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These are the cries of London town,
some go up street, and some go down.
Now if you will but wait awhile
sweetly it will the hour beguile,
to hear each one with singing cry
their several things as they pass by.
I have hot pippin pies, hot!
Will you have any milk, maids?
Buy a brush!
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New oysters, new Walfleet oysters, at a groat a peck; each oyster worth twopence. Fetch us bread and wine that we may eat, let us lose no time with such good meat, a banquet for a prince.
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What do you lack do you buy, sir. See what you lack. Pins, points, garters, Spanish gloves or silk ribbons. Will you buy a very fine cabinet, a fair scarf, or a rich girdle and hangers? See here, Madam, fine cobweb lawn, good cambric or fair bone lace, Will you buy any fine silk stocks, sir? See here a fair hat of the French block, air. New oysters, new. Lily-white mussel, new. New mackerel. mackerel new. New haddocks, haddocks new.
New great cockles, new. Quick periwinkles, quick. Plaice, new great plaice. Will you buy my dish of eels? New sprats, twopence a peck at Milford stairs. Salt, fine white salt. Will you buy any milk today mistress? Have you any work for a tinker? Have you any ends of gold or silver? Have you any old bowls or trays or bellows to mend? What kitchen stuff have you, maids? My mother was an honest wife, and twenty years she led this life.
What kitchen stuff have you, maids? Will you buy a mat for a bed? Brooms! Old boots, old shoes, pouch rings or buskins for a green broom. Hot pippin pies, hot. Hot pudding pies, hot. Hot apple pies, hot. Buy any black, buy any black, here cries one dare boldly crack, he carries that upon his back, will make old shoes look very black.
Will you buy any blacking, maids? Will you buy any rock salt, samphire, or a cake of good gingerbread? Have you any wood to cleave? A cooper am I, and have been long, and hooping is my trade, and married am I to as pretty a wench as ever God hath made.
Have you work for a cooper? I have fresh cheese and creams, I have fresh. I have ripe strawberries. I have ripe cucumbers, ripe. Ripe walnuts, ripe, ripe small nuts, ripe. Ripe chestnuts, ripe, ripe respise, ripe. Ripe artichokes, ripe, cherry ripe ripe ripe. Pips fine, fine pears fine, medlers fine. Buy any aqua vitae, or Rosasolis fine-a? What coney skins, coney skins, maids? I have laces, points and pins, or money for your coney skins.
What coney skins have you, maids? Hard St. Thomas onions, hard. Bread and meat for the poor prisoners of the Marshalsea, bread and meat. White radish, white young radish white. White lettuce, white young lettuce white. White cabbage, white young cabbage white. White turnips, white young turnips white. White parsnips, white young parsnips white. Sweep, chimney sweep! Sweep chimney, mistress, sweep, with a hoop derry derry derry sweep. From the bottom to the top, sweep, chimney sweep, there shall no soot fall in your porridge pot, with a hoop derry derry derry sweep.
A round and sound, and all of a colour, will you buy any very fine marking stones? It is all sinew and no bones, And yet, very good marking stones. Fine Seville oranges, fine lemons. Fine pomgranats, fine, fine potatoes fine. Oyez? If any man or woman, city or country, that can tell any tidings of a grey mare, with a black tail, having but three legs and both her eyes out, with a great hole in her ear, and there your snout. If there be any that can tell any tidings of this mare, let him bring word to the crier, and he shall be well pleased for his labour.
Rats or mice? Have you any rats, mice, polerats or weasels? Or have you any old sows sick of the measles? I can kill them, and I can kill moles, and I can kill vermin, that creepeth up and down, and creepeth into holes. Pity the poor women, for the Lord's sake, good men of God, pity the poor women, poor and cold and comfortless in the deep dungeon. Buy any ink, will you buy any ink? Buy any very fine writing ink? Will you buy any ink and pens? Doublets, old doublets, have you any old doublets? Rosemary and bays, will you buy any rosemary? Will you buy any rosemary and bays? 'Tis good, 'tis good, to lay upon their bones, which climeth over walls, to steal your plums. Then buy my wares, so trim and trick. that gentle is, yet very very quick.
Will you buy a very fine almanack? Will you buy a very fine brush? Pitiful gentlemen of the Lord, bestow one penny to buy a loaf of bread, among a number of poor prisoners. Sweet juniper, juniper, will you buy my bunch of juniper? Touch and go, have you any work for Kindheart the toothdrawer?
Touch and go! Garlic, good garlic, the best of all the cries, it is the only physic, 'gainst all the maladies. It is my chiefest wealth, good garlic for to cry, and if you lose your health, my garlic then come buy. Will you buy my sack of small coals, or will you buy any great coals? Have you any corns on your feet or toes? A good sausage, a good, and it be roasted, go round about the capon, go round. Will you buy a very good tinder box? Lanthorn and candle-light, hang out, hang out maids! Twelve o'clock, look well to your lock, your fire and your light, and so goodnight.
