"Where cruel Richard charg'd the earl's main battle, when

Proud Somerset therein, with his approved men Stood stoutly to the shock, and flang out such a flight [com'd light,

Of shafts, as well near seem'd t' eclipse the welWhich forc'd them to fall off, on whose retreat again, [plain, That great battalion next approacheth the fair Wherein the king himself in person was to try, Proud Warwick's utmost strength: when Warwick by and by [and round, With his left wing came up, and charg'd so home That had not his light horse by disvantageous ground [ward's host: Been hinder'd, he had struck the heart of EdBut finding his defeat, his enterprize so lost, He his swift couriers sends, to will his valiant brother,

And Oxford, in command being equal to the other,
To charge with the rightwing, who bravely up do
bear;
[rear,
But Hastings that before raught thither with his
And with king Edward join'd, the host too strongly
arm'd.
[charm'd,
When every part with spoil, with rape, with fury
Are prodigal of blood, that slaughter seems to
swill

Itself in human gore, and every one cries 'Kill.'
So doubtful and so long the battle doth abide,
That those, which to and fro, 'twixt that and
London ride,
[do bring,
That Warwick wins the day for certain news
Those following them again, said certainly the
king,

Until great Warwick found his army had the worst,
And so began to faint, alighting from his horse,
In with the foremost puts, and wades into the
throng:
[troops among,
And where he saw death stern'st, the murder'd
He ventures; as the Sun in a tempestuous day,
With darkness threaten'd long, yet sometimes
doth display
[clear eye,

His cheerful beams, which scarce appear to the But suddenly the clouds, which on the winds do fly,

Do muffle him again within them, till at length The storm (prevailing still with an unusual strength) [in night: His clearness quite doth close, and shut him up So mighty Warwick fares in this outrageous fight. "The cruel lions thus enclose the dreaded bear, Whilst Montacute, who strives (if any help there were)

To rescue his belov'd and valiant brother, fell: The loss of two such spirits at once, time shall not

tell; The duke of Somerset, and th' earl of Oxford fled, And Exeter being left for one amongst the dead, At length recovering life, by night escap'd away; York never safely sat, till this victorious day. "Thus fortune to his end this mighty Warwick brings,

This puissant setter-up, and plucker-down of kings, He who those battles won, which so much blood had cost,

At Barnet's fatal fight, both life and fortune lost. "Now Tewksbury it rests, thy story to relate, Thy sad and dreadful fight, and that most dircful

fate

His mother, who from France with succours came That day when Warwick fell at Barnet, which now stand

Their fortune yet to try upon a second fight.
And Edward who employ'd the utmost of his might,
The poor Lancastrian part (which he doth eas❜ly
feel,

By Warwick's mighty fall, already faintly reel)
By battle to subvert, and to extirp the line;
And for the present act, his army doth assign
To those at Barnet field so luckily that sped:
As Richard late did there, he here the vaward led,
The main the king himself, and Clarence took to
guide;

The rearward as before by Hastings was supply'd.
"The army of the queen, into three battles cast,
The first of which the duke of Somerset, and (fast
To him) his brother John do happily dispose;
The second, which the prince for his own safety
chose
(third

The barons of St. John, and Wenlock; and the To Courtney that brave earl of Devonshire referr'd. Where in a spacious field they set their armics down;

[town,

By thund'ring cannon-shot, and culverin, to reThem from that chosen ground, so tedious to assail; And with the shot came shafts, like stormy showers of hail :

The like they sent again, which beat the other sore, Who with the ordnance strove the Yorkists to outroar, [pieces play, And still make good their ground, that whilst the The Yorkists hasting still to haud-blows, do assay In strong and boist'rous crowds to scale the cum

[pikes,

b'rous dikes; But beaten down with bills, with pole-axes, and Are forced to fall off; when Richard there that led The vaward, saw their strength so little them to sted,

