§ 122. Child Waters. CHILD is frequently used by our old writers as a title. It is repeatedly given to Prince Arthur in the Fairie Queen: and the son of a Shee, all the long daye Childe Waters rode, Why doe you ryde so fast? The childe, which is no man's but thine, king is in the fame poem called "Child Ride foftlye, fhee fayd, O Childe Waters, CHILDE Waters in his stable stoode, And ftroakt his milke-white steede : To him a fayre yonge ladye came As ever ware womans weede. Sayes, Chrift you fave, good Childe Watèrs; And all is with one childe of yours, My gowne of greene it is too ftraight; Before it was too wide. If the childe be mine, faire Ellen, he fayd, Be mine, as you tell mee; Then take you Cheshire and Lancashire both, If the childe be mine, faire Ellen, he fayd, Then take you Cheshire and Lancashire both, Shee fayes, I had rather have one kiffe, Than I wolde have Cheshire and Lancashire both, And I had rather have one twinkling, Childe Waters, of thine ee; Then I wolde have Chefhire and Lancashire both, If you will my foot-page bee, Ellèn, Then you must cut your gowne of greene Soe must you doe your yellowe lockes, An inch above your ee: You must tell no man what is my name; Shee, all the long daye Childe Waters rode, Yet was he never fo courteous a knighte, To fay, Ellen, will you ryde? Hee fayth, Seeft thou yond water, Ellen, You never will fee me fwimme. Nowe the Lord of heaven be my speede, The falt waters bare up her clothes; Our Ladye bare up her chinne: Childe Waters was a woe man, good Lord, To fee faire Ellen fwimme. And when thee over the water was, Shee then came to his knee: Hee fayd, Come hither, thou fayre Ellen, Seeft thou not yonder hall, Ellen? Seeft thou not yonder hall, Ellen? Of red golde fhines the towre: I fee the hall now, Childe Waters, I fee the hall now, Childe Waters, And Ellen, the fayreft ladye there, And then befpake Childe Waters fiftèr, But that his bellye it is foe bigge, That has run thro moffe and myre, It is more meete for a little foot-page, That has run throughe moffe and myre, To take his fupper upon his knee, And lye by the kitchen fyre. Now when they had fupped every one, Goe thee downe unto yonder towne, And lowe into the streete ; Ellen is gone into the towne, And lowe into the streete : The fayreft ladye that the colde finde, I pray you nowe, good Childe Waters, Down at his beds feet laye: Up then rofe the fayre Ellen, And gave his fteede corne and haye; She leaned her back to the manger fide, Shee fayd, Rife up, thou Childe Watèrs, For in thy ftable is a ghost, That grievouflye doth grone: Or else fome woman laboures with childe, Up then ofe Childe Waters foone, She fayd, Lullabye, mine own deare childe, * Defiling. I wolde thy father were a kinge, Thy mother clayd on a biere. And the bridale and the churchinge bothe § 123. The King and Muler of Mansfield. It has been a favourite fubject with our English ballad-inakers to reprefent our kings converfing either by accident or defign with the meaneft of their fubjects. Of the former kind, besides this fong of the King and the Miller, we have K. Henry and the Soldier; K. James I. and the Tinker; K. William III. and the Forefter, &c. Of the latter fort are K. Alfred and the Shepherd; K. Edward IV. and the Tanner; K. Henry VIII. and the Cobler, &c. -This is a piece of great antiquity, being written before the time of Edward IV. and for its genuine humour, diverting incidents, and faithful picture of ruftic manners, is infinitely fuperior to all that have been fince written in imitation of it. Part the Fift. HENRY, our royall king, would ride a hunting To the greene foreft fo pleafant and faire; To fee the harts fkipping,and dainty does tripping: Unto merry Sherwood his nobles repaire : Hawke and hound were unbound, all things pre par'd For the game, in the fame, with good regard. All a long fummers day rode the king pleafantly, With all his princes and nobles eche one; Chafing the hart and hind, and the bucke gallantlye, Till the darke evening