the pot or box in which chance forfeits were put; and the savings of servants and children were formerly deposited in what was termed the spare-pot. 20.—Over the water, over the lee, Hoev 'heer de waerder! hoev 'heer de lij! Farmer the bailiff (storekeeper)! Farmer the slave! Farmer the bailiff to Schaer-ley [the lazy gang; the monks]. Schaer-ley may thank the gospel and the being made a priest for all this; Schaer-ley may thank the Bible, burial-fees, and such as you for all this; Schaer-ley may thank the empty-headed clown (for that is the title he would call you by if he saw through you as thoroughly as I do). Schaer-ley, literally, the lazy gang, crew, assemblage; here as a token for the friarhood. Schaer, a multitude, a troop, a band, and the same word with the German schaer, and the Italian schiera. But this sobriquet was probably suggested by its close resemblance with the terms schaerlant, a sturdy vagabond, and schaerluyn, a scrub, scurra. Licht-heel, literally, completely wrong-headed, over-easy, sounds little. Als hu hiet (als hij u hiet), as he would name you, sounds as sweet. Als sij hij u gar kend je, if it should be that he was thoroughly acquainted with what you are, sounds as sugar-candy. 'S, 'es, des, for this, on this account. Wyne or wyine, is a contraction of wying, an admitting into holy orders, an ordaining, and sounds wine. Evidently a jeer upon the rusticks for being such convenient tools in the hands of the then priesthood. God is here, as the word of God, the Bible, and thus metaphorically for the tithes which are laid to the account of that book; and as that which, with pious donations and official fees, make up the revenue of the priest. God, sounds good. Waerder, overseer, sounds as we pronounce water. 21.-Ding dong bell, The cat's in the well. Little Johnny Green. What a naughty boy was that To drown poor pussy-cat, Who never did any harm, But kill'd the mice in his father's barn. Ding d' honig-beld, Die kaetst in de weld. Wie? hoe put heer in? Lij't 'el Je haen, Je Grijn. Wat! er nauwt je boei wo aes dat? Wo nijver dijdt ene arme Bat ghild hem eys in 'es vaders baen. It is the honey-bearing image that brings this revenue, it is this that affords all this wealth. How? in what way is it taken out? That curse to us all, the sneering bully (the monk). What hav'nt you always a pair of handcuffs ready for such a carrionrogue as that? At once make an example of the thorough-paced villain. While industry and hard work can alone avail the vassal-peasant, the idle pick-pocket-career of the monk affords him abun dance. D' honig-beld, the honey (money) making image refers to one of those once well known miracle-working figures, to which devotees flocked to deposit their en voto presents in its sanctuary, of which the priests were the pilferers. Je haen, Je Grijn, (Johnny Green) literally, ever a swaggerer, ever with a snecr on his face; and here, is meant as a nick-name for the monk, the sturdy impudent beggar who laughed in his sleeve at the folly of his dupes, while he bullied them by his threats if they were backward to give. Puur boose guit, a proper rascal, sounds poor pussy cat. Ghild, yield, sounds kill'd. Baen, path, sounds barn. Cat is the constant travesty of guit in all these purposely defaced lampoons. D' honig-beld is a sort of parody of the expression d' honig-bie, the honey making bee, and sounds dong-bell. Wie, who? Hoe, how. 22.-To bed, to bed, Says Sleepy-head: Toe bed, toe bed! S'eys Greytig-guit, Fiel's hope behoor wije-gauw. Harken to the begging one! to the begging one! says the one who has the care of the soul ever in hand (the priest). Hasten to me, says the man of law. Strip the dolt, says the greedy-rogue (the parish-priest); all a true bloodsucker has a right to expect must be allowed to be due of the holy sly-fox (the priest). The Pasquinade seems aimed at the three branches of the tonsured profession, viz. the friar, the lawyer, and the regular clergyman; and refers to the share which each takes in the pillage of the countryman's property. At the end, the regular clergyman is made to say, he thinks he is quite rogue enough to be entitled to the whole of the booty, and not to share with such inferior thieves as the other two are, in his eyes. Wijegauw, literally, the holy sly-one, seems to have been a popular nick-name for the officiating parish-priest. And the last line, as in most of these epigrams, contains the point of it. Bede, a voluntary contribution, a stated gift; and here implies the friar, as he who lives by that alone. S'eys, so eys, so commands. The word eys is used in the same sense by our old writers. Toe hare je, to her, to she, sounds tarry, and refers to Louwe, which is feminine. Fiels hope, the rogue's expectation, reliance, sounds we'ill sup. Behoor, belongs, sounds before, h and f being aspirates. Siel hij op je hued, is literally he who is ever on the watch to keep the soul safe, and here meant as an ironical sobriquet for the Monk. 23.-Hush-a-by baby, on the tree top When the wind blows the cradle will rock, Heesch er by Paepe! Aen de tiere top! Don't spare them, priest! Storm at them in your best style! When the farmer is pushed and holds back his tithe, the priest roars out stoutly, this is all a pretence! When the harvest is a complete failure, he roars out, it is all owing to your negligence! Provisions fall short in the farmer's home, and the tithe is behind-hand, the priest roars out, I've an execution to put in your house. The first line of this lampoon is a sneering apostrophe addressed to the tithe-coercing rector. The rest a scenic detail of his intercourse with his parishioners. Tiere, raving, rage, and sounds tree, the r was formerly placed indifferently, by our writers, either before or after the vowel. Kraeyt hel, cries out in a decided tone, sounds cradle. Toe hun, at their house, chez eux, appreso di loro, sounds down. Paepe, priest, sounds baby. Aentael, a judgment, a writ, an indictment, sounds and all. Er is always travestied by a, which it sounds. 24.—As I was going to sell my eggs, I met a man with bandy legs, Bandy legs and crooked toes. I tripped up his heels and he fell on his nose. Als Ei! wasse goên toe celle meê egg's! Ei! tript op ijs' ijls, end hij fel aen hys noose! Alas! let it so be, that the prospect of bettering his condition may mix itself up with the poor man's call to the cloister! Alas! tell me, if you can, of any human condition so wretched as that of the condition of the bondaged layman! Of one who is the bondaged layman, whose whole possession is the staff in his hand! Alas! though he has subdued the fear of coming to want by what he has done, he is maddened by others he could not foresee in the state he has entered into for life. Bundig, bondaged, in a state of vassallage, slavery, sounds bandy. Leeck, layman, sounds leg. Kruck may be either as the poor man's staff or as the shepherd's crook. This composition is in the form of an ironical banter upon the fortuneless rustick, who takes holy orders to enter into some monkish establishment, that he may escape the miseries of vassallage and constant labour; and it concludes by remarking that, after all, the change is only from the frying-pan into the fire. Toe's, toe is, all he has in the world, and sounds toes. Hys, the Anglo-Saxon form for his. The moral seems to be, that the miseries of the monk's life were not discovered by the neophyte dupe till too late; and these were so numerous that the hard working vassal, after all, lost by exchanging his condition for the other; and is thus, dissuasive from taking orders by the peasantry. 25.-Girls and boys come out to play, The moon does shine as bright as day, Come with a whistle, come with a call, Keerles end boers, kom houde toe pleê; Liev uwer sop heer, end liev uwer sluijpe! |