Maudlin. I will, mother.

I married a wife of late,
The more's my unhappy fate:
I married her for love,

As my fancy did me move,
And not for a worldly estate :

But oh! the green sickness

Soon changed her likeness;
And all her beauty did fail.

But 'tis not so
With those that

go
Thro’ frost and snow,

As all men know,

And carry the milking-pail.
PISCATOR. Well sung, good woman; I thank you.

I'll give you another dish of fish one of these days; and then beg another song of you. Come, scholar! let Maudlin alone: do not you offer to spoil her voice. Look ! yonder comes mine hostess, to call us to supper. How now! is my brother Peter come?

Hostess. Yes, and a friend with him. They are both glad to hear that you are in these parts; and long to see you ;' and long to be at supper, for they be very hungry.

PISCATOR. Well met, brother Peter! I heard Chap. V. On

you and a friend would lodge here to-night;

and that hath made" me to bring my friend to lodge here too. My friend is one that would fain be a brother of the angle: he hath been an angler but this day; and I have taught him how to catch a Chub, by dapping with a grasshopper ;* and the Chub he caught was a lusty one of nineteen inches long. But

pray,

brother Peter, who is your companion ?

a

the Trout.

X

VARIATION.] ' long to see you, and are hungry, and long to be at supper.-till 5th Edit.

» hath made me and my friend cast to lodge here too.—till 5th Edit.

* grasshopper; and he hath caught a lusty one of nineteen inches long. But I pray, brother, who is it that is your companion ?- till 5th Edit.

R

PETER. Brother Piscator, my friend is an honest countryman, and his name is Coridon ;' and he is a downright witty companion, that met me here purposely to be pleasant and eat a Trout; and I have not yet wetted my line since we met together : but I hope to fit him with a Trout for his breakfast; for I'll be early up.

PISCATOR. Nay, brother, you shall not stay so long ; for, look you! here is a Trout

VARIATION.) y Coridon, a most downright, witty, and merry companion, that met me here purposely to eat a Trout and to be pleasant, and I have not yet wet my line since I came from home: but I will fit him to-morrow with a Trout for his breakfast, if the weather be any thing like.

Piscator. Nay, brother, you shall not delay him so long, for look you, here is a Trout.-till 5th Edit.

Z

Come, hostess,dress it presently; and get us what other meat the house will afford; and give us some of your best barley-wine, the good liquor that our honesta forefathers did use to drink of; the drink which preserved their health, and made them live so long, and to do so many good deeds.

PETER. On my word, this Trout is perfect in season. Come, I thank you, and here is a hearty draught to you,

, and to all the brothers of the angle wheresoever they be, and to my young brother’s good fortune to-morrow. I will furnish him with a rod, if you will furnish him with the rest of the tackling : we will set him up, and make him a fisher. And I will tell him one thing for his encouragement, that his fortune hath made him happy to be scholar to such a master; a master that knows as much, both of the nature and breeding of fish, as any man; and can also

1 tell him as well how to catch and cook them, from the Minnow to the Salmon, as any that I ever met withal. PISCATOR. Trust me, brother Peter, I find my

scholar to be so suitable to my own humour, which is to be free and pleasant and civilly merry, that my resolution is to hide nothing that I know from him. Believe me, scholar, this is my resolution ; and so here's to you a hearty draught, and to all that love us and the honest art of Angling

VENATOR. Trust me, good master, you shall not sow your seed in barren ground; for I hope to return you an increase answerable to your hopes : but, however, you shall find me obedient, and thankful, and serviceable to my best ability

PISCATOR. 'Tis enough, honest scholar ! come, let's to

Variation.] : Come, hostess, dress it presently, and get us what other meat the house will afford, and give us some good ale, and let's be merry.- 1st Edit.

a that our good honest forefathers used to drink of, which preserved, &c.-till 5th Edit.

supper. Come, my friend Coridon, this Trout looks lovely ; it was twenty-two inches when it was taken ; and the belly of it looked, some part of it, as yellow as a marigold, and part of it as white as a lily; and yet, methinks, it looks better in this good sauce.

Coridon. Indeed, honest friend, it looks well, and tastes well: I thank you for it, and so doth my

friend Peter, or else he is to blame.

PETER. Yes, and so I do; we all thank you: and, when we have supped, I will get my friend Coridon to sing you a song for requital.

Coridon. I will sing a song, if any body will sing another, else, to be plain with you, I will sing none. none of those that sing for meat, but for company :

I

say, “ 'Tis merry in hall,

When men sing all.”'9 Piscator. I'll promise you I'll sing a song that was lately made, at my request, by Mr. William Basse ; one that hath made the choice songs of the “ Hunter in his career,” and of “ Tom of Bedlam," and many others of note; and this, that I will sing, is in praise of Angling.

Coridon. And then mine shall be the praise of a Countryman's life. What will the rest sing of ? PETER. I will I will promise you, I will sing another

song

in praise of Angling to-morrow night; for we will not part

I am

9

in hall,

Note.] ' A parody on the adage,

" It's merry
When beards

wag

all.' i. e. when all are eating. H. This song, beginning “Forth from my sad and darksome cell,” with the music to it, set by Hen. Lawes, is printed in a book entitled Playford's Antidote against Melancholy, 8vo. 1669; and in Choice Ayres, Songs, and Dialogues, to sing to the Theorbo, Lute, and Bass Viol, folio, 1675: also in Dr. Percy's Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, Vol. II. p. 357; but in the latter with a mistake, in the last line of the third stanza, of the word Pentarchye for Pentateuch. H.

a

till then; but fish to-morrow, and sup together : and the next day every man leave fishing, and fall to his business.

VENATOR. 'Tis a match; and I will provide you a song or a catch against then, too, which shall give some addition of mirth to the company; for we will be civil and as merry as beggars.

Piscator. 'Tis a match, my masters. Let's e'en say grace, and turn to the fire, drink the other cup to whet our whistles, and so sing away all sad thoughts. Come on, my masters, who begins ? I think it is best to draw cuts, and avoid contention.

PETERa

Peter. It is a match. Look, the shortest cut falls to Coridon.

Coridon. Well, then, I will begin, for I hate contention.

CORIDON'S SONG,

Oh the sweet contentment
The countryman doth find !

Heigh trolollie lollie loe,

Heigh trolollie lee.
That quiet contemplation
Possesseth all

my

mind :
Then care away,
And wend along with me.

For Courts are full of flattery,
As hath too oft been tried ;

Heigh trolollie lollie loe, &c.
The city full of wantonness,
And both are full of pride:

Then care away, &c.

But oh, the honest countryman
Speaks truly from his heart,

Heigh trolollie lollie loe, &c.
His pride is in his tillage,
His horses, and his cart :

Then care away, &c.

b

Variation.] ” for we will be merry.- till 5th Edit.