Some time a good fellow thou hast been,
And sparedft not thy gold and fee,
Therefore Ile lend thee forty pence,
And other forty if need bee.

And ever, I pray thee, John o' the Scales,
To let him fit in thy companee:

For well I wot thou hadst his land,
And a good bargain it was to thee.

Up then spake him John o' the Scales,
All wood he answer'd him againe :
Now Chrifts curfe on my head, hee fayd,
But I did lofe by that bargaine.

And here I proffer thee, heire of Linne,
Before thefe lords fo faire and free,

Thou shalt have it backe again better cheape,
By a hundred markes, than I had it of thee. 100

I drawe you to record, lords, he faid.
With that he gave him a gods pennèe :
Now by my fay, fayd the heire of Linne,
And here, good John, is thy money.

And he pull'd forth three bagges of gold,
And layd them down upon the bord:

105

All woe begone was John o' the Scales,
Soe fhent he cold fay never a word.

He

He told him forth the good red gold,
He told it forth with mickle dinne,
The gold is thine, the land is mine,
And now Ime againe the lord of Linne.

Sayes, Haye thou here, thou good fellowe,
Forty pence thou didst lend me:
Now I am againe the lord of Linne,

And forty pounds. I will give thee.

Now welladay! fayth Joan o' the Scales:
Now welladay! and woe is my life!
Yefterday I was lady of Linne,

Now Ime but John o' the Scales his wife.

Now fare thee well, fayd the heire of Linne;

Farewell, good John o' the Scales, said hee:
When next I want to fell my land,

Good John o' the Scales Ile come to thee.

XII.

119

115

120

THE OLD AND YOUNG COURTIER.

This excellent old fong, the subject of which is a comparifon between the manners of the old gentry, as ftill fubfifting in the times of Elizabeth, and the modern refinements affected by their fons in the reigns of her fucceffors, is given from an ax cient black-letter copy in the Pepys collection, compared with another printed among fome mifcellaneous "poems and fongs" in a book intitled, "Le Prince d'amour." 1660, 8vo.

A

N old fong made by an aged old pate,

Of an old worfhipful gentleman, who had a greate eftate,

That kept a brave old houfe at a bountiful rate,

And an old porter to relieve the

poor

at his gate;

Like an old courtier of the queen's,

And the queen's old courtier.

With an old lady, whofe anger one word affwages;
Hee every quarter paid his old fervants their wages,
And never knew what belong'd to coachmen, footmen,

nor pages,

But kept twenty old fellows with blue coats and badges;
Like an old courtier, &c.

With an old study fill'd full of learned old books,
With an old reverend chaplain, you might know him by

his looks,

With an old buttery hatch worn quite off the hooks, And an old kitchen, that maintain'd half a dozen old cooks; Like an old courtier, &c.

With an old hall, hung about with pikes, guns, and bows,

With old fwords, and bucklers, that had born many fhrewd blows,

And an old frize coat, to cover his worship's trunk hose, And a cup of old fherry, to comfort his copper nofe;

Like an old courtier, &c.

With

With a good old fashion, when Christmasse was come, To call in all his old neighbours with bagpipe, and drum, With good chear enough to furnish every old room, And old liquor able to make a cat speak, and man dumb, Like an old courtier, &c.

With an old falconer, huntfman, and a kennel of hounds, That never hawked, nor hunted, but in his own grounds, Who, like a wife man, kept himself within his own bounds,

And when he dyed gave every child a thousand good pounds;

Like an old courtier, &c.

But to his eldest fon his house and land he affign'd, Charging him in his will to keep the old bountifull mind, To be good to his old tenants, and to his neighbours be kind:

But in the enfuing ditty you shall hear how he was in- · clin'd;

Like a young courtier of the king's,

And the king's young courtier.

Like a flourishing young gallant, newly come to his land, Who keeps a brace of painted madams at his command, And takes up a thousand pound upon his fathers land, And gets drunk in a tavern, till he can neither go nor ftand;

Like a young courtier, &c.

With a new-fangled lady, that is dainty, nice, and spare, Who never knew what belong'd to good house-keeping,

or care,

Who buyes gaudy-color'd fans to play with wanton air, And seven or eight different dreffings of other womens hair;

Like a young courtier, &c.

With a new-fashion'd hall, built where the old one stood, Hung round with new pictures, that doe the poor no good, With a fine marble chimney, wherein burns neither coal nor wood,

And a new smooth shovelboard, whereon no victuals neer

ftood;

Like a young courtier, &c.

With a new ftudy, ftuft full of pamphlets, and plays, And a new chaplain, that swears faster than he prays, With a new buttery hatch, that opens once in four or five days,

.

And a new French cook, to devise fine kickshaws, and toys; Like a young courtier, &c.

With a new fashion, when Christmas is drawing on,
On a new journey to London ftraight we all must begone,
And leave none to keep houfe, but our new porter John,
Who relieves the poor with a thump on the back with a
ftone;

Like a young courtier, &c

VOL. II.

X

With