Oh! is there not, grim mortal, tell,

Places of bliss and woe?

Oh! is there not a heaven, a hell?
But whither wilt thou go?

Can nought change thy obdurate mind?
Wilt thou for ever rail?

The prophet on thee well refined,
And set thy wit to sale.

How thou art lost to sense and shame
Three countries witness be;

Thy conduct all just men do blame,
Libera nos Domine!

Dame Justice waits thee, well I ween,
Her sword is brandish'd high;

Nought can thee from her vengeance screen,
Nor canst thou from her fly.

Heavy her ire will fall on thee,
The glittering steel is sure:
Sooner or later, all agree,
She cuts off the impure.
To her I leave thee, gloomy peer,
Think on thy crimes committed;
Repent, and be for once sincere,

Thou ne'er wilt be De-Witted.

121

DOWN-HALL 1.

A BALLAD.

To the Tune of King John, and the Abbot of Canterbury.'

WRITTEN IN THE YEAR 1715.

I SING not old Jason who travell'd through Greece
To kiss the fair maids and possess the rich fleece;
Nor sing I Æneas, who, led by his mother,
Got rid of one wife and went far for another,
Derry down, down, hey derry down.
Nor him who through Asia and Europe did roam,
Ulysses by name, who ne'er cared to go home;
But rather desired to see cities and men,

[Pen. Than return to his farms, and converse with old Derry down, &c.

Hang Homer and Virgil; their meaning to seek, A man must have poked into Latin and Greek; Those who love their own tongue, we have reason to hope,

Have read them translated by Dryden and Pope; Derry down, &c.

But I sing of exploits that have lately been done By two British heroes call'd Matthew and John',

1 Down Hall is situated three miles S. E. from Hatfield Broad Oak Church, in Essex, and was purchased jointly by Prior and Lord Harley, to whom it wholly reverted on the death of the poet.

2 Matthew Prior, and John Morley, of Halstead, in Essex, bred a butcher, but accounted one of the greatest landjobbers in England. In honour of his profession he annually killed a hog, in the public market, and took a groat for it. He died 1732.

And how they rid friendly from fine London town, Fair Essex to see, and a place they call Down, Derry down, &c.

Now ere they went out, you may rightly suppose How much they discoursed both in prudence and prose:

For before this great journey was thoroughly concerted,

Full often they met, and as often they parted;

Derry down, &c.

And thus Matthew said, 'Look you here, my friend
I fairly have travell'd years thirty-and-one, [John,
And though I still carried my Sovereign's warrants,
I only have gone upon other folks' errands;
Derry down, &c.

And now in this journey of life I would have [grave,
A place where to bait 'twixt the court and the
Where joyful to live, not unwilling to die.'-
'Gadzooks, I have just such a place in my eye,
Derry down, &c.

'There are gardens so stately, and arbours so thick, A portal of stone, and a fabric of brick;

The matter next week shall be all in your power; But the money, Gadzooks, must be paid to an hour; Derry down, &c.

'For things in this world must by law be made cerWe both must repair unto Oliver Martin3, [tain; For he is a lawyer of worthy renown!

I'll bring you to see; he must fix you at Down.' Derry down, &c.

3 of the Middle Temple, who was employed by the parties as conveyancer. See Prior's Will.

Quoth Matthew, I know that from Berwick to

Dover,

You've sold all our premises over and over;
And now if your buyers and sellers agree,
You may throw all our acres into the South-sea,
Derry down, &c.

But a word to the purpose; to-morrow, dear friend,
We'll see what to-night you so highly commend;
And if with a garden and house I am bless'd,
Let the devil and Coningsby go with the rest,'
Derry down, &c.

4

Then answer'd Squire Morley, 'Pray, get a calash, That in summer may burn, and in winter may splash'; I love dirt and dust; and 'tis always my pleasure To take with me much of the soil that I measure,' Derry down, &c.

But Matthew thought better, for Matthew thought right,

And hired a chariot so trim and so tight, [pass; That extremes both of winter and summer might For one window was canvass, the other was glass, Derry down, &c.

'Draw up,' quoth friend Matthew; 'pull down,' quoth friend John,

'We shall be both hotter and colder anon :'
Thus talking and scolding they forward did speed,
And Ralpho paced by under Newman the Swede,
Derry down, &c.

Into an old inn did this equipage roll,

At a town they call Hodsdon, the sign of the Bull,

4 Lord Coningsby, with whom he had differed. See the preceding Ballad of the Viceroy.

Nearanymph with an urn, that divides the highway,
And into a puddle throws mother of tea,
Derry down, &c.

'Come here, my sweet landlady; pray,how d'ye dos?
Where is Cicely so cleanly, and Prudence, and Sue?
And where is the widow that dwelt here below?
And the hostler that sung about eight years ago?
Derry down, &c.

And where is your sister, so mild and so dear? Whose voice to her maids like a trumpet was clear." 'By my troth,' she replies, 'you grow younger, I

think.

And pray, sir, what wine does the gentleman drink? Deny down, did.

first:

Why now let me di si or live upon trust,
If I know to which question to answer you
Why things since I saw you, most strangely have

varied

The hostler is hang, and the widow is married; Derry down, &c.

'And Prue left a child for the parish to nurse; And Cicely went off with a gentleman's purse; As to my sister, so mild and so dear,

She has lain in the church-yard full many a year;' Derry down, &c.

Well, peace to her ashes; what signifies grief? She roasted red veal, and she powder'd lean beef; Full nicely she knew to cook up a fine dish, For tough were her pullets, and tender her fish ;' Derry down, &c.

5 This is Mr. Morley's address to the hostess.