105

I will tiot have it, fayd the kynge,

I sweare, so mote I thèë ;
Thy foüle cowe-hide I wolde not beare,

If thou wołdit give it to mee.

IIO

The tanner hee tooke his good cowe hide,

That of the cow was hilt,
And threwe it upon the king's sadelle,

That was foe fayrelye gilte.

« Now help me up, thou fine fellòwe, !

'Tis time that I were gone : When I come home to Gyllian, my wife,

Sheel say I am a gentilmon."

115

The king he tooke him up by the legge ;

The tanner a f* * lett fall.
Nowe marrye, good fellowe, says the king,

Thy courtesye is but small.

When the tanner he was in the kinges sadelle,

And his foote in the stirrup was : He marvelled greatlye in his minde,

Whether it were golde or brass.

But when his steede saw the cows taile wagge, 123

And eke the blacke cowe-horne :
He stampt, and stared, and awaye he ranne,

As the deyill had him borne.
VOL. II.

The

130

The tanner he pulld, the tanner he sweat,

And held by the pummil fast:
At length the tanner came tumbling downe;

His necke he had well-nye braft.

Take thy horse again with a vengeance, he fayd,

With mee he shall not byde. “ My horse wolde have borne thee well enoughe, 135

But he knewe not of thy cowe hide.

Yet if againe thou faine woldft change,

As change full well may wee,
By the faith of my bodye, thou jolly tanner,

I will have some boote of thee."

140

What boote wilt thou have, the tanner replyd,

Nowe tell me in this stounde? • Noe pence nor halfpence, fir, by my faye,

But I will have twentye pound."

145

“ Here's twentye groates out of my purse ;

And twentye I have of thine :
And I have one more, which we will spend

Together at the wine,”

159

The king set a bugle horne to his mouthe,

And blewe both loude and shrille :
And soone came lords, and soone came knights,
Faft ryding over the hille.

Nowe,

Nowe, out alas ! the tanner he cryde,

That ever I sawe this daye !
Thou art a strong thiefe, yon come thy fellowes 155
Will beare my

cowe-hide

away.

They are no thieves, the king replyde,

I sweare, soe mote I thee :
But they are the lords of the north countrèy,

Here come to hunt with mee.

160

And soone before our king they came.

And knelt downe on the grounde:
Then might the tanner have beene awaye,

He had lever than twentye pounde.

165

A coller, a coller *, here : fayd the king,
A coller he loud did

crye:
Then woulde he lever then twentye pound,

He had not beene so nighe.

170

A coller, a coller, the tanner, he fayd,

I trowe it will breed sorrowe :
After a coller comes a halter,
And I fall be hanged to-morrowe.

G 2

“ Awaye

* A collar was anciently used in the ceremony of conferring knighthood.

Awaye with thy feare, thou jolly tanner,

For the sport thou haft shewn to me,
I wote noe halter thou shalt weare,

But thou shalt have a knight's fee.

175

For Plumpton-parke I will give thee,

With tenements faire beside :
'Tis worth three hundred markes by the yeare,

To maintaine thy good cowe. hide."

180

Gramercye, my liege, the tanner replyde,

For the favour, which thou hast showne:
If ever thou comeft to merry Tamworth,

Neates leather shall clout thy shoen.

XV.

AS YE CAME FROM THE HOLY LAND.

DIALOGUE BETWEEN A PILGRIM AND TRAVELLER.

The scene of this song is the same, as in num. XIII. The pilgrimage to Walsingham Juggested the plan of many popu. lar pieces. In the Pepys collection, Vol. I. p. 226, is a kind of Interlude in the old ballad style, of which the first stanza alone is worth reprinting,

As I went to Walfingham,

To the shrine with speede,
Met I with a jolly palmer

In a pilgrimes weede.

Now God you save, you jolly palmer!

« Welcome, lady gay,
" Oft have I sued to thee for love.”

_Oft have I said you nay. The pilgrimages undertaken on pretence of religion, were often productive of affairs of gallantry, and led the votaries to no other shrine than that of Venus.

The following ballad was once very popular ; it is quoted s in Fletcher's “ Knt. of the burning pestle,” Act. 2. Jc. ult.

and, in another old play, called, “ Hans Becr-pot, his invisible Comedy &c." 4to, 1618; As I.-The copy below was communicated to the Editor by the late Mr. Shenstone from an ancient MS, which being imperfect was supplied by bim with a concluding stanza.

We have placed this, and Gentle HERDSMAN & C. thus early in the volume, upon a presumption that they must have been written, if not before the disolution of the monafteries, yet while the remembrance of them was fresh in the minds of the people.

5

“ How should I know your true love,

" That have met many a one, " As I came from the holy land,

" That have both come, and gone ?"

My love is neither white *, nor browne,

But as the heavens faire ;
There is none hath her form divine,

Either in earth, or ayre.

G 3

* f. pals