I'll send for Grime and force him give his grant: He will not deny King Edward such a suit.

Enter JENKIN.

Jen. Ho, who saw a master of mine? O, he is gotten into company, an a body should rake hell for company.

Geo. Peace, ye slave ! see where King Edward is. K. Edw. George, what is he?

Geo. I beseech your grace pardon him; he is my man.

King James at Middleham-castle gave me this; This won the honour, and this give I thee. [Gives sword to K. EDW.

K. Edw. Godamercy, Musgrove, for this friendly gift;

And for thou fell'dst a king with this same

weapon,

This blade shall here dub valiant Musgrove knight. Mus. Alas, what hath your highness done? I

am poor.

K. Edw. To mend thy living take thou Middleham-castle,

Jen. Hath he so? kneel; I dub you gentlemen. First Shoe. Beg it of the king, Jenkin.

Jen. I will. I beseech your worship grant me one thing.

K. Edw. What is that?
Jen. Hark in your ear.

[Whispers K. EDW. in the ear.
K. Edw. Go your ways, and do it.
Jen. Come, down on your knees, I have got it.
First Shoe. Let us hear what it is first.

Jen. Marry, because you have drunk with the king, and the king hath so graciously pledged you, you shall be no more called Shoemakers; but you and yours, to the world's end, shall be called the trade of the Gentle Craft.

First Shoe. I beseech your majesty reform this which he hath spoken.

Jen. I beseech your worship consume this which he hath spoken.

K. Edw. Confirm it, you would say.Well, he hath done it for you, it is sufficient.— Come, George, we will go to Grime, and have thy love.

Jen. I am sure your worship will abide; for yonder is coming old Musgrove and mad Cuddy his son.-Master, my fellow Wily comes drest like a woman, and Master Grime will marry Wily. Here they come.

complain,

Thou shalt have more to maintain thine estate.-
George, which is thy love?

Geo. This, if please your majesty.
K. Edw. Art thou her aged father?
Grime. I am, an it like your majesty.

K. Edw. And wilt not give thy daughter unto
George?

Grime. Yes, my lord, if he will let me marry With this lovely lass.

K. Edw. What say'st thou, George?

Geo. With all my heart, my lord, I give consent. Grime. Then do I give my daughter unto George. Wily. Then shall the marriage soon be at an end. Witness, my lord, if that I be a woman;

[Throws off his disguise. For I am Wily, boy to George-a-Greene, Who for my master wrought this subtle shift. K. Edw. What, is it a boy?-What say'st thou to this, Grime?

Grime. Marry, my lord, I think this boy hath More knavery than all the world besides. Yet am I content that George shall both have My daughter and my lands.

K. Edw. Now, George, it rests I gratify thy

worth :

And therefore here I do bequeath to thee,
In full possession, half that Kendal hath;
And what as Bradford holds of me in chief,
I give it frankly unto thee for ever.
Kneel down, George.

Geo. What will your majesty do?
K. Edw. Dub thee a knight, George.
Geo. I beseech your grace, grant me one thing.
K. Edw. What is that?

Middleham-castle] Grose in his Antiq. of England and Wales, vol. iv. gives two views of this castle, and is at the trouble to inquire what foundation the present play has on history: well might Ritson (Robin Hood, vol. i. p. xxix.) sneer at "his very gravely sitting down and debating his opinion in form."

The hold of both, &c.] Corrupted.

Geo. Then let me live and die a yeoman still:

So was my father, so must live his son. For 'tis more credit to men of base degree,

To do great deeds, than men of dignity.

K. Edw. Well, be it so, George.

me,

And set down my ransom.

with divers of his adherents, as, the Lord Bouteil, Sir Gilbert Armestrong, and others. These

Hia ransom.

Geo. I beseech your grace pardon me;

It passeth my skill.

K. Edw. Do it, the honour's thine.

Geo. Then let King James make good Those towns which he hath burnt upon the bor ders;

Give a small pension to the fatherless,
Whose fathers he caus'd murder'd in those wars;
Put in pledge for these things to your grace,
And so return.

K. Edu. King James, are you content? *
K. James. I am content, an like your majesty,
And will leave good castles in security.

