Then he pull'd out a farthing fine, The table where they both did dine, And who shall this marriage make? What shall we have to our supper? And now when supper they were at, Then came in sly Gib, our cat, And catch'd the mouse even by the back. This made them all to separate; And the frog leap'd on the floor so flat. Then came in gobble Dick, our drake, Our lord the rat ran up the wall, A goodly company, the devil go with all! The above Ballad is collated with another copy noted down from recitation. This may have been a satire of the olden times, but against what or whom, it is now immaterial to know, or perhaps a nursery chant. The modern Ballad, "Rowley would a wooing go," is a happy imitation of the foregoing. RAVENSCROFT'S MELISMata. A WOOING SONG OF A YEOMAN OF KENT'S SON. FROM COUNTRY PASTIMES. I have house and land in Kent, And if you'll love me, love me now; I cannot come every day to woo. I am my father's eldest son, My mother eke doth love me well; My father he gave me a hog, My mother she gave me a sow; One time, I gave thee a paper Another time, a tawdry lace; of pins, And if thou wilt not grant me love, I have been twice our Whitsun lord, 67 I will put on my best white slope, Wherefore, cease off, make no delay, For I cannot come every day to woo. For he cannot come every day to woo. We are inclined to hazard a conjecture, that the above "Wooing Song" is the parent stem of our goodly Scottish piece, "I hae laid a herring in saut;" and that the air of the latter has been altered a little by some skilful hand from that of the Wooing Song, and now is by every one called a standard Scottish tune, when in reality it is an English one, as any amateur may satisfy himself, by running over the bars of the one after the other, in Song 22, of the "Melismata;" even the Songs, in some points, bearing a resemblance, independent of the terminal lines of the first and concluding stanzas of the English set of words. We never have seen that old Scottish Ballad alluded to by Lord Hales, in notes to his Selections from the Bannatyne M. S. which seems to be the primary Scottish version of the same; but those who have, may compare the twain, and see how far they resemble each other. One stanza quoted by his Lordship is the following: "I ha a wie lairdschip down in the Merse, The nynetenth pairt of a gusse's gerse, And I wo' na cum every day to wow." BECKLER. THE PRETTY PET. A blythe and bonnie country lass, Heigh-ho, bonnie lass, Sat sighing on the tender grass, And weeping said, Will none come woo me? A smicker boy, a lither swain, Heigh-ho, lither swain, That in his love was wanton fain, With smiling looks came straight unto her. When as the wanton wench espied, The means to make herself a bride, His arms about her body twined, And, Fair lass, how fare ye? Well. The country kit said, well forsooth, But that I have a longing tooth, A longing tooth that makes me cry. A wound, quoth she, without relief, If that be all, the shepherd said, He makes thee wife it, gentle maid, 69 Hereon they kiss'd with many an oath, And 'fore god Pan did plight their troth, And God send every pretty pet, That fears to die of this conceit, BECKLER-1621. PHILLIDA AND CORYDON. In the merry month of May, Much ado there was, God wot! He said, he had lov'd her long: Corydon would kiss her then, She said, maids must kiss no men, |