ROBIN GOODFELLOW. When I have done, I get me gone, And leave them scolding, ho, ho, ho! By wells and rills, in meadows green, We chant our moonlight minstrelsies. Away we fling; And babes new-born steal as we go; And elf in bed We leave in stead, And wend us laughing, ho, ho, ho! From hag-bred Merlin's time, have I Thus nightly revelled to and fro; Fiends, ghosts, and spirites, The hags and goblins do me know; And beldames old My feats have told, So vale, vale; ho, ho, ho! 181 THE OLD AND YOUNG COURTIER. ANONYMOUS. AN old song made by an aged old pate, Of an old worshipful gentleman, who had a great estate, That kept a brave old house at a bountiful rate, And the queen's old courtier. With an old lady, whose anger one word assuages; They every quarter paid their old servants 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 swords and bucklers, that had borne many shrewd blows, And an old frieze coat, to cover his worship's trunk hose, And a cup of old sherry, to comfort his copper nose; Like an old courtier, &c. With a good old fashion, when Christmas was come, With an old falconer, huntsmen, and a kennel of hounds, But to his eldest son his house and lands he assign'd, To be good to his old tenants, and to his neighbours be kind: And the king's young courtier. Like a flourishing young gallant, newly come to his land, With a newfangled lady, that is dainty, nice, and spare, Like a young courtier, &c. THE OLD AND YOUNG COURTIER. 185 With a new-fashion'd hall, built where the old one stood, With a fine marble chimney, wherein burns neither coal nor wood, Like a young courtier, &c. With a new study, stuff'd 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 straight we all must begone, Who relieves the poor with a thump on the back with a stone; Like a young courtier, &c. With a new gentleman usher, whose carriage is complete, With a new coachman, footmen, and pages to carry up the meat, Like a young courtier, &c. With new titles of honour, bought with his father's old gold, Or the king's young courtiers. BB |