forc'd all to turne home. Then at last, riding falt, he had loft quite All his lords in the wood, late in the night. Wandering thus wearilye, all alone,up and downe, With a rude miller he mett at the laft: Afking the ready way unto faire Nottingham; Sir, quoth the miller, I mean not to jest, Yet I thinke, what I thinke, footh for to fay, You doe not lightlye ride out of your way. Why, what doft thou think of me, quoth our king merrily, Paffing thy judgment on me fo briefe? [thee; Good faith, fayd the miller, I mean not to flatter I guess thee to be but fome gentleman thiefe: Stand thee backe, in the darke; light not adowne, Left I prefentlye cracke thy knaves crowne. Thou doft abuse me much, quoth the king, faying thus; [purfe; + Ellay, attempt. I am a gentleman; lodging I lacke. Thou haft not, quoth the miller, one groat in thy All thy inheritance hanges on thy backe; I have gold to discharge all that I call, If it be forty pence, I will pay all. If thou beeft a true man, then quoth the miller, I fweare by my toll-difh I'll lodge thee all night. Moaning, bemoaning. Here's Here's my hand, quoth the king, that was I ever. But a poor courtyer, rode out of my way: Then to the miller his wife whifper'd fecretlye, To turne him out, certainlye, were a great fin. Yea, quoth hee,you may fee, he hath fome grace, When he doth fpeake to his betters in place. Well, quo' the millers wife, young man, ye're welcome here; And, though I fay it, well lodged shall be: Fresh ftraw will I have laid on thy bed fo brave, And good brown hempen theetes likewife, quoth fhee. Aye, quoth the good man, and when that is done, Thou shalt lye with no worfe than our own fonne. Nay, firft, quoth Richard, good-fellowe, tell me true, Haft thou noe creepers within thy gay hole? Or art thou not troubled with the scabbido? I pray, quoth the king, what creatures are thofe? Art thou not lowfy, nor fcabby? quoth he: If thou beeft, furely thou lyeft not with mee. This caus'd the king fuddenlye to laugh moft heartilye, Till the teares trickled faft downe from his eyes. Then to their fupper were they fet orderlye, Wit hot bag-puddings, and good apple-pyes; Nappy ale, good and ftale, in a browne bowle, Which did about the board merrily trowle. A faire ven fon paftve brought the out presentlye. I wis, quoth Richard, no dainty at all it is, We never pay pennye for itt, by my fay: From merry Sherwood we fetch it home here; Now and then we make bold with our kings deer. Then I thinke, fayd our king, that it is venifon. Eche foole, quoth Richard, full well may know out, As he was mounting upon his faire fteede; To whom they came prefenty, falling down on their knee; Which made the millers heart wofully bleede: Sh king and quaking, before him he stood, Thinking he should have been hang'd by the rood. The king perceiving him fearfully trembling, The miller downe did fall, crying before them all, WHEN as our royall king was come home from And with his nobles at Westminster lay; Recounting the fports and paftimes they had taken, In this late progrefs along on the way; Of them all, great and fmall, he did proteft, The miller of Mansfield's fport liked him beft. And now, my lords, quoth the king, I'm determined, Against St. Georges next fumptuous feast, Here, quoth the miller, good fellowe, I drinke to That this old miller our new confirmed knight, thee, With his fon Richard, fhall here be my guest: For, in this merriment, 'tis my defire [fquire. Fo talke with the jolly knight, and the young When as the noble lords saw the kinges pleasantnefs, They were right joyfull and glad in their hea ts; A purfuivante there was fent ftraight on the bufinefs, The which had often-times been in those parts. 