1
Man is for the woman made
And woman for the man.
As the spur is to the jade
As the scabbard for the blade,
As for digging is the spade,
As for liquor is the can,
So man is for the woman made
And woman for the man.
As the widow, be she maid.
As the wanton, be she staid,
Be she well or ill arrayed,
Queen, slut or harridan,
So man…
As the sceptre to be sway'd,
As for night's the serenade,
As for pudding is the pan,
As to cool us is the fan,
So man…
2
Sir Walter enjoying his damsel one night,
He tickled and pleas'd her to so great a delight,
That she could not contain t'wards the end of the matter,
But in rapture cried out,
O sweet Sir Walter! O swifter swatter!
3
To thee and to the maid that kindly
Will upon her back be laid,
And laugh and sing and kiss and play
And wanton out a summers day,
Such a lass, kind friend, and drinking
Give me, great Jove, and damn the thinking.
4
Fie, nay, prithee John! Do not quarrel, man!
Let's be merry and drink a bout.
You're a rogue, you cheated me,
I'll prove before this company;
I care not a farthing, sir,
For all you are so stout.
Sir, you lie, I scorn your word.
Or any man that wears a sword;
For all your huff, who cares a fig?
Or who cares for you?
5
Once, twice, thrice, I Julia tried,
The scornful puss as oft denied,
And since I can no better thrive.
I'll cringe to ne'er a bitch alive.
So kiss my Arse, disdainful sow!
Good claret is my mistress now.
6
When the cock begins to crow
Cock-a-doodle-do, cock-a-doodle-do,
And the embers leave to glow,
And the owl cries, To-whit-to-who,
When the crickets do sing and mice roam about:
When midnight bells ring to call the devout,
When the lazy lie stretching, and think it no harm;
Their zeal is so cold and their beds are so warm,
When the long lazy slut
Has not made the parlour clean;
No water on the hearth is put
But all things in disorder seen.
Then we trip it round the room
And make like bees a drowsy hum.
Be she Betty. Nan or Sue
We make her of another hue.
And pinch her black and blue.
7
Under this stone lies Gabriel John,
In the year of our Lord one thousand and one.
Cover his head with turf or stone, 'tis all one.
Pray for the soul of gentle John,
If you will you may, or let it alone, 'tis all one.
8
'Twas you, sir; 'twas you, sir,
I tell you nothing new, sir,
'Twas you that kissed that pretty girl,
'Twas you, sir, you.
'Tis true, sir; 'tis true, sir,
You look so very blue, sir,
I'm sure you kissed that pretty girl,
'Twas true, sir true.
O, sir; No, sir; no no no no no, sir.
How can you wrong me so, sir,
I did not kiss that pretty girl,
But I know who.
9
Had she not care enough of the old man,
She wed him, she fed him and to the bed led him,
For seven tong winters she lifted him on.
But O! how she niggled him, all the night long.
10
Young Anthony peeping through a keyhole
Saw simpering Susan and amorous Moll,
Both eager and hot, in argument urging
Which of them might pass for the purest virgin.
He bolted in to 'em and after confessed,
In the truth of his heart, that both things were best.
11
Amo ams I love a lass,
As a cedar tall and slender;
Sweet cowslip's grace is her nominative case
And she's of the feminine gender.
Rorum corum sunt divorum harum scarum Divo!
Tag rag merry derry, periwig and hatband
Hic hoc horum genetivo.
Can I decline a nymph divine?
Her voice as a flute is dulcis;
Her oculis bright, her manus white,
And soft when I tacto, her pulse is. Rorum…
O how bella my puella,
I'll kiss secula seculorum;
If I've luck, sir, she's my uxor!
O dies benedictorum ! Rorum…
12
Ah, Robin, gentle Robin.
Tell me how your leman doth,
And thou shalt know of mine.
My lady is unkind. I wis, alas! why is she so?
She loveth another better than me,
And yet she will say no. Ah, Robin…
I cannot think such doubleness
For I find women true.
In faith my lady lov'th me well.
She will change for no new. Ah, Robin…
13
Bess black as charcoal was found in a dark hole
With Kit at the Cat and the Fiddle.
But what they did there, none safely can swear.
Troth I would be loth, were I put on oath.
Yet swear Kit with Bess did engender.
Yet it would tempt a man, bride all that he can,
His present well wishes to tender.
