will you hear a strange thing_ 53 62 62

You Gods, that rule upon ii. 21 233

_You talk of ~New England~_ ii. 84 266 266

You that in love do mean to sport ii. 22 235

First Lines of the “Antidote” Songs:

GIVEN IN THIS VOLUME (AND NOT IN _M. D. C._).

[Present Reprint,] Page

_A Man of ~Wales~, a little before ~Easter~_ 157

_An old house end_ 153

_Bring out the [c]old Chyne_ 146

_Come, come away to the Tavern, I say_ 150

_Come hither, thou merriest of all the Nine_ 133

_Come, let us cast dice who shall drink_ 151

_Drink, drink, all you that think_ 158

_Fly boy, fly boy, to the cellar’s bottom_ 157

_Good ~Symon~, how comes it_ 154

_Hang Sorrow, and cast away Care_ 152

_Hang the ~Presbyter’s~ Gill_ 144

_He that a Tinker, a tinker will be_ 52

_In love? away! you do me wrong_ 147

_I’s not come here to tauke of ~Prut~_ 141

_Jog on, jog on the foot-path-way_ 156

_Let’s cast away Care_ 152

_Mongst all the pleasant juices_ 150

_My Lady and her Maid_ 152

_Never let a man take heavily_ 151

_Not drunken nor sober_ 113

_Of all the birds that ever I see_ 155

_Old Poets ~Hypocrin~ admire_ 143

_Once I a curious eye did fix_ 139

_The parcht earth drinks the rain_ 157

_The wit hath long beholden been_ 135

_There was an old man at ~Walton~ Cross_ 151

_This Ale, my bonny lads_ 155

_’Tis Wine that inspires_ 145

_Welcome, welcome, again to thy wit_ 159

_What are we met? Come, let’s see_ 156

_Why should we boast of ~Arthur~_ 129

_Wilt thou be fat? I’ll tell thee how_ 154

_Wilt thou lend me thy mare_ 153

_With an old song made by an old a. p._ 125

_You merry Poets, old boyes_ 149

_Your mare is lame, she halts outright_ 153

Here the Editor closes his willing toil, (after having added a _Table of First Lines_, and a _Finale_,) and offers a completed work to the friendly acceptance of Readers. They are no vague abstractions to him, but a crowd of well-distinguished faces, many among them being renowned scholars and genial critics. To approach them at all might be deemed temerity, were it not that such men are the least to be feared by an honest worker. On the other hand, it were easy for ill-natured persons to insinuate accusations against any one who meddles with Re-prints of _Facetiæ_. Blots and stains are upon such old books, which he has made no attempt to disguise or palliate. Let them bear their own blame. There are dullards and bigots in the world, nevertheless, who decry all antiquarian and historical research. A defence is unnecessary: “Let them rave!”

_Fama di loro il mondo esser non lassa,_
_Misericordia e giustizia gli sdegna,_
_Non ragioniam di lor, ma guarda e passa._

He thanks those who heartily welcomed the earlier Volumes, and trusts that no unworthy successor is to be found in the present Conclusion, which holds many rare verses. Hereafter may ensue another meeting. Our olden Dramatists and Poets open their cellars, full of such vintage as Dan Phœbus had warmed. Leaving these “_Drolleries of the Restoration_” behind him, as a Nest-Egg, the Editor bids his Readers cheerfully

_FAREWELL!_

FINALE.

_“Laudator temporis acti” cantat_:—

1.

Closed now the book, untrimmed the lamp,
Flung wide the lattice-shutter;
The night-breeze strikes in, chill and damp,
The fir-trees moan and mutter:
Lo, dawn is near! pale Student, thou
No count of time hast reckon’d;
Go, seek a rest for weary brow
From dreams of Charles the Second.

2.

Sad grows the world: those hours are past
When, jovially convivial,
Choice Spirits met, and round them cast
Such glow as made cares trivial;
When nights prolonged through following days
Found night still closing o’er us,
While Youth and Age exchanged their lays,
Or intertwined in chorus.

