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Which now had almost got the upper-
Hand of his head, for want of crupper.
To poise this equally, he bore

A paunch of the same bulk before,
Which still he had a special care

To keep well-crammed with thrifty fare;
As white-pot,* butter-milk, and curds,
Such as a country-house affords;
With other victual, which anon
We farther shall dilate upon,
When of his hose we come to treat,
The cupboard where he kept his meat.
His doublet was of sturdy buff,
And though not sword, yet cudgel-proof,
Whereby 'twas fitter for his use,
Who feared no blows but such as bruise.
His breeches was of rugged woollen,
And had been at the siege of Bullen;
To old King Harry so well known,
Some writers held they were his own.†
Through they were lined with many a piece
Of ammunition bread and cheese,
And fat black-puddings, proper food
For warriors that delight in blood:
For, as we said, he always chose
To carry victual in his hose,
That often tempted rats and mice
The ammunition to surprise;
And when he put a hand but in
The one or t' other magazine,
They stoutly on defence on't stood,

And from the wounded foe drew blood;

* A Devonshire dish, commonly called Devonshire white-pot.-G. Cornwall squab-pie, and Devon white-pot brings, And Leicester beans and bacon fit for kings.

KING.-Art of Cookery.

Squab-pie was made of mutton, peppered, with apples and onions. Henry VIII. beseiged Boulogne in 1544.

This and the following seven lines were introduced into the edition of 1674.

And till th' were stormed and beaten out,
Ne'er left the fortified redoubt;

And though knights errant, as some think,
Of old did neither eat nor drink,*
Because when thorough deserts vast,
And regions desolate, they passed
Where belly-timber above ground,
Or under, was not to be found,
Unless they grazed, there's not one word
Of their provision on recòrd;

Which made some confidently write,
They had no stomachs but to fight.
'Tis false; for Arthur wore in hall
Round table like a farthingale,†
On which, with shirt pulled out behind,
And eke before, his good knights dined.
Though 'twas no table some suppose,
But a huge pair of round trunk hose,
In which he carried as much meat,
As he and all the knights could eat,
When laying by their swords and truncheons,
They took their breakfasts, or their nuncheons.
But let that pass at present, lest

We should forget where we digressed;
As learned authors use, to whom
We leave it, and to th' purpose come.

#6 Though I think I have read as many histories of chivalry in my time as any other man, I never could find that knights errant ever eat, unless it were by mere accident, when they were invited to great feasts and royal banquets; at other times, they indulged themselves with little other food besides their thoughts.'-Don Quixote.

†The stately farthingale (said to have been first worn by pregnant women) was a vast petticoat sustained by circles of hoops of whalebone, which extended it to a great circumference round the wearer. It went out, together with the steeple-crowned hat, the starched ruff, and formal stomacher, at the time of the Restoration. The hoop, which was worn to the beginning of the reign of George IV., was the last relic of the farthingale.

A substitute for a regular meal. A nunch was equivalent to what would now be called a luncheon; and nuncheon was a sufficient supply to answer for a luncheon.

His puissant sword unto his side,*
Near his undaunted heart, was tied,
With basket-hilt, that would hold broth,
And serve for fight and dinner both.
In it he melted lead for bullets,
To shoot at foes, and sometimes pullets;
To whom he bore so fell a grutch,
He ne'er gave quarter t' any such.
The trenchant blade, Toledo trusty,+
For want of fighting was grown rusty,
And ate into itself, for lack
Of some body to hew and hack.
The peaceful scabbard where it dwelt,
The rancour of its edge had felt;
For of the lower end two handful
It had devoured, 'twas so manful,
And so much scorned to lurk in case,
As if it durst not show its face.
In many desperate attempts,
Of warrants, exigents, contempts,
It had appeared with courage bolder
Than Serjeant Bum invading shoulder;
Oft had it ta'en possession,

And prisoners too, or made them run.
This sword a dagger had, § his page,
That was but little for his age:
And therefore waited on him so,
As dwarfs upon knights errant do.

