The next that came was one of them, Was of the gentle craft,

And when that he was wet within,

Most heartily he laugh'd. Crispin was ne'er so boon as he,

Tho' some kin to a crown; And there he sat most merrily, With ale that was so brown.

But at the last a barber, he
A mind had for to taste,
He called for a pint of drink,
And said he was in haste;

The drink so pleased, he tarried there
Till he had lost a crown,
'Twas all the money he could spare,
For ale that is so brown.

A broom man, as he passed by,
His morning draught did lack;
Because that he no money had,

He pawn'd his shirt from 's back; And said that he without a shirt,

Would cry brooms up and down; "But yet," quoth he, "I'll merry be, With ale that is so brown."

But when all these together met,
Oh what discourse was there ;-

"Twould make one's hair to stand on end

To hear how they did swear!

One was a fool and puppy dog,

The other was a clown,

And there they sat and swill'd their guts

With ale that was so brown.

The landlady they did abuse,

And called her nasty whore;

Quoth she, "Do you your reckoning pay,

And get you out of door !"
Of them she could no money get,
Which caused her to frown;

But loath they were to leave behind
The ale that was so brown.

XLII.

THE EXCELLENCY OF WINE.

(From Ayres and Dialogues, by Henry Lawes. 1653, by Lord Broughill.)

'Tis wine that inspires,

And quencheth love's fires,

The first Book,

Teaches fools how to rule a state;

Maydes ne'er did approve it,

Because those that love it,

Dispise and laugh at their hate.

The drinkers of beer

Did ne'er yet appear

In matters of any weight;

'Tis he, whose designe

Is quicken'd by wine,

That raises things to their height.

Who then should it prize,

For never black eyes

9

Made wounds which this could not heale ;

Who then doth refuse

To drinke of this juice,

Is a foe to the Commonweale.

XLIII.

(Beloe's Anec. ii, 352: Wine, Beer, Ale, and Tobacco, contending for superiority. A Dialogue, 1658, in Garrick Collection.)

Wine.

I, jovial wine, exhilarate the heart.

March beer is a drink for a king.

Beer.

Ale.

But ale, bonny ale, with spice and a tost,

In the morning's a dainty thing.

Chorus. Then let us be merry, wash sorrow away; Wine, beer and ale shall be drunk to-day.

Wine. I, generous wine, am for the court,

Beer.

Ale.

The citie calls for beer.

But ale, bonny ale, like a lord of the soyl,
In the country shall domineer.

Chorus. Then let us be merry, wash sorrow away,

Wine, beer and ale shall be drunk to-day.

XLIV.

(From Hilton's Catch that catch can, 1652, pp. 92-3. By Mr. William Child.)

Ir any so wise is that sack he dispises,

Let him drink his smal beer and be sober;
Whilst we drink sack, and sing as if it were
Spring,

He shall drop like the trees in October.

But be sure, over night if this dog do you bite,
You take it henceforth for a warning,

Soon as out of your bed, to settle your head,
Take a hair of his tayl in the morning;

And be not so silly to follow old Lilly,

For there's nothing but sack that can tune us;
Let his ne-assuescas be put in his cap-case,
And sing bibito vinum jejunus.

XLV.

(Ibid. 77.)

Now God be with old Simeon,
For he made cans for many an one,
And a good old man was he;
And Jinkin was his journeyman,
And he could tipple off every can;

And thus he said to mee,

To whom drink you?
Sir knave, to you.

Then hey ho, jolly Jinkin,
I spy a knave in drinking,
Come trole the bole to mee.

Now God, &c.

XLVI.

THE JOLLY BACCHANAL.

(Chappell's Collection, ii, 64. From Walsh's British Musical Miscellany, vol. i, p. 92.)

LET'S tope and be merry, be jolly and cherry,
Since here is good wine, good wine;

Let's laugh at the fools that live by dull rules,

And at us good fellows repine,

And at us good fellows repine.

Here, here, are delights to amuse the dull nights,
And equal a man with a god;

To enliven the clay, drive all care away,

Without a man's but a clod.

Then let us be willing to spend t'other shilling,
Since money we know is but dirt;

It suits no design like paying for wine,

T'other bottle will do us no hurt.