3.

Our gravest Pundits of the Bench,
Most reverend Sirs of Pulpit,
Smiled at the praise of some coy wench,
Or—if too warm—could gulp it.
Loyal to King, faithful to Church,
And firm to Constitution,
No friend, no foe they left in lurch,
Or sneaked to Revolution.

4.

There, many a sage Physician told
Fresh facts of healing knowledge;
There, the dazed Bookworm could grow bold,
And speak of pranks at College:
There, weary Pamphleteers forgot
Faction, debates, and readers,
But helped to drain the clinking-pot
With punning Special-pleaders.

5.

How oft some warrior, famed abroad
For valour in campaigning,
Exchanged the thrust with foes he awed
For hob-a-nob Champaigning!
While some Old Salt, an Admiral
And Circumnavigator,
Joined in the revel at our call,
Nor sheer’d-off three days later.

6.

Who lives to thrill with jest and song,
Like those whose memories haunt us?—
Who never knew a night too long,
Or head-ache that could daunt us.
The weaklings of a later day
Win neither Mirth nor Thinking;
They mix, and spoil, both work and play:
They’ve lost the art of Drinking!

7.

For me, I lonely grow, and shy,
No one seems worth my courting;
Though girls have still a laughing eye,
And tempt to May-day sporting:
For sillier youth, or richer Lord,
Or some staid prig, and colder,
“Neat-handed Phillis” spreads the board,
And Chloe bares her shoulder.

8.

In days gone by, light grew the task,
For holidays were glorious;
It was the _talk_ sublimed the flask,
That now is deemed uproarious.
We’ve so much Methodistic cant,
Abstainers’ Total drivel,
And, worse, Utilitarian rant—
One scarcely can keep civil.

9.

Our politics are insincere,
For Statesmen cog and shuffle;
They hit not from the shoulder clear,
But dodge, and spar with muffle.
How Bench and Bar sink steeped in mire,
Avails not here recording:
While Prelates cannot now look higher
Than to mere self-rewarding.

10.

Friends of old days, ’tis well you died
Before, like me, you sickened
Amid the rottenness and pride
That in this world have quickened:
You passed, ere yet your hopes grew dim,
While Love and Friendship warmed you:
I look but to th’ horizon’s rim,
For all that erst had charmed you.

11.

Not here, amid a lower crew,
I seek to fill your places;
For men no more have hearts as true,
Nor maids,—though fair their faces.
My thoughts flit back to earlier days,
Where Pleasure’s finger beckon’d,
Cheered with the Beauty, Love, and Lays
That warmed our Charles the Second.

J. W. E.

_Biblioth. Ashmol., Cantium_, 1876.

[End of “The ‘Drolleries’ of the Restoration.”]

Drollery Reprints.

_Uniform with “Choice Drollery.”_

Published at 10s. 6d. to Subscribers, _now raised_ to 21s; large paper, published at £1 1s, _now raised_ to £2 2s.

A RE-PRINT

OF THE

Westminster Drollery,

1671, 1672.

To those who are already acquainted with the two parts of the _Westminster Drollery_, published in 1671 and 1672, it must have appeared strange that no attempt has hitherto been made to bring these delightful volumes within reach of the students of our early literature. The originals are of extreme rarity, a perfect copy seldom being attainable at any public sale, and then fetching a price that makes a book-hunter almost despair of its acquisition. So great a favourite was it in the Cavalier times, that most copies have been literally worn to pieces in the hands of its many admirers, as they chanted forth a merry stave from the pages. _There is no collection of songs surpassing it in the language_, and as representative of the lyrics of the first twelve years after the Restoration it is unequalled: by far the greater number are elsewhere unattainable.

The WESTMINSTER DROLLERIES are reprinted with the utmost fidelity, page for page, and line for line, not a word being altered, or a single letter departing from the original spelling.

DROLLERY RE-PRINTS.

NOW READY.

“_Merry Drollery, Complete_,”

1661, 1691.