* The sword was attached to the person by a girdle and hanger, so fastened that it might be easily drawn. In a description of Oliver Cromwell, by Sir Philip Warwick, it is stated that his sword was stuck close to his side.'

† Toledo, the capital of New Castile, celebrated for its manufacture of swords. The epithet trenchant is properly applied to the sword of Hudibras, as it was one of the instructions issued to the cavalry that their swords should be stiff, that is broad and strong, cutting and sharp-pointed.

A writ issued to bring a person to an outlawry, if he does not appear to answer the suit commenced against him.-N.

§ The dagger was not usually worn by mounted soldiers; but the knight followed his own whims in such matters.

It was a serviceable dudgeon,*
Either for fighting or for drudging:+
When it had stabbed, or broke a head,
It would scrape trenchers, or chip bread,
Toast cheese or bacon, though it were
To bait a mouse-trap, 'twould not care:
'Twould make clean shoes, and in the earth
Set leeks and onions, and so forth:
It had been 'prentice to a brewer,‡

Where this, and more, it did endure;

*The dudgeon was properly not the dagger itself, but the haft or handle, made of box. The root of the box-tree, of which these handles were made, was called dudgeon. A dudgeon-dagger, or a dudgeon-haft dagger, was a small sword, with a box handle. There are many examples illustrative of the use of the word:

I see thee still,

And on thy blade and dudgeon, gouts of blood,
Which was not so before.-Macbeth, ii. 1.

Thou for the edge, and I for the point, will make the fool bestride our mistress' backs, and then have at the bag with the dudgeon haft; that is, at the dudgeon dagger by which hangs his tantony pouch.-LYLY. -Mother Bombie, ii. 1.

† Fit for fighting, or for any convenient domestic uses to which it could be applied.

+ Cromwell was the son of a brewer in Huntingdonshire; Pride had been a brewer, and Hewson (originally a shoemaker) and Scott were brewers' clerks. The innumerable sarcastic allusions to the brewers in the Rump songs are thus explained. Cromwell particularly was taunted with his origin in these satirical effusions. The following is a specimen, from a song called The Brewer :

Of all professions in the town,

The Brewer's trade hath gained renown,
His liquor reacheth up to the crown,

Which nobody can deny.

Many new lords from him there did spring,
Of all the trades he still was their king;
For the Brewer had the world in a sling,

Which nobody can deny.

He scorneth all laws and martial stops,
But whips an army as round as tops,
And cuts off his foes as thick as hops,

Which nobody can deny.

He dives for riches down to the bottom,

And cries, My masters,' when he had got 'em,
'Let every tub stand upon his own bottom,'

Which nobody can deny.

There is another song on the same subject, called The Protecting Brewer,

But left the trade, as many more
Have lately done, on the same score.
In th' holsters, at his saddle-bow,
Two aged pistols he did stow,
Among the surplus of such meat
As in his hose he could not get.
These would inveigle rats with th' scent,
To forage when the cocks were bent;
And sometimes catch 'em with a snap,
As cleverly as th' ablest trap.
They were upon hard duty still,
And ev'ry night stood sentinel,
To guard the magazine i̇' th' hose,

From two-legged, and from four-legged foes.
Thus clad and fortified, Sir Knight,
From peaceful home, set forth to fight.
But first, with nimble active force,
He got on th' outside of his horse:
For having but one stirrup tied
T' his saddle on the further side,
It was so short, h' had much ado
To reach it with his desperate toe.
But after many strains and heaves,
He got up to the saddle-eaves,

in which Cromwell's antecedents are traced, through the various steps of Parliament-man, Captain, Colonel, General, up to the throne. It conIcludes with these verses:

A Brewer may be as bold as Hector,

When he has drunk off his cup of nectar,

And a Brewer may be a Lord Protector,

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Which nobody can deny.

Now here remains the strangest thing,

How this Brewer about his liquor did bring,

To be an Emperor, or a King,

Which nobody can deny.

A Brewer may do what he will,

And rob the Church and State, to sell
His soul as to the Devil of Hell,

Which nobody can deny.

This tune and burthen appear to have been in great request with the Cavaliers.

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