66

Then give me leave, nobles and gentles, each one,

One song more to sing and I then have done;

And if that it may not win good report, Then do not give me a groat for my sport.

66

Sir Simon de Montfort my subject shall be,

Once chief of all the great barons was he;

Yet fortune so cruel this lord did abase, Now lost and forgotten are he and his

66

race.

When the barons in arms did King Henry oppose,

Sir Simon de Montfort their leader they chose;

A leader of courage undaunted was

he,

And ofttimes he made their enemies

flee.

66

At length in the battle on Evesham

plain,

The barons were routed, and Montfort was slain;

Most fatal that battle did prove unto thee,

Though thou wast not born then, my pretty Bessie!

66

Along with the nobles that fell at

that tide,

[his side, His eldest son Henry, who fought by Was felled by a blow he received in the fight,

A blow that deprived him for ever of sight.

66

Among the dead bodies all lifeless he lay,

Till evening drew on of the following

day,

[he; When by a young lady discovered was And this was thy mother, my pretty Bessie!

To search for her father, who joined in the fight,

And seeing young Montfort, where gasping he lay,

Was moved with pity, and brought him away.

“In secret she nursed him, and 'suagèd his pain,

While he through the realm was believed to be slain;

At length his fair bride she consented

to be,

[Bessie. And made him glad father of pretty

66

And now, lest our foes our lives should

betray,

We clothed ourselves in beggar's array; Her jewels she sold, and hither came [pretty Bessie.

we,

All our comfort and care was our

"And here have we lived in fortune's despite, [ble delight; Though poor, yet contented with hum

Full forty winters thus have I now been

A silly blind beggar of Bethnal Green.

66

And here, noble lords, is ended the

song,

Of one that once to your rank did belong;

And thus have you learnèd a secret from me,

That ne'er had been known but for pretty Bessie."

Now when the fair company every one, Had heard the strange tale in the song he had shown,

They all were amazed, as well they might be, [Bessie. Both at the blind beggar and pretty

With that the fair bride they all did embrace,

Saying, "Sure thou art come of an honourable race;