In myn armys I bere wele
A doz trogh, and a pele,
A sadyll wythout a panell,
Wyth a fles of woll.'

125

'I make a vow,' quoth Dudman, and swor be the stra, 'Whyls me ys left my [mare,] thou gets hurr not swa; For scho ys wele schapen, and lizt as the rae,

There is no capul in thys myle befor hur schal ga; 130 Sche wul ne nozt begyle:

Sche wyl me bere, I dar

On a lang somerys day,

say,

Fro Hyssylton to Hakenay,

Nozt other half myle.'

135

'I make a vow,' quoth Perkyn, 'thow speks of cold rost,

I schal wyrch [wyselyer] withouten any bost:

Five of the best capulys, that ar in thys ost,

I wot I schal thaym wynne, and bryng thaym to my cost,

And here I grant thaym Tybbe.

Wele boyes here ys he,

That wyl fyzt, and not fle,
For I am in my jolyte,

Wyth so forth, Gybbe.'

140

When thay had ther vowes made, furth can thay hie, 145,
With flayles, and hornes, and trumpes mad of tre:
Ther were all the bachelerys of that contre;
Thay were dyzt in aray, as thaymselfes wold be:
Thayr baners were ful bryzt

Ver. 128, merth, MS.-Ver. 137, fwyselier, MS.-Ver. 146, flailes, and harnisse, PC.

Of an old rotten fell;

The cheveron of a plow-mell;
And the schadow of a bell,

Poudred wyth the mone lyzt.

150

I wot yt [was] no chylder game, whan thay togedyr

met,

When icha freke in the feld on hys feloy bet,
And layd on styfly, for nothyng wold thay let,
And foght ferly fast, tyll ther horses swet,

And few wordys spoken.

Ther were flayles al to slatred,

Ther wer scheldys al to flatred,
Bollys and dysches al to schatred,
And many hedys brokyn.

155

160

There was clynkyng of cart-saddellys, & clatteryng

of cannes;

Of fele frekys in the feld brokyn were their fannes; Of sum were the hedys brokyn, of sum the brayn

pannes,

And yll were thay besene, or thay went thanns,
Wyth swyppyng of swepyls:

Thay were so wery for-foght,

165

Thay myzt not fyzt mare oloft,

But creped about in the [croft,]
As thay were croked crepyls.

170

Perkyn was so wery, that he began to loute;
'Help, Hud, I am ded in thys ylk rowte:
An hors for forty pens, a gode and a stoute!
That I may lyztly come of my noye oute,

For no cost wyl I spare.

175

Ver. 151, The Chiefe, PC.-Ver. 154, yt ys, MS.-Ver. 168, The boyes were, MS.-Ver. 170, creped then about in the croft, MS.

He styrt up as a snayle,
And hent a capul be the tayle,
And [reft] Dawkin hys flayle,

And wan there a mare.

Perkyn wan five, and Hud wan twa:

180

Glad and blythe thay ware, that they had don sa; Thay wold have tham to Tyb, and present hur with

tha:

The capulls were so wery, that thay myzt not ga,
But styl gon thay stond.

'Alas!' quoth Hudde, my joye I lese;

Mee had lever then a ston of chese,

That dere Tyb had al these,

And wyst it were my sond.'

185

190

Perkyn turnyd hym about in that ych thrang,
Among thos wery boyes he wrest and he wrang;
He threw tham doun to the erth, and thrast tham

amang,

When he saw Tyrry away wyth Tyb fang,

And after hym ran;

Off his horse he hym drogh,

And gaf hym of hys flayl inogh:
'We te he!' quoth Tyb, and lugh,
'Ye er a dughty man.'

195

[Thus] thay tugged, and rugged, tyl yt was nere nyzt: All the wyves of Tottenham came to se that syzt 200 Wyth wyspes, and kexis, and ryschys there lyzt, To fetch hom ther husbandes, that were tham trouth plyzt;

And sum brozt gret harwos,

Ver., 179, razt, MS.-Ver. 185, stand, MS.-Ver. 189, sand, MS.-Ver. 199, Thys, MS.

Ther husbandes hom to fetch,

Sum on dores, and sum on hech,

Sum on hyrdyllys, and som on crech,
And sum on whele-barows.

205

Thay gaderyd Perkyn about, [on] everych syde,
And grant hym ther [the gre,] the more was hys pryde:
Tyb and he, wyth gret [mirth], homward con thay ryde,
And were al nyzt togedyr, tyl the morn tyde:
And thay [to church went:]

So wele hys nedys he has sped,
That dere Tyb he [hath] wed;
The prayse-folk that hur led,
Were of the Turnament.

211

215

To that ylk fest com many for the nones;
Some come hyphalte, and some trippand [thither] on

the stonys;

Sum a staf in hys hand, and sum two at onys;

Of sum were the hedes broken, of some the schulder bonys:

With sorrow come thay thedyr.

Wo was Hawkyn, wo was Herry,
Wo was Tomkyn, wo was Terry,
And so was all the bachelary,
When thay met togedyr.

1At that fest thay wer servyd with a ryche aray,
Every fyve & fyve had a cokenay;

220

225

Ver. 204, hom for to fetch, MS.-Ver. 208, about everych side, MS.-Ver. 209, the gre, is wanting in MS.-Ver. 210, mothe, MS.-Ver. 212, And thay ifere assent, MS.-Ver. 214, had wed, MS.-Ver. 215, The cheesemen, PC. -Ver. 218, trippand on, MS.

In the former impressions this concluding stanza was only given from Bedwell's printed edition, but it is here copied from the old MS. wherein it has been since found separated from the rest of the poem, by several pages of a money account, and other heterogeneous matter.

And so thay sat in jolyte al the lung day;

And at the last thay went to bed with ful gret deray:

Mekyl myrth was them among;

In every corner of the hous

Was melody delycyous

For to here precyus

Of six menys song.1

230

V.

FOR THE VICTORY AT AGINCOURT.

That our plain and martial ancestors could wield their swords much better than their pens, will appear from the following homely rhymes, which were drawn up by some poet laureate of those days to celebrate the immortal victory gained at Agincourt, Oct. 25, 1415. This song or hymn is given merely as a curiosity, and is printed from a MS. copy in the Pepys collection, vol. I. folio. It is there accompanied with the musical notes.

victoria!

Deo gratias, Anglia, redde pro
OWRE kynge went forth to Normandy,
With grace and myzt of chivalry;
The God for hym wrouzt marvelously,
Wherefore Englonde may calle, and cry

Deo gratias, Anglia, redde

5

He sette a sege, the sothe for to say,
To Harflue toune with ryal aray;
That toune he wan, and made a fray,
That Fraunce shall rywe tyl domes day.

Deo gratias, &c.

1 Six-men's song, i.e. a song for six voices. So Shakespeare uses 'Threeman song-men,' in his Winter's Tale, A. III. Sc. 3. to denote men that could sing catches composed for three voices. Of this sort are Weelkes's Madrigals mentioned below, Book II. Song 9. So again Shakesp. has Three-men beetle;' i.e. a beetle or rammer worked by three men. 2 Hen. IV. A. I. Sc. 3.