K. Edw. I crave no more.-Now, George-a-
Greene,

I'll to thy house; and when I have supt,
I'll go to Ask,

And see if Jane-a-Barley be so fair

As good King James reports her for to be.
And for the ancient custom of Vail staff,
Keep it still, claim privilege from me:
If any ask a reason why or how,

Say, English Edward vail'd his staff to you.

[Exeunt.

Specimen of The History of George-a-Greene, on which the preceding play is founded: see p. 254; and the Account of our author and his writings, p. 33.

"Richard having settled his affairs, he prepar'd for a voyage to the Holy Land, in conjunction with Philip the Second, then king of France. During his absence he constituted the bishop of Ely, then chancellor of England, vicegerent of the kingdom. This bishop being on the one side covetous, and by many unjust impositions oppressing the nation, and the king's brother ambitious on the other, as presuming much upon his royal birth and his great possessions, some per

King James, are you content?] The 4to. gives these words to George-a-Greene.

sand malecontents, made publick proclamation, that they came into the field for no other cause, but to purchase their country-men's liberty, and to free them from the great and insufferable oppression which they then liv'd under by the prince and prelate. This drew to the earl many followers for the present, so that he seemed to have got together a very potent army. But the main reason of this rebellion was, that when the earl was but a child, a wizard had prophesy'd of him, That Richard and he should meet in London, and the king should there vail his bonnet unto him and this prediction of the sooth-sayer prov'd afterwards to be true, but not as he vainly had expounded it. The earl having led his army into the north, struck a great terror into all those honest subjects, that tender'd their allegiance to their absent king and sovereign, and wish'd well to the good of the commonwealth and the safety of the kingdom; yet many were forced through fear to supply his men with necessary provisions, lest otherwise they should have made spoil and havock of all they had. Now, the earl being for some time destitute of many things that are useful and commodious for an army, and encamping some five miles from the town of Wakefield, the three confederates drew a commission, and, having sign'd it with their own seals, sent it by one Mannering, a servant of the earl's, to the bailiff and towns-men of Wakefield, requiring seemingly, by way of intreaty, to send unto his host such a quantity of provision, of corn and, cattle, with other necessaries (of which he was then in great want), and withal, such a sum of money as he demanded for the payment of so many soldiers; to which this Mannering was to perswade them by all fair means possible; but, if they should deny his request, he was to threaten

them with fire and sword, with all the violence that could be suggested to them. The news of this commission coming to their knowledge, the bailiff sent abroad to the neighbouring justices, as, to Mr. Grymes and others; so that he and his brethren appointed to give them a meeting in the town-house, where many of the commons were

to be present, and, amongst others, George A Green purposed to be there, to hear what would become of the business. The summons being made, the assembly met, and the messenger appear'd, show'd his warrant, and, according to his orders, told them what great conveniencies would grow in supplying the army, and withal entreated from the lords their love and favour. The bailiff and the justices were loth, it being contrary to their allegiance to grant their request: yet they were fearful withal peremptorily to deny it, and stood wavering long and debating amongst themselves what they had best do for their own safeties; which Mannering seeing, without doing any reverence at all unto the bench, he began to alter his phrases, and changed the copy of his countenance, first taunting and deriding their fainthearted cowardize, and afterward threatening them, that if they gave not present satisfaction to his demand, the army would instantly remove, make havock and spoil of their goods and chattels, ravish their daughters, and deflower their wives before their faces, and make a bonfire of the town, to the terrifying of others, whose insolence durst oppose the earl his master's commission. At this [these] haughty and insufferable menaces, whilst the bench sate quaking, George presseth forward in the face of the court, and desireth, by the favour of the bench, to have the liberty, according to his plain and weak understanding, to give the messenger an answer; which being granted him, he boldly stept up to him, and demanded his name; who made him answer, that his name was Mannering. Mannering (saith he); that name was ill bestow'd on one who can so forget all manners, as to stand cover'd before a bench upon which the majesty of his sovereign was represented: which manners (saith he) since thou wantest, I will teach thee; and withal, first snatching his bonnet from his head, trod upon it, then spurn'd it before him. At which the other being inraged, ask'd him, How he durst to offer that violence to one who brought so strong a commission? Your commission (saith George), I cry your [you] mercy, sir; and withal, desired the favour of the bench, that he might have the liberty to peruse it; which being granted, I, marry, (saith he, having read it,) I cannot chuse but submit myself to this authority; and making an offer as if he meant to kiss it, tore it in pieces. Mannering seeing this, began to stamp, stare, and swear; but George taking him fast by the collar, so shook him as if he had purposed to have made all his bones loose in his skin, and drawing