As he a captain was, both politic and good,
The stratagens of war, that rightly understood,
Doth seem as from the field his forces to withdraw.
His sudden, strange retire, proud Somerset that saw,
(A man of haughty spirit, in honour most precise;
In action yet far more adventurous than wise)
Supposing from the field for safety he had fled,
Straight giveth him the chase; when Richard
turning head,

By his encounter let the desperate duke to know, 'Twas done to train him out, when soon began tha

show

Of slaughter every where; for scarce their equal forces

Began the doubtful fight, but that three hundred horses, [stay'd, That out of sight, this while on Edward's part had To see that near at hand no ambushes were laid, Soon charg❜d them on the side, disord❜ring quite their ranks, [ing banks Whilst this most warlike king had won the climbUpon the equal earth, and coming bravely in Upon the adverse power, there likewise doth begin A fierce and deadly fight, that the Lancastrian side,

The first and furious shock not able to abide The utmost of their strength, were forced to bestow,

To hold what they had got; that Somerset below, Who from the second force had still expected aid,

But frustrated thereof, even as a man dismay'd, Scarce shifts to save himself, his battle overthrown; But faring as a man that frantic had been grown, With Wenlock happ'd to meet (preparing for his flight) [spite, Upbraiding him with terms of baseness and deThat cow'rdly he had fail'd to succour him with [again, Whilst Wenlock with like words requiteth him The duke (to his stern rage, as yielding up the reins) [brains.

men:

With his too pond'rous ax dash'd out the baron's "The party of the queen in every place are kill'd,

The ditches with the dead, confusedly are fill'd, And many in the flight, i'th' neighbouring rivers drown'd, [Yorkists crown'd. Which with victorious wreaths, the conquering Three thousand of those men, on Henry's part that stood, [blood, For their presumption paid the forfeit of their John marquis Dorset dead, and Devonshire that day

had there

Drew his last vital breath, as in that bloody fray, Delves, Hamden, Whittingham, and Leuknor, who [that were, Their several brave commands, all valiant men Found dead upon the earth. Now all is Edward's own, [the town, And through his enemies' tents he march'd into Where quickly he proclaims, to him that forth could bring [king, Young Edward, a large fee, and as he was a His person to be safe. Sir Richard Crofts who thought .[brought His prisoner to disclose, before the king then That fair and goodly youth; whom when proud York demands, [bands Why thus he had presum'd by help of trait'rous His kingdom to disturb, and impiously display'd His ensigns: the stout prince as not a jot dismay'd With confidence replics, To claim his ancient right, [might, Him from his grandsires left; by tyranny and By him his foe usurp'd: with whose so bold reply, Whilst Edward throughly vext, doth seem to thrust [that stood,

him by; His second brother George, and Richard near With many a cruel stab let out his princely blood; In whom the line direct of Lancaster doth cease, And Somerset himself surprised in the press;

1

Set fire upon the bridge: but when he not preThe suburbs on the east he furiously assail'd But by the city's power was lastly put to flight: Which being no set field, nor yet well order'd fight, [be. Amongst our battles here, may no way reckou'd "Then, Bosworth, here the Muse now lastly bids for thee, Thy battle to describe, the last of that long war, Entitled by the name of York and Lancaster; 'Twixt Henry Tudor earl of Richmond only left Of the Lancastrian line, who by the Yorkists reft Of liberty at home, a banish'd man abroad, In Britany had liv'd; but late at Milford road, Being prosperously arriv'd, though scarce two thousand strong, [came along, Made out his way through Wales, where as he First Griffith great in blood, then Morgan next doth meet [feet Him, with their several powers, as offering at his To lay their lands, and lives; sir Rice ap Thomas. then, [expert men, With his brave band of Welsh, most choice and Comes lastly to his aid; at Shrewsbury arriv'd, (His hopes so faint before, so happily reviv'd) He on for England makes, and near to Newport town,