MERRY DROLLERY, COMPLETE is not only amusing, but as an historical document is of great value. It is here reproduced, with the utmost exactitude, for students of our old literature, from the edition of 1691. The few rectifications of a corrupt text are invariably held within square brackets, when not reserved for the Appendix of Notes, Illustrations, and Emendations. Thirty-four Songs, additional, that appeared only in the 1661 edition, will be given separately; the intermediate edition of 1670 being also collated. A special Introduction has been prefixed, drawing attention to the political events of the time referred to, and some account of the authors of the Songs in this _Merry Drollery_.

The work is quite distinct in character from the _Westminster Drolleries_, 1671-72, but forms an indispensable companion to that ten-years-later volume. Twenty-five songs and poems, that had not appeared in the 1661 edition, were added to the after editions of _Merry Drollery_; but without important change to the book. It was essentially an offspring of the Restoration, the year 1660-61, and it thus gives us a genuine record of the Cavaliers in their festivity. Whatever is offensive, therefore, is still of historical importance. Even the bitterness of sarcasm against the Rump Parliament, under whose rule so many families had long groaned; the personal invective, and unsparing ridicule of leading Republicans and Puritans; were such as not unnaturally had found favour during the recent Civil War and Usurpation. The preponderance of Songs in praise of Sack and loose revelry is not without significance. A few pieces of coarse humour, _double entendre_, and breaches of decorum attest the fact that already among the Cavaliers were spread immorality and licentiousness. The fault of an impaired discipline had home evil fruit, beyond defeat in the field and exile from positions of power. Mockery and impurity had been welcomed as allies, during the warfare against bigotry, hypocrisy, and selfish ambition. We find, it is true, few of the sweeter graces of poetry in _Choice Drollery_ and in _Merry Drollery_; but, instead, much that helps us to a sounder understanding of the social, military, and political life of those disturbed times immediately preceding the Restoration.

Of the more than two hundred pieces, contained in _Merry Drollery_, fully a third are elsewhere unattainable, and the rest are scarce. Among the numerous attractions we may mention the rare Song of “Love lies a bleeding” (p. 191), an earnest protest against the evils of the day; the revelations of intolerant military violence, such as The Power of the Sword (125), Mardyke (12), Pym’s Anarchy (70), The Scotch War (93), The New Medley of the Country-man, Citizen, and Soldier (182), The Rebel Red-Coat (190), and “Cromwell’s Coronation” (254), with the masterly description of Oliver’s Routing the Rump (62). Several Anti-Puritan Songs about New England are here, and provincial descriptions of London (95, 275, 323). Rollicking staves meet us, as from the Vagabond (204), The Tinker of Turvey (27), The Jovial Loyallist, with the Answer to it, in a nobler strain, by one who sees the ruinous vileness of debauchery (pp. 207, 209); and a multitude of Bacchanalian Catches. The two songs on the Blacksmith (225, 319), and both of those on The Brewer (221, 252), referring to Cromwell, are here; as well as the ferocious exultation over the Regicides in a dialogue betwixt Tower-hill and Tyburn (131). More than a few of the spirited Mad-songs were favourites. Nor are absent such ditties as tell of gallantry, though few are of refined affection and exalted heroism. The absurd impossibilities of a Medicine for the Quartan Ague (277, cf. 170), the sly humour of the delightful “How to woo a Zealous Lady” (77), the stately description of a Cock-fight (242), the Praise of Chocolate (48), the Power of Money (115), and the innocent merriment of rare Arthur o’ Bradley’s Wedding (312), are certain to please. Added, are some of the choicest poems by Suckling, Cartwright, Ben Jonson, Alexander Brome, Fletcher, D’Avenant, Dryden, Bishop Corbet, and others. “The Cavalier’s Complaint,” with the Answer to it, has true dramatic force. The character of a Mistress (60), shows one of the seductive Dalilahs who were ever ready to betray. The lampoons on D’Avenant’s “Gondibert” (100, 118) are memorials of unscrupulous ridicule from malicious wits. “News, that’s No News” (159), with the grave buffoonery of “The Bow Goose” (153), and the account of a Fire on London Bridge (87), in the manner of pious ballad-mongers (the original of our modern “Three Children Sliding on the Ice”), are enough to make Heraclitus laugh. Some of the dialogues, such as “Resolved not to Part” (113), “The Bull’s Feather” (i.e. the Horn, p. 264), and that between a Hare and the hounds that are chasing him (296), lend variety to the volume; which contains, moreover, some whimsical stories in verse, (one being “A Merry Song” of a Husbandman whose wife gets him off a bad bargain, p. 17: compare p. 200), told in a manner that would have delighted Mat Prior in later days.

