And therefore waited on him so,
As dwarfs upon knights errant do.
It was a serviceable dudgeon,"
Either for fighting or for drudging:"
When it had stabb'd, 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;

380

memnon with a dagger hanging near his sword, which he used instead of a knife. A gentleman producing some wine to his guests in small glasses, and saying it was sixteen years old; a person replied, it was very small for its age—ἐπιδόντος δέ τινος οἶνον ἐν ψυκτηριδίῳ μικρὸν, καὶ εἰπόντος ὅτι ἐκκαιδεκαέτης, μικρός γε, ἔφη, ὡς τοσέτων ετών. Iliad. Lib. iii. 271. Athenæus Ed. Casaubon. p. 584. and 585. lib. xiii. 289.

It was a serviceable dudgeon,] A dudgeon was a short sword, or dagger: from the Teutonic Degen, a sword.

• Either for fighting or for drudging:] That is for doing any drudgery-work, such as follows in the next verses.

Toast cheese or bacon,-] Corporal Nim says, in Shakespeare's Henry V. "I dare not fight, but I will wink, and hold out mine iron: it is a simple one, but what though—it will toast cheese."

66

It had been 'prentice to a brewer,] This was a common joke upon Oliver Cromwell, who was said to have been a partner in a brewery. It was frequently made the subject of lampoon during his life-time. In the collection of loyal songs, is one called the Protecting Brewer, which has these stanzas

A brewer may be as bold as a hector,
When as he had drunk his cup of nectar,
And a brewer may be a Lord Protector,
Which nobody can deny.

But left the trade, as many more

Have lately done, on the same score.
In th' holsters, at the 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.2
They were upon hard duty still,
And every night stood sentinel,

390

395

400

To guard the magazine i' th' hose,

From two-legg'd, and from four-legg'd foes.
Thus clad and fortify'd, Sir Knight,

From peaceful home, set forth to fight.

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.

But whether Oliver was really concerned in a brewery, at any period of his life, it is difficult to determine. Heath, one of his professed enemies, assures us, in his Flagellum, that there was no foundation for the report.

Colonel Pride had been a brewer: Colonel Hewson was first a shoemaker, then a brewer's clerk and Scott had been clerk to a brewer.

2 These would inveigle rats with th' scent, To forage when the cocks were bent ;

And sometimes catch them with a snap,

As cleverly as th' ablest trap.] These four lines were in the first editions, but afterwards left out in the author's copy.

But first, with nimble active force,
He got on th' outside of his horse:*
For having but one stirrup ty'd
This saddle, on the further side,
It was so short, h' had much ado
To reach it with his desp'rate toe.

405

410

But after many strains and heaves,

He got upon the saddle eaves,

From whence he vaulted into th' seat,

With so much vigour, strength, and heat,
That he had almost tumbled over

415

With his own weight, but did recover,

By laying hold on tail and mane,

Which oft he us'd instead of rein.

But now we talk of mounting steed, Before we further do proceed,

It doth behove us to say something

Of that which bore our valiant bumkin.
The beast was sturdy, large, and tall,
With mouth of meal, and eyes of wall;

420

He got on th' outside of his horse:] Nothing can be more completely droll, than this description of Hudibras mounting his horse. He had one stirrup tied on the off-side very short, the saddle very large; the knight short, fat, and deformed, having his breeches and pockets stuffed with black puddings and other provision, over-acting his effort to mount, and nearly tumbling over on the opposite side; his single spur, we may suppose, catching in some of his horse's furniture.

Of that which bore our valiant bumkin.]. A silly country fellow, or awkward stick of wood, from the Belg. boom, arbor, and ken, or kin, a diminutive.

I would say eye, for h' had but one,
As most agree, though some say none.
He was well stay'd, and in his gait,
Preserv'd a grave, majestic state.
At spur or switch no more he skipt,
Or mended pace, than Spaniard whipt:'
And yet so fiery, he would bound,
As if he griev'd to touch the ground:
That Cæsar's horse, who, as fame goes,
Had corns upon his feet and toes,
Was not by half so tender-hooft,
Nor trod upon the ground so soft:

5 At spur or switch no more he skipt,

6

5

425

430

435

Or mended pace, than Spaniard whipt :] This alludes to the story of a Spaniard, who was condemned to run the gantlet, and disdained to avoid any part of the punishment by mending his pace.

6 That Caesar's horse, who, as fame goes,

Had corns upon his feet and toes,] Suetonius relates, that the hoofs of Cæsar's horse were divided like toes. And again, Lycosthenes, de prodigiis et portentis, p. 214. has the following passage: "Julius Cæsar cum Lusitaniæ præesset-equus insignis, fissis un"guibus anteriorum pedum, et propemodum digitorum humanorum "natus est; ferox admodum, atque elatus: quem natum apud se,

cum auruspices imperium orbis terræ significare domino pronun"tiassent, magnâ curâ aluit; nec patientem sessoris alterius, primus "ascendit: cujus etiam signum pro Æde Veneris genetricis postea "dedicavit."-The statue of Julius Cæsar's horse, which was placed before the temple of Venus Genetrix, had the hoofs of the fore feet parted like the toes of a man. Montfaucon's Antiq. Vol. ii. p. 58.

In Havercamp's Medals of Christina, on the reverse of a coin of Gordianus Pius, pl. 34. is represented an horse with two human fore feet, or rather one a foot, the other a hand-Arion is said, by the scholiast, on Statius Theb. vi. ver. 301. to have had the feet of a man-humano vestigio dextri pedis.

And as that beast would kneel and stoop,
Some write, to take his rider up :7
So Hudibras his, 'tis well known,
Would often do, to set him down.

440

We shall not need to say what lack

Of leather was upon his back :

For that was hidden under pad,

And breech of Knight gall'd full as bad.
His strutting ribs on both sides show'd
Like furrows he himself had plow'd:

"And as that beast would kneel and stoop,

445

Some write, to take his rider up :] Stirrups were not in use in the time of Cæsar. Common persons, who were active and hardy, vaulted into their seats; and persons of distinction had their horses taught to bend down toward the ground, or else they were assisted by their strators or equerries. Q. Curtius mentions a remarkable instance of docility of the elephants in the army of king Porus : "Indus more solito elephantum procumbere jussit in genua; qui ut

se submisit, ceteri quoque, ita enim instituti erant, demisere cor"pora in terram." I know no writer who relates that Cæsar's horse would kneel; and perhaps Mr. Butler's memory deceived him. Of Bucephalus, the favoured steed of Alexander, it is said-" ille nec in dorso insidere suo patiebatur alium ; et regem, quum vellet ascendere, sponte sua genua submittens, excipiebat; credeba" turque sentire quem veheret." See also Diodor. Sicul. et Plutarch. de solert. animal. Mr. Butler, in his MS. common Place-book, applies the saddle to the right horse; for he says,

Like Bucephalus's brutish honour,

Would have none mount but the right owner.

Hudibras's horse is described very much in the same manner with that of Don Quixote's, lean, stiff, jaded, foundered, with a sharp ridge of bones. Rozinante, however, could boast of "mas quartos que un real"-an equivoque entirely lost in most translations. Quarto signifies a crack, or chop, in a horse's hoof or heel: it also signifies a small piece of money, several of which go to make a real.

66