But 'twas found at last, e'er a twelve-month was past,
That Christopher Bess had o'ermastered,
For betwixt either thigh, he had quarter'd so nigh,
She brought him a jolly brown bastard.
14
I am athirst, what should I say?
Alas! I have no money to pay.
Fill the pot Butler, fill, fill,
For I will drink with a good will.
15
Wine does wonders every day,
Makes the heavy light and gay,
Throws off all their melancholy,
Makes the wisest go astray,
And the busy toy and play,
And the poor and needy jolly.
Wine makes trembling cowards bold,
Men in years forget they're old,
Women leave their coy disdaining,
Who till then were shy and cold,
Makes the niggard slight his gold,
And the foppish entertaining.
16
Hoyda jolly rutterkin, Hoyda like a rutterkin, Hoyda!
Rutterkin is come unto our town
In a cloak without coat or gown
Save a ragged hod to cover his crown
Like a tatter. Hoyda, jolly rutterkin…
When rutterkin from board will rise
He will drink a gallon pot full at a twice
And the overplus under the table of the new guise
Like a rutter. Hoyda, jolly rutterkin…
17
An ape, a lion, a fox and an ass
Do show forth man's life as it were in a glass
For apish wt are till twenty and one
And after that lions till forty be gone.
Then witty as foxes till threescore and ten
But after that asses and so no more men.
18
Troll, troll the bowl to me
And I will troll the same again to thee.
Begin now, hold in now,
For we must merry be as you see.
Be lusty, so must We, Oh! tis a brave thing
For to pass away the time, with mirth and joy to sing.
Tant tant tant tara tant tant tant
All aflant brave boys;
What joy is this to see, when friends so well agree.
19
Fair and ugly, false and true,
All to great Venus' yoke must bow.
Such pleasure in our pains she takes,
She laughs to see what sport she makes.
20
We be soldiers three,
Pardonnez-moi je vous en prie,
Lately come forth of the low country,
With never a penny of money.
Here, good fellow, I drink to the,
Pardonnez-moi je vous en prie,
To all good fellows wherever they be.
With never a penny of money.
And he that will not pledge me this,
Pardonnez-moi je vous en prie,
Pays. for the shot, whatever it is,
With never a penny of money.
Charge it again, boys charge it again,
Pardonnez-moi je vous en prie,
As long as you have any ink in your pen,
With never a penny of money.
21
Lure falconers, lure! give roaming to the field.
Let fly, let fly I Make mounting hearns to yield,
Di, fearful ducks, and climb no more so high;
The nyas hawk will kiss the azure sky.
But when our soarhawks fly and stiff winds blow,
Then long too late we falconers cry hey lo!
22
Sing, fair Clorinda, whilst you move
Those that attend the throne above,
To leave their holy business there,
Till each with his obedient care
Shall so much harmony attain
To think the spheres were made in vain,
Since here's a voice quickens the sloth
Of nature's age, it comforts growth
In all her works, and can provoke A
lily to outlive the oak.
23
In the merry month of May,
In a morn by break of day,
Forth I walked by the woodside,
When as May was in his pride;
There I spied all alone,
Phyllida and Corydon.
Much ado there was, God wot!
He would love and she would not;
She said, Never man was true.
He said, None was false to you.
He said, Love should have no wrong.
Corydon would kiss her then;
She acid, Maids must kiss no men,
Till they did for good and all.
Then she made the shepherd call
All the heavens to witness truth,
Never loved a truer youth.
Thus with many a pretty oath,
Yea and nay, and faith and troth,
Such as silly shepherds use
When they will not love abuse.
Love which had been long deluded
Was with kisses sweet concluded.
And Phyllida with garlands gay
Was made the lady of the May.
24
True Englishmen drink a good health to the mitre,
Let our church ever flourish tho' her enemies spite her.
May their cunning and forces no longer prevail.
But their malice as well their arguments fail.
Then remember the sev'n who supported the cause,
As stout as our martyrs and as just as our laws.
25
L'ape e la serpe, spesso suggon l'istesso umore
Ma l'alimento istesso cangiando in lor si va.
Che delle serpe in seno, il fior si fa veleno
In sen dell'ape il fiore, dolce liquor si fa.
(The bee and the snake both thrive on the same food,
but it transforms itself differently in each;
in the snake, flowers turn to venom,
but in the bee, they turn into sweet liquor.)
26
Call George again, Boy, call George again
George is a good boy and draws us good Wine,
Then fill us more Claret our wits to refine
George is a brave lad and an honest Man,
if you will know him he dwells at the Swan.