It is printed on Ribbed Toned paper, and the Impression is limited to 400 copies, fcap. 8vo. 10s. 6d.; and 50 copies large paper, demy 8vo. 21s. Subscribers’ names should be sent at once to the Publisher,

ROBERT ROBERTS, BOSTON, LINCOLNSHIRE.

_Every copy is numbered and sent out in the order
of Subscription._

☞ This series of Re-prints from the rare _Drolleries_ is now completed in Three Volumes (of which the first published was the _Westminster Drollery_): that number being sufficient to afford a correct picture of the times preceding and following the Restoration 1660, without repetition. The third volume contains “_Choice Drollery_,” 1656, and all of the “_Antidote against Melancholy_,” 1661, which has not been already included in the two previous volumes; with separate Notes, and Illustrations drawn from other contemporary Drolleries.

_OPINIONS OF THE PRESS, &c._

“Strafford Lodge, Oatlands Park,
Surrey, Feb. 4, 1875.

DEAR SIR,

I received the “Westminster Drolleries” yesterday evening. I have spent nearly the whole of this day in reading it. I can but give unqualified praise to the editor, both for his extensive knowledge and for his admirable style. The printing and the paper do great credit to your press.... I enclose a post-office order to pay for my copy.

Yours truly,

WM. CHAPPELL.”

Mr. Robert Roberts.

* * * * *

_From J. O. Halliwell, Esqre._

“No. 11, Tregunter Road, West Brompton,
London, S. W.,
25th Feby. 1875.

DEAR SIR,

I am charmed with the edition of the “Westminster Drollery.” One half of the reprints of the present day are rendered nearly useless to exact students either by alterations or omissions, or by attempts to make eclectic texts out of more than one edition. By all means let us have introductions and notes, especially when as good as Mr. Ebsworth’s, but it is essential for objects of reference that one edition only of the old text be accurately reproduced. The book is certainly admirably edited.

Yours truly,

J. O. PHILLIPPS.”

To Mr. R. Roberts.

* * * * *

_From F. J. Furnivall, Esq._

“3, St. George’s Square, Primrose Hill, London, N.W.,
2nd February, 1875.

MY DEAR SIR,

I have received the handsome large paper copy of your “Westminster Drolleries.” I am very glad to see that the book is really _edited_, and that well, by a man so thoroughly up in the subject as Mr. Ebsworth.

Truly yours,

F. J. F.”

* * * * *

_From the Editor of the “Fuller’s Worthies Library,” “Wordsworth’s Prose Works,” &c._

“Park View, Blackburn,
Lancashire, 13th July, 1875.

DEAR SIR,

I got the “Westminster Drolleries” _at once_, and I will see after the “Merry Drollery” when published.

Go on and prosper. Mr. Ebsworth is a splendid fellow, evidently.

Yours,

A. B. GROSART.”

* * * * *

J. P. COLLIER, Esqre., has also written warmly commending the work, in private letters to the Editor, which he holds in especial honour.

* * * * *

_From the “Academy” July 10th, 1875._

“It would be a curious though perhaps an unprofitable speculation, how far the ‘Conservative reaction’ has been reflected in our literature.... Reprints are an important part of modern literature, and in them there is a perceptible relaxation of severity. Their interest is no longer mainly philological. Of late, the Restoration has been the favourite period for revival. Its dramatists are marching down upon us from Edinburgh, and the invasion is seconded by a royalist movement in Lincolnshire. A Boston publisher has begun a series of drolleries—intended, not for the general public, but for those students who can afford to pay handsomely for their predilection for the byways of letters.