his dagger, and pointing it to his bosom, told him, He had devised physick to purge his cholerick blood; and gathering up the three seals, told him, It was these three pills which he must instantly take and swallow, and [or] never more expect to return to his master; nor did he leave him, or take the dagger from his breast, till he had seen it down, and afterwards, when he had perceiv'd that they had almost choak'd him, he call'd for a bottle of ale, and said these words: It shall never be said, that a messenger shall be sent by such great persons to the town of Wakefield, and that none would be so kind as to make him drink; therefore here (saith he), Mannering, is a health to the confusion of the traitor thy master, and all his rebellious army; and pledge it me without evasion or delay, or I vow, by the allegiance which I owe to my prince and sovereign, that thou hast drunk thy last already. Maunering, seeing there was no remedy, and feeling the wax still sticking in his throat, drank it off supernaculum; which the other seeing, Now (saith he) commend me to thy master and the rest, and tell them, one George A Green, no better man than the Pindar of the town of Wakefield, who tho' I have torn their commission, yet I have sent them their seals safe back again by their servant. Whatsoever Mannering thought, little was he heard to speak, but went away muttering the devil's Pater Noster, and so left them. Every body commended the resolution of George, and, by his sole encouragement, purposed henceforward to oppose themselves against the insur. rection of the rebels."-Thoms's Early Romances, vol. ii. p. 174, ed. 1858.

BALLAD." The Jolly Pinder of Wakefield, with Robin Hood, Scarlet, and John. "FROM an old black letter copy in A. à Wood's collection, compared with two other copies in the British Museum, one in black letter. It should be sung To an excellent tune,' which has not been recovered.

"Several lines of this ballad are quoted in the two old plays of the Downfall' and 'Death of Robert earle of Huntington,' 1601, 4to. b. 1. but acted many years before. It is also alluded to in Shakspeare's Merry Wives of Windsor, Act. 1. sc. 1. and again in his Second part of K. Henry IV. Act. V. sc. 3.

"In Wakefield there lives a jolly pinder,
In Wakefield all on a green,
In Wakefield all on a green:

There is neither knight nor squire, said the pindèr,

Nor baron that is so bold,

Nor baron that is so bold,

Dare make a trespass to the town of Wakefield, But his pledge goes to the pinfold, &c.

All this be heard three witty young men, 'Twas Robin Hood, Scarlet, and John; With that they espy'd the jolly pinder,

As he sat under a thorn.

Now turn again, turn again, said the pinder,
For a wrong way you have gone;
For you have forsaken the kings highway,
And made a path over the corn.

O that were a shame, said jolly Robin,
We being three, and thou but one.

The pinder leapt back then thirty good foot, 'Twas thirty good foot and one.

He leaned his back fast unto a thorn,
And his foot against a stone,

And there he fought a long summers day,
A summers day so long,

Till that their swords on their broad bucklers
Were broke fast into their hands.

Hold thy hand, hold thy hand, said bold Robin Hood, And my merry men every one;

For this is one of the best pinders, That ever I tryed with sword.

And wilt thou forsake thy pinders craft,
And live in the green-wood with me?
'At Michaelmas next my cov'nant comes out,
When every man gathers his fee;

Then I'le take my blew blade all in my hand,
And plod to the green-wood with thee.'

Hast thou either meat or drink, said Robin Hood,
For my merry men and me?

I have both bread and beef, said the pinder,
And good ale of the best.

And that is meat good enough, said Robin Hood,
For such unbidden 'guests.'*

O wilt thou forsake the pinder his craft,
And go to the green-wood with me?
Thou shalt have a livery twice in the year,
The one green, the other brown.'

'If Michaelmas day was come and gone,
And my master had paid me my fee,
Then would I set as little by him
As my master doth by me.""

Ritson's Robin Hood, vol. ii. p. 16.

*quests'] Qy., rather, 'guest' [a plural]?