27
As t'other day Susan and Tom trug'd along
Says Susan to Tom come let's join in a Song,
Then strait they began but he could not go through,
Put me in Sue he cries or else it won't do.
Sue smiling reply'd you lubberly Lout
Put you in you soon will be out
Says Sam overhearing as driving his Cart
Since Tom can't keep in let me fill the part.
28
Hark you my dear, come hither, afford me a moment's delay.
Where would you run, say whither, shall you and I go to the Play,
Nay, don't be afraid, come you Jade, come before the Gallery's full,
The Play is fine and the Pantomime's Europa astride on a Bull.
O fie Sir, I can't Sir Lord, what will the neighbors say,
They'd all tell my mother I went with a man to the play,
Let me be gone, excuse me, I now must retreat,
Or else be chidden and pinched and drubbed for talking with you in the street.
So Mistress Mine have I caught you, Hey day! what doings are here,
Come here you slut, od rot it, come home and draw my customer's beer.
Sir, loosen her hand and go to the Strand, the Market for impudent whores,
If ever she flirts with you again I'll turn her out of my doors.
29
Here are the rareties of the whole Fair
Pimperle pimp and the wife dancing Mare,
Here's valiant Sir George and the Dragon, a Farce,
A Girl of fifteen with strange Moles,
Here is Vienna beseig'd a rare thing
And here's Punchinello shown thrice to the King
Ladies mask'd to the Cloysters repair
But there will be no Raffling, a Pox take the Mayor.
30
He that will an alehouse keep must welcome give alway,
And store old ale that men may drink
And merrily sing: hey nonny no!
31
It is not that I love you less
Than when before your feet I lay,
In vain alas! for everything
That I have known belongs to you.
Your form does to my fancy bring,
And makes my old wounds bleed anew.
But to prevent the sad increase
Of hopeless love I keep away.
In vain, alas!…
32
The night he was wedded, Inigo Jones,
Flesh of my flesh, and bone of my bone …
33
Which is the properest day to drink, Saturday, Sunday, Monday,
Each is the properest day I think, tell me but yours. I'll mention my day, let us but fix on some day,
Why should I name but one day?
34
Joan has been galloping all the Town o'er
Till her Bumfiddle was wonderous fore
Without e'er a Saddle upon her old Jade
To fetch her good man from the Ale house Trade.
35
Summer is icumen in, loudly sing cuckoo
Groweth seed and bloweth mead
And springs the wood anew.
Sing cuckoo.
Ewe bleateth after lamb, lowth after calve cow.
Bullock sterteth, bucke verteth,
Merry sing cuckoo.
Cuckoo, Cuckoo, well singst thou cuckoo,
Nor cease thou never now.
36
John Cooper was boring a great piece of Timber
He bor'd and he bor'd but his Tool was too limber.
With his breakfast his Wife came Jumping with Glee
And cry'd here's a Morsel for Me and for Thee.
When John had well Feasted he Bor'd with more might
His Wife was well pleas'd and all things went right.
37
If my mistress fix her eye on these ruder strains of mine,
Tell her how I lie fettered by her looks divine
Tell her is it only she can release and let me free.
Tell her yet 'tis my desire to remain her captive still
Neither can I aim at higher hope or fortune than her will
So she will my thraldom pay but with one good look a day.
38
Young Collin cleaving of a Beam
At every thumping blow cried Hem!
And told his wife who the cause would know
That Hem! made the wedge much farther go.
Plump Joan at Night to Bed they came
And both were playing at the same
Cried Hem! Prithee Collin do,
If ever thou Love'dst me Dear Hem! now;
He laughing answered no
Some work will split with half a blow;
Beside now I bore,
I Hem! when I cleave but now I bore.
39
There are five reasons why we should not drink:
Our name, our health, our family,
Our peace both now and bye and bye.
But many other reasons why…
40
Sweet and low, sweet and low, wind of the Western sea,
Low, low, breathe and blow, wind of the Western sea,
Over the rolling waters go,
Come from the dying moon and blow,
Blow him again to me,
While my little one, while my pretty one, sleeps.
Sleep and rest, sleep and rest, Father will come to thee soon,
Rest, rest, on mother's breast, Father will come to thee soon.
Father will come to his babe in the nest,
Silver sails all out of the West,
Under the silver moon,
Sleep my little one, sleep my pretty one, sleep.