“The Introduction is delightful reading, with quaint fancies here and there, as in the ‘imagined limbo of unfinished books.’ ... There is truth and pathos in his excuses for the royalist versifiers who ‘snatched hastily, recklessly, at such pleasures as came within their reach, heedless of price or consequences.’ We may not admit that they were ‘outcasts without degradation,’ but we can hardly help allowing that ‘there is a manhood visible in their failures, a generosity in their profusion and unrest. They are not stainless, but they affect no concealment of faults. Our heart goes to the losing side, even when the loss has been in great part deserved.’ ... The fact is, that in his contemplation of the follies and vices of ‘that very distant time’ he loses all apprehension of their grosser elements, and retains only an appreciation of their wit, their elegance, and their vivacity. Without offence be it said, in Lancelot’s phrase, ‘he does something smack, something grow to; he has a kind of taste,’—and so have we too, as we read him. These trite and ticklish themes he touches with so charming a liberality that his generous allowance is contagious. We feel in thoroughly honest company, and are ready to be heartily charitable along with him. For his is no unworthy tolerance of vice, still less any desire to polish its hardness into such factitious brilliancy as glistens in Grammont. It is a manly pity for human weakness, and an unwillingness to see, much less to pry into, human depravity. ‘It would have been a joy for us to know that these songs were wholly speck must go hungry through many an orchard, even unobjectionable; but he who waits to eat of fruit without past the apples of the Hesperides.’ ... The little book is well worth the attention of any one desirous to have a bird’s-eye view of the Restoration ‘Society.’ Its scope is far wider than its title would indicate. The ‘Drolleries’ include not only the rollicking rouse of the staggering blades who ‘love their humour well, boys,’ the burlesque of the Olympian revels in ‘Hunting the Hare,’ the wild vagary of Tom of Bedlam, and the gibes of the Benedicks of that day against the holy estate, but lays of a delicate and airy beauty, a dirge or two of exquisite pathos, homely ditties awaking patriotic memories of the Armada and the Low Country wars, and ‘loyal cantons’ sung to the praise and glory of King Charles. The ‘late and true story of a furious scold’ might have enriched the budget of Autolycus, and Feste would have found here a store of ‘love-songs,’ and a few ‘songs of good life.’ The collection is of course highly miscellaneous. After the stately measure may come a jig with homely ‘duck and nod,’ or even a dissonant strain from the ‘riot and ill-managed merriment’ of Comus,

‘Midnight shout, and revelry,
Tipsy dance, and jollity.’”

_From the “Bookseller,” March, 1875._

“If we wish to read the history of public opinion we must read the songs of the times: and those who help us to do this confer a real favour. Mr. Thomas Wright has done enormous service in this way by his collections of political songs. Mr. Chappell has done better by giving us the music with them; but much remains to be done. On examining the volume before us, we are surprised to find so many really beautiful pieces, and so few of the coarse and vulgar. Even the latter will compare favourably with the songs in vogue amongst the fast men in the early part of the present century.

The “_Westminster Drolleries_” consist of two collections of poems and songs sung at Court and theatres, the first published in 1671, and the second in 1672. Now for the first time reprinted. The editor, Mr. J. Woodfall Ebsworth, has prefaced the volume with an interesting introduction ... and, in an appendix of nearly eighty pages at the end, has collected a considerable amount of bibliographical and anecdotical literature. Altogether, _we think this may be pronounced the best edited of all the reprints of old literature_, which are now pretty numerous. A word of commendation must also be given to Mr. Roberts, of Boston, the publisher and printer—the volume is a credit to his press, and could have been produced in its all but perfect condition only by the most careful attention and watchful oversight.”

