This b'ing profess'd, we hope's enough,
And now go on where we left off.
the left side of the moon; and on the same left side of the moon may be seen Crowdero, as drawn in
but in order to compare them with their prototypes, the
They rode, but authors having not
Determin'd whether pace or trot,
(This is to say, whether tollutation,
As they do term't, or succussation,)
We leave it, and go on, as now
Suppose they did, no matter how:
Yet some from subtle hints have got
Mysterious light it was a trot.
As Indian Britons were from penguins.
So let them be: as I was saying,
They their live engines ply'd, not staying
Until they reach'd the fatal champain,
Which th' enemy did then incamp on :
The dire Pharsalian plain, where battle
Was to be wag'd'twixt puissant cattle,
And fierce auxiliary men,
That came to aid their brethren;
map in the frontispiece is to be viewed in its proper state, that is, with the north uppermost, and not upside down, as it was for the figures of Hudibras and Ralph.
Who now began to take the field,
As knight from ridge of steed beheld.
For as our modern wits behold,
Mounted a pick-back on the old,
Much farther off; much farther he,
Rais'd on his aged beast, could see:
Yet not sufficient to descry
All postures of the enemy;
Wherefore he bids the squire ride further,
T'observe their numbers, and their order;
That, when their motions he had known,
He might know how to fit his own.
Mean while he stopp'd his willing steed,
To fit himself for martial deed:
Both kinds of metal he prepar'd,
Either to give blows, or to ward;
Courage and steel, both of great force,
Prepar❜d for better or for worse.
His death-charg'd pistols he did fit well,
Drawn out from life-preserving vittle.
These being prim'd, with force he labour'd
To free's sword from retentive scabbard :
78. The rate of going of the Squire's horse (vide the figure of Ralph, No. 8, ante), seems to be faster than that of the Knight's; which may justify the idea of his appearing to go farther.
And, after many a painful pluck,
From rusty durance he bail'd tuck.
Then shook himself, to see that prowess
In scabbard of his arms sat loose;
And rais'd upon his desp'rate foot,
On stirrup-side he gaz'd about,
Portending blood, like blazing star,
The beacon of approaching war.
Ralpho rode on with no less speed
Than Hugo in the forest did:
But far more in returning made;
For now the foe he had survey'd,
Rang'd, as to him they did appear,
With van, main battle, wings, and rear.
I' th' head of all this warlike rabble,
Crowdero march'd, expert and able.
Instead of trumpet and of drum,
That makes the warrior's stomach come,
Whose noise whets valour sharp, like beer
By thunder turn'd to vinegar;
(For if a trumpet sound, or drum beat,
Who has not a month's mind to combat?)
A squeaking engine he apply'd,
Unto his neck, or north-east side,
Just where the hangman does dispose,
To special friends, the knot of noose;
For 'tis great grace, when statesmen strait
Dispatch a friend, let others wait.
His warped ear hung o'er the strings,
Which was but souse to chitterlings:
For guts, some write, ere they are sodden,
Are fit for music, or for pudden :
From whence men borrow ev'ry kind
Of minstrelsy, by string or wind.
His grisly beard was long and thick,
With which he strung his fiddle-stick;
For he to horse-tail scorn'd to owe,
For what on his own chin did grow.
Chiron, the four-legg'd bard, had both
A beard and tail of his own growth;
And yet by authors 'tis averr'd,
He made use only of his beard.
In Staffordshire, (where virtuous worth
Does raise the minstrelsy, not birth;
Where bulls do choose the boldest, king
And ruler, o'er the men of string;
(As once in Persia, 'tis said,
Kings were proclaim'd by horse that neigh'd);)
He bravely vent' ring at a crown,
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