Which now had almost got the upper- A paunch of the same bulk before, To keep well-crammed with thrifty fare; 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, And though knights errant, as some think, Which made some confidently write, We should forget where we digressed; #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,* And prisoners too, or made them run. * 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,* 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, 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, Which nobody can deny. Many new lords from him there did spring, Which nobody can deny. He scorneth all laws and martial stops, Which nobody can deny. He dives for riches down to the bottom, And cries, My masters,' when he had got 'em, Which nobody can deny. There is another song on the same subject, called The Protecting Brewer, But left the trade, as many more From two-legged, and from four-legged foes. 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, 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 Which nobody can deny. This tune and burthen appear to have been in great request with the Cavaliers. |