The next ensuing night setting his army down, Sir Gilbert Talbot still for Lancaster that stood, (To Henry near ally'd in friendship as in blood) From th' earl of Shrewsbury his nephew (under age) [page, Came with two thousand men, in warlike equiWhich much his power increas'd; when easily setting on, [ston, From Litchfield as the way leads forth to AtherBrave Bourcher and his friend stout Hungerford, whose hopes [troops, On Henry long had lain, stealing from Richard's (Wherewith they had been mix'd) to Henry do [to cheer Which with a high resolve, most strangely seem'd His oft-appalled heart, but yet the man which

appear,

most

Gave sail to Henry's self, and fresh life to his host, The stout lord Stanley was, who for he had affy'd The mother of the earl, to him so near ally'd :' The king who fear'd his truth, (which he to have compell'd) [held, The young lord Strange his son, in hostage strongly Which forc'd him to fall off, till he fit place could find,

His son-in-law to meet; yet he with him combin'd Sir William Stanley, known to be a valiant knight, T'assure him of his aid. Thus growing tow'rds his

height,

A most selected band of Cheshire bowmen came By sir John Savage led, besides two men of name : Sir Brian Sanford, and sir Simon Digby, who Leaving the tyrant king, themselves expressly show Fast friends to Henry's part, which still his power increas'd; [strongly press'd, Both armies well prepar'd, towards Bosworth And on a spacious moor, lying southward from the town, [down, Indifferent to them both, they set their armies Their soldiers to refresh, preparing for the fight; Where to the guilty king, that black fore-running night, [son, Appear the dreadful ghosts of Henry and his Of his own brother George, and his two nephews done

Most cruelly to death; and of his wife and friend, Lord Hastings, with pale hands prepar'd as they would rend [sleep. Him piece-meal; at which oft he roareth in his "No sooner 'gan the dawn out of the east to peep, [arms, But drums and trumpets chide the soldiers to their And all the neighbouring fields are cover'd with the swarms [to see, Of those that came to fight, as those that came (Contending for a crown) whose that great day should be. [and bestows "First, Richmond rang'd his fights, on Oxford The leading, with a band of strong and sinewy bows Out of the army pick'd; the front of all the field, Sir Gilbert Talbot next, he wisely took to wield, The right wing, with his strengths, most northern men that were; [shire, And sir John Savage, with the power of LancaAnd Cheshire (chief of men) was for the left wing plac'd :

The middle battle he in his fair person grac'd ; With him the noble earl of Pembroke, who commands [stands, Their countrymen the Welch, (of whom it mainly For their great numbers found to be of greatest force) [horse.

Which but his guard of gleaves, consisted all of "Into two several fights the king contriv'd his strength,

And his first battle cast into a wondrous length,
In fashion of a wedge, in point of which he set
His archery, thereof and to the guidance let
Of John the noble duke of Norfolk, and his son
Brave Surrey he himself the second bringing on,
Which was a perfect square; and on the other
side,
[wide,
His horsemen had for wings, which by extending
The adverse seem'd to threat, with an unequal power.
The utmost point arriv'd of this expected hour,
He to lord Stanley sends, to bring away his aid;
And threats him by an oath, if longer he delay'd
His eldest son young Strange immediately
should die,

Treply:

To whom stout Stanley thus doth carelessly "Tell thou the king I'll come, when I fit time shall

When as the timber fails, by the unweildy fall, Even into powder beats, the roof, and rotten wall, And with confused clouds of smouldering dust doth choke [smoke,

The streets aud places near: so through the misty By shot and ordnance made, a thund'ring noise was heard. When Stanley that this while his succours had de [ferr'd, Both to the cruel king, and to the earl his son, When once he doth perceive the battle was begun, Brings on his valiant troops three thousand fully strong, [long, Which like a cloud far off, that tempest threaten'd Falls on the tyrant's host, which him with teriour struck,

As also when he sees, he doth but vainly look For succours from the great Northumberland, this while,