_From the “Athenæum,” April 10th, 1875._

“Mr. Ebsworth has, we think, made out a fair case in his Introduction for reprinting the volume without excision. The book is not intended _virginibus puerisque_, but to convey to grown men a sufficient idea of the manners and ideas which pervaded all classes in society at the time of the reaction from the Puritan domination.... Mr. Ebsworth’s Introduction is well written. He speaks with zest of the pleasant aspects of the Restoration period, and has some words of praise to bestow upon the ‘Merry Monarch’ himself.... Let us add that his own “Prelude,” “Entr’ Acte,” and “Finale” are fair specimens of versification.”

FOOTNOTES

[1] ELIZABETH CROMWELL.—A contemporary writes, “How many of the Royalist prisoners got she not freed? How many did she not save from death whom the Laws had condemned? How many persecuted Christians hath she not snatched out of the hands of the tormentors; quite contrary unto that [daughter of] Herodias who could do anything with her [step] father? She imployed her Prayers even with Tears to spare such men whose ill fortune had designed them to suffer,” &c. (S. Carrington’s _History of the Life and Death of His most Serene Highness OLIVER, Late Lord Protector_. 1659. p. 264.)

Elizabeth Cromwell, here contrasted with Salome, more resembled the Celia of _As you Like It_, in that she, through prizing truth and justice, showed loving care of those whom her father treated as enemies.

By the way, our initial-letter W. on opening page 11 (representing Salome receiving from the Σπεκουλάτωρ, sent by Herod, the head of S. John the Baptist)—is copied from the Address to the Reader prefixed to Part II. of _Merry Drollery_, 1661. _Vide postea_, p. 232.

Our initial letters in M. D., C., pp. 3, 5, are in _fac simile_ of the original.

[2] Cromwell “seemed much afflicted at the death of his Friend the Earl of _Warwick_; with whom he had a fast friendship, though neither their humours, nor their natures, were like. And the Heir of that House, who had married his youngest Daughter [Frances], died about the same time [or, rather, two months earlier]; so that all his relation to, or confidence in that Family was at an end; the other branches of it abhorring his Alliance. His domestick delights were lessened every day; he plainly discovered that his son [in-law, who had married Mary Cromwell,] Falconbridge’s heart was set upon an Interest destructive to his, and grew to hate him perfectly. _But that which chiefly broke his Peace was the death of his daughter [Elizabeth] Claypole_; who had been always his greatest joy, and who, in her sickness, which was of a nature the Physicians knew not how to deal with, had several Conferences with him, which exceedingly perplexed him. Though no body was near enough to hear the particulars, yet her often mentioning, in the pains she endured, the blood her Father had spilt, made people conclude, that she had presented his worst Actions to his consideration. And though he never made the least show of remorse for any of those Actions, it is very certain, that _either what she said, or her death_, affected him wonderfully.” (Clarendon’s _Hist. of the Rebellion_. Book xv., p. 647, edit. 1720.)

[3] John Cleveland wrote a satirical address to Mr. Hammond, the Puritan preacher of Beudley, who had exerted himself “for the Pulling down of the Maypole.” It begins, in mock praise, “The mighty zeal which thou hast put on,” &c.; and is printed in _Parnassus Biceps_, 1656, p. 18; and among “_J. Cleveland Revived: Poems_,” 1662, p. 96.

[4] Here the thought is enveloped amid tender fancies. Compare the more passionate and solemn earnestness of the loyal churchman, Henry King, Bishop of Chichester, in his poem of _The Exequy_, addressed “To his never-to-be-forgotten Friend,” wherein he says:—

“Sleep on, my Love, in thy cold bed,
Never to be disquieted!
My last good-night! Thou wilt not wake,
Till I thy fate shall overtake;
Till age, or grief, or sickness, must
Marry my body to that dust
It so much loves; and fill the room
My heart keeps empty in thy Tomb.
_Stay for me there; I will not faile_
_To meet thee in that hollow Vale._
And think not much of my delay;
I am already on the way,
And follow thee with all the speed
Desire can make, or sorrows breed,” &c.

