Popular music of the olden time. A collection of ancient songs ...

EEIGNS OF JAMBS I. AND CHARLES I. 359
Desert is nice in its address,
And merit oft-times dotli oppress,
Beyond what guilt would do
But they are sure of their demands
That come to court with golden hands,
And brazen faces too.
The King, they say, doth still profess
To give his party some redress.
And courtiers find't their interest
In time to feather well their nest,
Providing for their fall.
Our comfort doth on time depend
Things, when they are at worst, will
_^ii^ let us but reflect [mend
On our condition th'other day.
When none but tyrants bore the sway.
And cherish honesty What, then, did we expect
But his good wishes prove in vain.
Meanwhile, a calm retreat is best
Whose service with his servant's gain
Not always doth agree.
All princes, be they ne'er so wise.
Are fain to see with others' eyes,
But seldom hear at all
^^t discontent, if not supprest.
-yV^ill breed disloyalty.
This is the constant note I sing,
I have been faithful to my Mng,
And so shall ever be.
3. Upon Sir John Suckling's 100 Horse. Contained in Le Prince dAmour, or
Tlie Prince of Love, 1660, p. 148. Sir John raised a magnificent regiment of
cavalry at his own expense (12,000/.), in
the beginning of our civil wars, which
became equally conspicuous for cowardice and finery. They rendered him the
subject of much ridicule ;
and although he had previously served in a campaign
under Gustavus Adolphus—during which he was present at three battles, five
sieges, and as many skirmishes—his military reputation did not escape.
" I tell thee, Jack, thou gav'st the King For ev'ry horse shall have on's back
So rare a present, that nothing A man as valiant as Sir Jack,
Could welcomer have been ;
Although not half so witty :
A hundred horse ! beshrew my heart. Yet I did hear the other day
It was a brave heroic part.
Two tailors made seven run away.
The like will scarce be seen.
Good faith, the more's the pity." &c.
There are seven stanzas, and then " An Answer " to it."'
4 and 5. A ballad on a Friend's Wedding, and Three Merry Boys of Kent,
in Folly in Print, or a Booh of Rhymes, 1667.
6. A new ballad, called The Chequers Inn, in Poems on State Affairs, iii. 57,
1704, It begins :— " I tell thee, Dick, where I have been,
\^1iere I the Parliament have seen," &c.
7. A Christmas Song, when the Rump Parliament was first dissolved, Loyal
Songs, ii. 99, 1731.
Besides these, there is one in Carey's Trivial Poems, 1651 ;
three in 180 Loyal
Songs, 1685 ; &c.
" The grace and elegance of Sir John Suckling's songs and ballads are inimitable."
" They have a touch," says Phillips, " of a gentle spirit, and seem
• These were not the only satires Sir John Suckling With a hundred horse, without remorse,
liad to bear. There were, at least, two others. One, to To keep ye from the foe
the tune of John Dory, begins—
No carpet knight ever went to flght
"Sir John got on a bonny brown beast, With half so much bravado ;
[the book.
To Scotland for to ride-a; Had you seen but his look, you would sweare by
A brave buff coat upon his back,
He'd ha' conquer'd the whole Armado."
And a short sword by his side-a." There are also two other versions of the latter ;
the one
The other
beginning, "Then as it fell out on a holiday," (see " Cen-
" Sir John got him an ambling nag, sura Literaria," vol. vi., p. 269) and the other in Percy's
To Scotland for to go, Reliques of Ancient Poetry, vol. ii., p. 326.