303 When When he came to the place where they did dwell, His meffage orderlye then 'gan he tell. God fave your worshippe, then faid the messenger, And grant your ladye her owne hearts defire; And to your fonne Richard good fortune and happiness; That fweet, gentle, and gallant young fquire. Our king greets you well, and thus he doth fay, You must come to the court on St. Georges day: Therefore, in any cafe, faile not to be in place. I wis, quoth the miller, this is an odd jeft: What shouldwe doe there? faith, I am halfe afraid. I doubt, quoth Richard,to be hang'd at the leaft. Nay, quoth the meffenger, you doe mistake; Our king he provides a great feast for your fake. Then fayd the miller, By my troth, meffenger, Thou haft contented my worshippe full well. Hold, here are three farthings, to quite thy gentlenefs For thefe happy tydings, which thou doft tell. Let me fee, heare thou mee; tell to our king, We'll wait on his malerthipp in everye thing. The purfuivant fmiled at their fimplicitye, And making many leggs, tooke their reward; And his leave taking with great humilitye, To the kings court againe he repair'd; When he was gone away, thus gan the miller fay, For of new garments we have great need: Tufhe, Sir John, quoth his wife, why should you frett or frown? The king and his courtiers laugh at this heartily, A milk-maids courtefye at every word; There the king royally, in princelye majestye, Quoth Sir John Cockle, I'll pledge you a pottle, Why art thou angry? quoth our king merrilye; heartily. Quoth Dicke, You are like to stay till I have din'd: You feed us with twatling dishes fo fmall; Aye, marry, quoth our king, that were a daintye thing, Could a man get but one here for to eat. With that Dick ftraight arofe, and pluck'd one from his hofe, Which with heat of his breech gan for to fweate. The king made a proffer to fnatch it away :'Tis meat for your master; good fir, you must stay. Thus in great merriment was the time wholly spent ; And then the ladyes prepared to dance: Old Sir John Cockle, and Richard incontinent, Unto their places the king did advance: Here with the ladyes fuch fport they did make, The nobles with laughing did make their fides ake. Many thankes for their paines did the king give them, Afking young Richard then, if he would wed: Among thefe ladyes free, tell me which liketh thee? Quoth he, Jugg Grumball, Sir, with the red head: She's my love, the 's my life, her will I wed; She hath fworn I thall have her maidenhead. Then L 7 Witch. Then Sir John Cockle the king called unto him, Take heed now you fteal no more of my deer: § 124. The Witches' Song, -From Ben Jonfon's Mafque of Queens, prefented at Whitehall, Feb. 2, 1609. The funne and the wind had fhrunke iis veines: 8 Witch. The ferich-owles egges, and the feathers blacke, 9 Witch. It is true, this fong of the Witches, falling from antiquity, than a difplay of the opinions of Night-fhade, moone-wort, libbards-bane; . 10 Witch. thefe had fo ranfacked all writers ancient and I from the jaws of a gardiner's bitch By good luck the whimfical belief of fairies and 11 Witch. goblins could furnish no pretences for torturing I went to the toade, breeds under the wall, I HAVE beene all day looking after A raven feeding upon a quarter; Dame. And, foone as the turn'd her back to the fouth, Yes: I have brought, to helpe your vows, I fnatch'd this morfell out of her mouth. 2 Witch. I have beene gathering wolves haires, I last night lay all alone O'the ground, to heare the mandrake grone; And I h' beene chufing out this scull; Under a cradle I did creepe By day, and, when the childe was a-fleepe I had a dagger: what did I with that? I bade him again blow wind i' the taile. Horned poppie, cypreise boughes, 125. The Fairies Farewel. This humorous old fong fell from the hand of the witty Dr. CORBET, afterwards bishop of Norwich, &c. In his Poetica Stromata it is called, "A proper new Ballad, intituled, The Fairies Farewell, or God-a-mercy Will, to be "fung or whiftled to the tune of The Mea"dow Brow,by the learned; by the unlearned, "to the tune of Fortune." FAREWELL, rewards and Fairies! For now foule fluts in dairies And though they fweepe their hearths no lefs Finds fix-pence in her shoe? The fairies loft command! They did but change pricfts babies, But fome have chang'd your land: 304 *And |