[5] For special reasons, the Editor felt it nearly impossible to avoid the omission of a few letters in one of the most objectionable of these pieces, the twelfth in order, of _Choyce Drollery_. He mentions this at once, because he holds to his confirmed opinion that in Reprints of scarce and valuable historical memorials _no tampering with the original is permissible_. (But see Appendix, Part IV. and pp. 230, 288.) He incurs blame from judicious antiquaries by even this small and acknowledged violation of exactitude. Probably, he might have given pleasure to the general public if he had omitted much more, not thirty letters only, but entire poems or songs; as the books deserved in punishment. But he leaves others to produce expurgated editions, suitable for unlearned triflers. Any reader can here erase from the Reprint what offends his individual taste (as we know that Ann, Countess of Strafford, cut out the poem of “Woman” from our copy of Dryden’s _Miscellany Poems_, Pt. 6, 1709). _No Editor has any business to thus mutilate every printed copy._

[6] _H_aut _goust._

[7] Prefixed to “The Ex-Ale-tation of Ale” is given a Table of Contents (on page 112), enlarged from the one in the original “_Antidote against Melancholy, made up in Pills_,” 1661, by references to such pages of “_Merry Drollery, Compleat_,” 1670, 1691, as bear songs or poems in common with the “_Antidote_.”

[8] _George Thomason._ It was in 1640 that this bookseller commenced systematically to preserve a copy of every pamphlet, broadside, and printed book connected with the political disturbances. Until after the Restoration in 1660, he continued his valuable collection, so far as possible without omission, but not without danger and interruption. In his will he speaks of it as “not to be paralleled,” and it was intact at Oxford when he died in 1666. Charles II. had too many feminine claimants on his money and time to allow him to purchase the invaluable series of printed documents, as it had been desired that he should do. The sum of £4,000 was refused for this collection of 30,000 pamphlets, bound in 2,000 volumes; but, after several changes of ownership, they were ultimately purchased by King George the Third, for only three or four hundred pounds, and were presented by him to the nation. They are in the British Museum, known as the King’s Pamphlets, and the _Antidote against Melancholy_ is among the small quartos. See Isaac D’Israeli’s _Amenities of Literature_, for an interesting account of the difficulties and perils attending their collection: article _Pamphlets_, pp. 685-691, edition 1868.

[9] J. P. Collier, in his invaluable “_Bibliographical and Critical Account of the Rarest Books in the English Language_,” 1865, acknowledges, in reference to “_An Antidote against Melancholy_,” that “We are without information by whom this collection of Poems, Ballads, Songs, and Catches was made; but Thomas Durfey, about sixty years afterwards, imitated the title, when he called his six volumes ‘_Wit and Mirth, or Pills to Purge Melancholy_,’ 8vo., 1719-20.” (_Bibliog. & Crit. Account_, vol. i. p. 26.) Again, “If N. D., whose initials are at the end of the rhyming address ‘to the Reader,’ were the person who made the selection, we are without any other clue to his name. There is no ground for imputing it to Thomas Jordan, excepting that he was accustomed to deal in productions of this class; but the songs and ballads he printed were usually of his own composition, and not the works of anterior versifyers.” (_Ibid._, i. 27.)

[10] It was a week of supreme rejoicing and frollic, being five days before the Coronation of Charles II. in Westminster Abbey, April 23rd. On the 19th were the ceremonies of the Knights of the Bath, at the Painted Chamber, and in the Chapel at Whitehall. On the 22nd, Charles went from the Tower to Whitehall, through well-built triumphal arches, and amid enthusiasm.

[11] These are the Blacksmith, the Brewer, Suckling’s Parley between two West Countrymen concerning a Wedding, St. George and the Dragon, the Gelding of the Devil, the Old and Young Courtier, the Welchman’s Praise of Wales, Ben Jonson’s Cook Lorrel, “Fetch me Ben Jonson’s scull,” a Combat of Cocks, “Am I mad, O noble Festus?” “Old Poets Hypocrin admire,” and “’Tis Wine that inspires.” The Catches are “Drink, drink, all you that think;” “If any so wise is,” “What are we met?” and “The thirsty earth drinks up the rain.”