[mile, That from the battle scarce three quarters of a Stood with his power of horse, nor once was seen to stir : [fer) When Richard (that th' event no longer would deThe two main battles mix'd, and that with wearied breath, [death, Some labour'd to their life, some labour'd to their (There for the better fought) even with a spirit elate, As one that inly scorn'd the very worst that fate Could possibly impose, his lance set in his rest, Into the thick'st of death, through threat'ning peril press'd, [drew, To where he had perceiv'd the earl in person Whose standard-bearer he, ́sir William Brandon,

slew,

The pile of his strong staff into his arm-pit sent ;. When at a second shock, down sir John Cheney went, [plac'd,

Which scarce a lance's length before the earl was Until by Richmond's guard, environed at last, With many a cruel wound, was through the body gride.

Upon this fatal field, John duke of Norfolk dy'd; The stout lord Ferrers fell, and Ratcliff, that had long [among Of Richard's counsels been, found in the field A thousand soldiers that on both sides here were slain, [in vain,

O Redmore, it then seem'd, thy name was not When with a thousand's blood the earth was co

lour'd red.

struck,

inflame

1

son,

[begun, (John earl of Lincoln call'd) who this stern war Suborning a lewd boy, a false impostor, who By Simonds a worse priest instructed what to do, Upon him took the name of th' earl of Warwick, .heir [for fear To George the murther'd duke of Clarence, who Lest some that favour'd York, might under hand maintain)

King Henry in the Tower, did a time detain. Which practise set on foot, this earl of Lincoln sail'd [vail'd, To Burgundy, where he with Margaret preWife to that warlike Charles, and his most loved aunt, [plant Who vexed that a proud Lancastrian should supThe lawful line of York, whence she her blood deriv'd; [triv❜d, Wherefore for Lincoln's sake she speedily conAnd Lovel, that brave lord, before him sent to land

Upon the same pretence, to furnish them a band Of Almains, and to them for their stout captain gave [to have The valiant Martin Swart, the man thought scarce His match for martial feats, and sent them with a fleet [meet, For Ireland, where she had appointed them to With Simonds that lewd clerk, and Lambert, whom they there [where The earl of Warwick call'd, and publish'd every His title to the crown, in Dublin, and proclaim Him England's lawful king, by the fifth Edward's [aid

name:

Then joining with the lord Fitzgerald', to their Who many Irish brought, they up their anchors weigh'd,

south.

And at the rocky pile of Fowdray 10 put to shore In Lancashire; their power increasing more and more, [supply, By soldiers sent them in from Broughton", for A knight that long had been of their confederacy ; Who making thence, direct their marches to the [mouth, "When Henry saw himself so far in danger's From Coventry he came, still gathering up his host, [coast, Made greater on his way, and doth the country Which way he understood his enemies must pass: When after some few days (as it their fortune was)

At Stoke, a village near to Newark upon Trent, Each in the other's sight pitch'd down their warlike

tent.

Into one battle soon, the Almains had dispos'd Their army in a place upon two parts enclos'd With dells, and fenced dykes (as they were expert men)

And from the open fields king Henry's host again, In three fair several fights came equally divided; The first of which, and fitt'st, was given to be guided

"The dutchess of Burgundy was sister to Edward the Fourth, and so was this earl's mother. The lord Francis Lovel.

The lord Thomas Geraldine. 10 On the coast of Lancashire.

Sir Thomas Broughton.

sisted:

The others plac'd as wings, which ever as they listed, [found Came up as need requir'd, or fell back as they Just cause for their retire; when soon the troubled ground, On her black bosom felt the thunder, which, awoke Her genius, with the shock that violently shook Her entrails, this sad day when there ye might have seen [have been Two thousand Almains stand, of which each might A leader for his skill, which when the charge was hot, That they could hardly see the very Sun for shot, Yet they that motion kept that perfect soldiers should; [well behold, That most courageous Swart there might they With most unusual skill that desperate fight maintain, [strain, And valiant De-la-Pole, most like his princely Did all that courage could, or nobless might befit; And Lovell that brave lord, behind him not a whit, For martial deeds that day: stout Broughton that had stood This blood With York (even) from the first, there lastly gave To that well-foughten field; the poor trowz'd Irish there, [corslets were, Whose mantles stood for mail, whose skins for And for their weapons had but Irish skains and darts, [hearts, Like men that scorned death, with most resolved Give not an inch of ground, but all in pieces hewn, Where first they fought, they fell; with them was overthrown [fought, The leader Gerald's hope, amidst his men that And took such part as they, whom he had thither brought [fled, This of that field be told, There was not one that But where he first was plac'd, there found alive or dead.

If in a foughten field a man his life should lose, To die as these men did, who would not gladly choose, [ous song, Which full four thousand were." But in this tedi The too laborious Muse hath tarried all too long. As for the black-sinith's rout, who did together rise,

Encamping on Black-heath, t'annul the subsidies By parliament then given, or that of Cornwal 12 call'd, [thrall'd Enclosures to cast down, which over-much iaThe subject; or proud Ket's, who with the same pretence [pense

In Norfolk rais'd such stirs, as but with great exOf blood was not appeas'd; or that begun in Lent By Wyat and his friends, the marriage to pre

13

This island ever had: but she so left alone, The ruin of her kind, and no man to bemoan. The deep entranced flood, as thinking to awake, Thus from her shady bower she silently bespake: "O flood in happy plight, which to this time remain'st, [strain'st; As still along in state to Neptune's court thou Revive thee with the thought of those forepassed hours, [lightful bowers When the rough wood-gods kept, in their deOn thy embroider'd banks, when now this country fill'd [till'd, With villages, and by the labouring ploughman Was forest, where the fir and spreading poplar [new, O let me yet the thought those past times reWhen as that woody kind, in our umbrageous wild,

grew.

Whence every living thing save only they exil'd, In this their world of waste, the sovereign empire sway'd. [have decay'd O who would e'er have thought, that time could Those trees whose bodies seem'd by their so massy weight, [height To press the solid earth, and with their wond'rous To climb into the clouds, their arms so far to shoot, [root,

As they in measuring were of acres, and their With long and mighty spurns to grapple with the land, [stand: As nature would have said, that they shall ever So that this place where now this Huntingdon is set,

Being an easy hill where mirthful hunters met, From that first took the name." By this the Muse

arrives

As fruitful every way, as those by nature, which The husbandman by art, with compost doth enrich, [about,

them blest.

This boasting of herself; that walk her verge And view her well within, her breadth and length throughout: The worst foot of her earth is equal with their [best, With most abundant store, that highliest think When Whittlewood betime th' unwearied Muse [doth win To talk with her a while; at her first coming in, The forest thus that greets: "With more success. ful fate, Thrive then thy fellow-nymphs, whose sad and [ruinous state We every day behold, if any thing there be, That from this general fall, thee happily may free, 'Tis only for that thou dost naturally produce More underwood and brake, than oak for greater. But when this ravenous age, of those hath us [bereft, Time wanting this our store shall seize what thee is left.

use:

For what base avarice now enticeth men to do, Necessity in time shall strongly urge them to; Which each divining spirit most clearly doth fore[to be,

see. ""

Whilst at this speech perplex'd, the forest seem'd A water-nymph, near to this goodly wood-nymph's side, [doth slide) (As tow'rds her sovereign Ouse, she softly down Tea, her delightsome stream by Towcester doth lead; [mead,

And sporting her sweet self in many a dainty She hath not sallied far, but Sacy soon again Salutes her; one much grac'd among the sylvan

train:

[oft One whom the queen of shades, the bright Diana Hath courted for her looks, with kisses smooth and soft,

On her fair bosom lean'd, and tenderly embrac'd, And call'd her, her dear heart, most lov'd, and only chaste:

Yet Sacy after Tea, her amorous eyes doth throw, Till in the banks of Ouse the brook herself be.

stow.