And, when these fail'd, he'd suck his claws,
And quarter himself upon his paws: 3
And tho' his countrymen, the Huns,

275

Did stew their meat between their bums
And th' horses' backs o'er which they straddle,
And every man ate up his saddle;

He was not half so nice as they,

But ate it raw when't came in's way.
He had trac'd countries far and near,
More than Le Blanc the traveller;

280

interpreted rugit, aut buccinat. Du Cange from Papias. Ab iis diebus resident ac priorum pedum suctu vivunt. Plin. Nat. Hist. lib. viii. cap. 54.

3 And quarter himself upon his paws:] A word ending in er before another beginning with a vowel, is often considered as ending in re, and cut off accordingly. See P. ii. c. ii. v. 367. and c. iii. v. 192. P. iii. c. i. v. 521. P. ii. c. i. v. 752. P. iii. c. i. v. 583. 622. 680. c. ii. v. 108. 468. c. iii. v. 684. Heroical Epistle, v. 284. Lady's Answer, v. 130. So in P. i. c. iii. v. 1286. Whats'ever assembly's. Thus bowre for bower, that is a chamber. See Percy's Reliques of Ancient Poetry, vol. i. p. 52. The old poets took great liberties in varying the accents and terminations of many words: thus, countriè, ladiè, harpèr, finger, battèl, damsèl, &c. ibid. p. 37.

▲ And tho' his countrymen, the Huns,

Did stew their meat between their bums

And th' horses' backs o'er which they straddle,] This fact is related by Ammianus Marcellinus, xxxi. cap. ii. 615. ed. Paris. 1681. With such fare did Azim Khan entertain Jenkinson, and other Englishmen, in their Travels to the Caspian sea from the river Volga.

"Tartaros esse perquam immundis moribus: si jurulentum 'aliquid apponatur in mensam, nulla requirere cochlearia, sed "jus volâ manus haurire; enectorum equorum carnem devorare "nullo foco admotam; offas tantum sub equestri sella explicare, "quibus equino calore tepefactis, tanquam opipare conditis, vesci." Busbequii, Ep. iv.

VINCENT LE BLANG.

From & Print pressed to his Travels 1000.

Who writes, he 'spous'd in India,3
Of noble house, a lady gay,
And got on her a race of worthies,
As stout as any upon earth is.
Full many a fight for him between
Talgol and Orsin oft' had been,
Each striving to deserve the crown
Of a sav'd citizen; the one

To guard his bear, the other fought

To aid his dog; both made more stout
By sev'ral spurs of neighbourhood,
Church-fellow-membership, and blood ;
But Talgol, mortal foe to cows,
Never got ought of him but blows;
Blows hard and heavy, such as he
Had lent, repaid with usury..

Yet Talgol was of courage stout,
And vanquish'd oft'ner than he fought;
Inur'd to labour, sweat, and toil,

And, like a champion, shone with oil;'

285

290

295

300

Who writes, he 'spous'd in India,] Le Blanc tells this story of Aganda the daughter of Ismation.

• Full many a fight for him between] That is, on his account.

Each striving to deserve the crown

Of a sav'd citizen;] He, who saved the life of a Roman citizen, was entitled to a civic crown; so, in banter, says our author, were Talgol and Orsin, who fought hard to save the lives of the dogs and bears.

Church-fellow-membership, and blood;] Both were of the same fanatic sect, and inured to scenes of cruelty from their employments. And, like a champion, shone with oil;] He was a butcher; and as greasy as the Greek and Roman wrestlers, who anointed themselves with oil to make their joints more supple, and prevent strains.

Right many a widow his keen blade,
And many fatherless had made;
He many a boar, and huge dun-cow
Did, like another Guy, o'erthrow ;'
But Guy, with him in fight compar'd,
Had like the boar or dun-cow far'd:
With greater troops of sheep h' had fought
Than Ajax, or bold Don Quixot ;2

And many a serpent of fell kind,
With wings before, and stings behind,
Subdu'd; as poets say, long agone,

3

305

310

Bold Sir George Saint George did the dragon.*

1 He many a boar, and huge dun-cow

Did, like another Guy, o'erthrow ;] The story of Guy, earl of Warwick, and the dun-cow killed by him at Dunsmore-heath, in Warwickshire, is well known in romance. He lived about the tenth century. A rib of this cow is now shewn in Warwick castle: but more probably it is some bone of a whale.

2 With greater troops of sheep h' had fought

Than Ajax, or bold Don Quixot ;] Ajax, when mad with rage for having lost the armour of Achilles, attacked and slew a flock of sheep, mistaking them for the Grecian princes. See Sophocles, Ajax. 1. 29. Horace, Satire iii. book ii. 1, 197. Don Quixote encountered a flock of sheep, and imagined they were the giant Alipharnon of Tapobrana.

• And many a serpent of fell kind,

With wings before, and stings behind,

Subdu'd;-] Meaning the flies, wasps, and hornets, which prey upon the butchers' meat, and were killed by the valiant Talgol. Fell is a Saxon word, and signifies cruel, deadly: hence the term fellow is used to denote a cruel wicked man: perhaps fellow, in a better sense, may signify companion, from feel, fellow-feeling.

as poets say, long agone,

Bold Sir George Saint George did the dragon.] Sir George, because tradition makes him a soldier as well as a saint: or an hero