[12] _Ball at Court._—“31st. [December, 1662.] Mr. Povy and I to White Hall; he taking me thither on purpose to carry me into the ball this night before the King. He brought me first to the Duke [of York]’s chamber, where I saw him and the Duchesse at supper; and thence into the room where the ball was to be; crammed with fine ladies, the greatest of the Court. By and by, comes the King and Queene, the Duke and Duchesse, and all the great ones; and after seating themselves, the King takes out the Duchesse of York; and the Duke, the Duchesse of Buckingham; the Duke of Monmouth, my Lady Castlemaine; and so other lords other ladies: and they danced the Brantle [? _Braule_]. After that the King led a lady a single Coranto; and then the rest of the lords, one after another, other ladies: very noble it was, and great pleasure to see. Then to country dances; the King leading the first, which he called for, which was, says he, ‘Cuckolds all awry [a-row],’ the old dance of England. Of the ladies that danced, the Duke of Monmouth’s mistress, and my Lady Castlemaine, and a daughter of Sir Harry de Vicke’s, were the best. The manner was, when the King dances, all the ladies in the room, and the Queene herself, stand up: and indeed he dances rarely, and much better than the Duke of York. Having staid here as long as I thought fit, to my infinite content, it being the greatest pleasure I could wish now to see at Court, I went home, leaving them dancing.”—(_Diary of Samuel Pepys, Esq., F.R.S., Secretary to the Admiralty, &c._)

[13] [In margin, a later-inserted line reads:

“_~Godolphin~, ~Cartwright~, ~Beaumont~, ~Montague~._”]

Transcriber’s Note

In a book of this kind, it can be hard to tell when something is a misprint or misspelling, and for the most part this e-text errs on the side of caution and preserves the original printing with all its inconsistencies. Only the following probable errors have been corrected.

We do not have the _Supplement_ containing the songs the editor thought too immodest to include.

Page 4, duplicate word “him” removed (Oh do not censure him for
this)

Page 14, duplicate word “am” removed (And all shall say when I
am dead)

Page 40, stanza number “3.” added

Page 46, “Aed” changed to “And” (And took her up with speed)

Page 79, “tewelfth” changed to “twelfth” (On the twelfth day
all in the morn)

Page 101, “keeep” changed to “keep” (I keep my horse)

Page 102, “Gysie” changed to “Gypsie” (No Gypsie nor no
Blackamore)

Page 108, “befitingly” changed to “befittingly” (befittingly in
his notes and comments)

Page 125, “and” changed to “an” (With an old Lady whose anger)

Page 168, “stifly” changed to “stiffly” (dancing somewhat
stiffly)

Page 189, the original page number [p. 121] has been added in
what seems closest to the correct place.

Pages 240 and 243, reference to “p. 213” changed to “p. 230”,
where the matter referenced will actually be found; it is the
paragraph starting “[A song follows, beginning”

Page 241, “domine” changed to “Domine” in second verse (Libera
nos Domine)

Page 244, duplicate word “as” removed (As big as Estriges)

Page 284, “8th.” changed to “9th.” (Verse 9th. _Gondomar_ was)

Page 330, “encouragment” changed to “encouragement”
(encouragement is given to gambling)

Page 360, “Collectiom” changed to “Collection” (In Pepy’s
Collection, vol. i.)

Page 364, “sheephcrd” changed to “sheepherd” (A silly poor
sheepherd was folding his sheep)

Page 384, “fify” changed to “fifty” (Nineteen of these
fifty-one surrendered)

Page 384, “refering” changed to “referring” (dozens of ballads
referring to)

Page 387, “Viotcria” changed to “Victoria” (was opened by Queen
Victoria)

Page 397, “trustworty” changed to “trustworthy” (trustworthy
prints of so many MSS.)

Evident errors such as u for n were changed without further note.

End of Project Gutenberg's Choyce Drollery: Songs and Sonnets, by Various