SONG XLII.

THE GOSSIPS.

Two gossips they merrily met,

At nine in the morning full soon; And they were resolv'd for a whet,

To keep their sweet voices in tune. Away to the tavern they went;

Here Joan, I vow and protest, "That I have a crown yet unspent,

* Come let's have a cup of the best.'

* And I have another, perhaps

"A piece of the very same sort; “Why should we sit thrumming of caps,

• Come, drawer, and fill us a quart! * And let it be liquor of life,

• Canary, or sparkling wine ! * For I am a buxom young wife,

"And I love to go gallant and fine.'

The drawer, as blithe as a bird,

Came skipping with cap in his hand, 'Dear ladies, I give you my word,

* The best shall be at your command.' A quart of canary he drew,

Joan fill’d up a glass and begun, 'Here gossip's a bumper to you :'

* I'll pledge you, girl, were it a tun.'

* And, pray gossip, did'nt you hear

The common report of the town? “A squire of five hundred a year

‘Is married to Doll of the Crown : “A draggle-tail'd slut, on my word,

‘Her clothes hanging ragged and foul ; * In troth he would fain have a bird,

- That would give a groat for an owl.

* And she had a sister last year,

· Whose name they call'd Galloping Peg; . • She'd take up a straw with her ear,

'I warrant her right as my leg ! 'A brewer he got her with child,

But e'en let them brew as they bake; 'I knew she was wanton and wild,

‘But I'll neither meddle nor make.'

* Nor I, gossip Joan, by my troth,

• Though nevertheless I've been told, * She stole seven yards of broad cloth,

A ring and a locket of gold ; * A smock and a new pair of shoes ;

'A flourishing madam was she :' But Margery told me the news,

And it ne'er shall go further for me.

• We were at a gossiping club,

* Where we had a chirruping cup, • Of good humming liquor, strong bub!

'Your husband's name there it was up, • For bearing a powerful sway,

* All neighbours his valour have seen ;

· For he is a cuckold they say,

A constable, gossip, I mean.

* Dear gossip, a slip of the tongue,

“No harm was intended in mind :
'Chance words they will mingle among

Our others, we commonly find.
• I hope you won't take it amiss.'-

'No, no, that were folly in us ;
And if we perhaps get a kiss,
· Pray what are our husbands the worse ?'

SONG XLIII.

OF AN OLD COURTIER AND A NEW.

With an old song made by an old ancient pate,
Of an old worshipful gentleman, who had a great estate,
Who kept an old house at a bountiful rate,
And an old porter to relieve the poor at his gate;

Like an old courtier of the queen's,
[And the queen's old courtier.]

With an old lady, whose anger one good word assuages, Who every quarter pays her old servants their wages, Who never knew what belongs to coachmen, footmen,

and pages, But kept twenty thrifty old fellows with blue coats and

badges;
Like an old courtier, &c.

With an old study fill'd full of learned old books,
With an old reverend parson, you may judge him by his

looks, With an old buttery-hatch, worn quite off the old hooks,

cooks; Like an old, &c.

With an old hall, hung about with guns, pikes, and bows, With old swords, and bucklers, which have borne many

shrewd blows, And an old frisado coat, to cover his worship’s trunk

hose, And a cup of old sherry, to comfort his copper nose ;

Like an old, &c.

With an old fashion, when Christmas is come,
To call in his neighbours with bagpipe and drum,
And good cheer enough to furnish every old room,
And old liquor, able to make a cat speak, and a wise man

dumb;
Like an old, &c.

With an old huntsman, a falconer, and a kennel of hounds, Which never hunted, nor hawked, but in his own grounds, Who, like an old wise man, kept himself within his own

bounds, And when he died, gave every child a thousand old

pounds ;
Like an old, &c.

But to his eldest son his house and land he assign'd, Charging him in his will to keep the same bountiful

mind,

To be good to his servants, and to his neighbours kind :
But in the ensuing ditty you shall hear how he was in-

clin'd;
Like a young courtier of the king's,
[And the king's young courtier.]

Like a young gallant, newly come to his land,
Who keeps a brace of creatures at his own command,
And takes up a thousand pounds upon his own band,
And lieth drunk in a new tavern, till he can neither go

nor stand ;
Like a young, &c.

With a neat lady, that is fresh and fair,
Who never knew what belong'd to good housekeeping,

nor care, But buys several fans to play with the wanton air, And seventeen or eighteen dressings of other women's

hair ; Like a young, &c.

With a new hall, built where the old one stood,
Wherein is burned neither coal nor wood,
And a new shovel-board table whereon never meat stood;
Hung round with pictures, which doth the poor little good.

Like a young, &c.

With a new study, stuff d full of pamphlets and plays, With a new chaplain, that swears faster than he prays, With a new buttery-hatch, that opens once in four or five

days, With a new French cook, to devise kick-shaws and toys;

For the young, &c.