"And I thyrtene pence a day," said the quene,
By God, and by my fay;
Come feche thy payment when thou wylt,
No man shall say the nay."
"Wyllyam, I make the a gentleman
Of clothyng, and of fe:
And thy two brethren, yemen of my chambre,
For they are so semely to se.
"Your sonne, for he is tendre of age,
Of my wyne-seller he shall be;
And when he cometh to man's estate,
Better avaunced shall he be."
"And, Wyllyam, bringe me your wife," said the quene,
"Me longeth her sore to se:
She shall be my chefe gentlewoman,
To governe my nurserye."
The yemen thanked them all curteously.
"To some byshop wyl we wend,
Of all the synnes, that we have done,
To be assoyld at his hand."
So forth be gone these good yemen,
As fast as they might he;[8]
And after came and dwelled with the kynge,
And dyed good men all thre.
Thus endeth the lives of these good yemen;
God send them eternal blysse;
And all, that with a hand-bowe shoteth:
That of heven may never mysse. Amen.
NOTES
- Bottles formerly were of leather; though perhaps a wooden bottle might be here
meant. It is still a diversion in Scotland to hang up a cat in a small cask, or firkin, half
filled with soot: and then a parcel of clowns on horseback try to beat out the ends of
it, in order to show their dexterity in escaping before the contents fall upon them. - i.e. Each with a canvas bow-case tied round his loins.
- Clym of The Clough means Clem (Clement) of the Cliff: for so Clough signifies in
the north. - See Gloss.
5.i.e.weened, thought, (which last is the reading of the folio manuscript,) Calais or
Rouen, was taken from the English by showing the governor, who could not read, a
letter with the king's seal, which was all he looked at.
- So Ascham in hisToxophilusgives a precept: "The stringe must be rounde:" (p.
149, ed. 1761.) otherwise, we may conclude from mechanical principles, the arrow
will not fly true.