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They are the lords and owners of their | No! Time, thou shalt not boast that I

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Winds that have no abidings,

Pitying their delay,

Would come and bring him tidings, And direct him the way.

If the earth should part him,

He would gallop it o'er;
If the seas should o'erthwart him,
He would swim to the shore.
Should his love become a swallow,
Through the air to stray,
Love will lend wings to follow,
And will find out the way.

There is no striving

To cross his intent,

There is no contriving

His plots to prevent;

But if once the message greet him,
That his true love doth stay,

If death should come and meet him,
Love will find out the way.

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UNKNOWN.

[Before 1649.]

BEGONE DULL CARE!

BEGONE dull care!

I prithee begone from me: Begone dull care!

Thou and I can never agree.

Long while thou hast been tarrying here,
And fain thou wouldst me kill;
But i' faith, dull care,

Thou never shalt have thy will.
Too much care

Will make a young man gray;
Too much care

Will turn an old man to clay.
My wife shall dance, and I will sing,
So merrily pass the day;

For I hold it is the wisest thing,
To drive dull care away.

Hence, dull care,

I'll none of thy company; Hence, dull care,

Thou art no pair for me.

We'll hunt the wild boar through the

wold,

So merrily pass the day;

And then at night, o'er a cheerful bowl, We'll drive dull care away.

BISHOP RICHARD CORBETT.

[1582-1635.]

FAREWELL TO THE FAIRIES.

FAREWELL rewards and fairies!
Good housewifes now may say,
For now foul sluts in dairies
Do fare as well as they.

And though they sweep their hearths no less

Than maids were wont to do; Yet who of late, for cleanliness, Finds sixpence in her shoe?

The moon shines bright, and the stars Lament, lament, old Abbeys,

give a light,

A little before it is day;

So God bless you all, both great and

small,

And send you a joyful May!

The fairies' lost command;

They did but change priests' babies,

But some have changed your land; And all your children sprung from thence Are now grown Puritans;

Who live as changelings ever since,
For love of your domains.

At morning and at evening both,
You merry were and glad,
So little care of sleep or sloth
These pretty ladies had;
When Tom came home from labor,
Or Cis to milking rose,
Then merrily went their tabor,
And nimbly went their toes.

Witness those rings and roundelays
Of theirs, which yet remain,
Were footed in Queen Mary's days
On many a grassy plain;
But since of late Elizabeth,

And later, James came in,
They never danced on any heath
As when the time hath been.

By which we note the fairies
Were of the old profession,
Their songs were Ave-Maries,

Their dances were procession:
But now, alas! they all are dead,
Or gone beyond the seas;
Or farther for religion fled;

Or else they take their ease.

A tell-tale in their company They never could endure, And whoso kept not secretly

UNKNOWN.

Their mirth, was punished sure; It was a just and Christian deed, To pinch such black and blue: O, how the commonwealth doth need Such justices as you!

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I puff and snort:

And out the candles I do blow: The maids I kiss,

They shriek-Who's this?

I answer naught but ho, ho, ho!

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When any need to borrow aught,
We lend them what they do require:
And for the use demand we naught;
Our own is all we do desire.
If to repay
They do delay,

Abroad amongst them then I go,
And night by night,
I them affright,

With pinchings, dreams, and ho, ho,

ho!

When lazy queans have naught to do,
But study how to cog and lie;
To make debate and mischief too,
"Twixt one another secretly:

1 mark their gloze,

And it disclose

UNKNOWN.

[Before 1649.]

EDOM O' GORDON.

IT fell about the Martinmas,
When the wind blew shrill and cauld,
Said Edom o' Gordon to his men,

"We maun draw to a hauld.

"And whatna hauld sall we draw to, My merry men and me?

We will gae to the house of the Rodes, To see that fair ladye."

The lady stood on her castle wa', Beheld baith dale and down;

To them whom they have wrongéd so: There she was aware of a host of men

When I have done

I get me gone,

And leave them scolding, ho, ho,

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Came riding towards the town.

“O see ye not, my merry men a',
O see ye not what I see?
Methinks I see a host of men;
I marvel who they be."

She weened it had been her lovely lord,
As he cam' riding hame;
It was the traitor, Edom o' Gordon,
Wha recked nor sin nor shame.

She had nae sooner buskit hersell,
And putten on her gown,
Till Edom o' Gordon an' his men
Were round about the town.

They had nae sooner supper set,

Nae sooner said the grace, But Edom o' Gordon an' his men Were lighted about the place.

The lady ran up to her tower-head,
As fast as she could hie,
To see if by her fair speeches

She could wi' him agree.

"Come doun to me, ye lady gay,

Come doun, come doun to me;
This night sall ye lig within mine arms,
To-morrow my bride sall be."

"I winna come down, ye fause Gordon,
I winna come down to thee;
I winna forsake my ain dear lord, —
And he is na far frae me.'

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