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Maids, to bed, and cover coal,
let the mouse out of her hole,
crickets in the chimney sing,
whilst the little bell doth ring.
If fast asleep, who can tell,
when the clapper hits the bell?
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New oysters, new. Have you any wood to cleave? What kitchen stuff have you maids?
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Where are you fair maids, that have need of our trades? I'll tell you a rare confection. Will you have on your faces spread either with white or red? Will you buy any fair complexion?
My drugs are no dregs, for I have white of eggs, made in a rare confection. Red leather and surflet water, scarlet colour or stavesacre. Will you buy any fair complexion?
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Muffins ho! Pray come hire, I cannot stay! Pray come haste, my mistress is waiting!
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God give you good morrow Sir Rice. Up Thomas, up William, up Shones. Past three o'clock and a fair morning. Withhold her, Scrape, you fiddling knave! Get her from her mistress's window: her'll fling the pot on her head, for master play all night at whipper-shinny. Jack, Jack, sleep'st or wak'st? Vast asleep, vather: ch'am vast asleep vather. Jack, rise and serve the cattle and the sheep! Nay, virst chi'll have my breakfast, for all ch'am vast asleep. Rig, rig, rig, rig, coop, coop, coop, coop, hick, hick, hick, hick, biddy, biddy, biddy, biddy Ho, mule!…
Up, Robin, 'tis time to rise! Easter must have herring pies for huntsmen that kill not the hare, therefore Robin do not spare, but if thou find her at the squat, Easter's near, lay on thy bat. How now, how now, Jumper good at start and Woodman, he will play his part, but Jowler I'll hold twenty pound shall kill her if she go on ground. So ho, so ho, hark! The hare is newly up. How now, how now, what! Look well unto thy scut. Yebble yebble yebble… There again, that's her, hurry! Tararara Yohoho… Jowler, haste! The hare is almost spent, now Jowler, hold thine own! So farewell, Jack-a-Lent. Gee, gee! Hut, hut, hut: Whoa!!
Ball! Haste, i' God's name. Morrow, neighbour! Whither go you? Who? What zay? where go you man? Ch'as wooed by Master Courtnell, the King's caretaker, to carry beans unto the Court, far His Majesty's brown baker. Whirr, hey dogs… hey, so dogs… Pur! hey haunt, quando, quando, quando! A mark, a mark! Ret, Chance! To her, Fortune! 'Ware hawky hawky hawk, this flight was bravely flown. Let's seek another haunt, the partridge is our own.
O Lord, O Lord, O good master! Quaeso, quaeso, quaeso praeceptor! Oyez! All that can sing and say, Come to the town hall, and there shall be a play, made by the scholars of the Free School where shall be both a devil and a fool. At six o'clock it doth begin: if you bring no money, you come not in.
Da pope… do poope! Have you any pigs or lambs to geld? Buzz, buzz… buzz, buzz! Ho! Mother Crab, the bees are flown! Ring out your kettle of purest metal to settle the swarm of bees: for men new wiving the way to be thriving is hiving. Then no time lost to hive your bees. Harvest home, harvest home: our fields are cut, our mead is mown. Then let us sing and shout and play, tomorrow we'll keep holiday. Sing now farewell all sorrow, our fields are broke tomorrow.
And what if it be so? The bagpipes and the merry maids a-milking go. And some will go thither their heels to shake, and some will go for their sweetheart's sake, and some will carry a good spice cake, and some go syllabubs to make. And thus they sing, as I have heard, with Hey, jolly buckets, to milking-ward!
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A quart a penny, damsons round and sound. A penny a pound, cherries. Delicate singing birds. Sand ho! Old clothes! Sweep, sweep! New Walfleet oysters, Newcastle salmon! Dust ho! Sweep!
For soot, ho! Old chairs to mend, old chairs to mend. Milk above? Money for your white flint glass.
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I can mend your tubs and pails,
set on hoops or set on bails,
or stop your vessels that do leak,
then come away maids and quickly speak.
What work for the cooper, the jolly cooper?
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Have you any work for the tinker, brisk maids? Old brass, old pots, old kettles. I'll mend 'em all with a tink terry tink and never hurt your metals.
First let me have but a touch of your ale, 'Twill steel me 'gainst cold weather. Or tinkers freeze, or vintner's lees, or tobacco choose you whether.
But of your ale, your nappy ale, I would I had a firkin. For I am old, and very very cold, and never a jerkin.
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Brooms for old shoes, pouch rings, boots and buskins, will ye buy any new broom? New oysters, new cockles, fresh herrings. Will ye buy any straw? Have ye any kitchen stuff maids? Pippins fine, cherry ripe. Have ye any wood to cleave? Give ear to the clock, beware your lock, and your fine and your light, and God give you goodnight. One o'clock.
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New oysters, new Walfleet oysters. New mussels, new lily-white mussels. New cockles, new great cockles new. New sprats, new sprats, new great sprats new. New plaice, new plaice, new plaice new. New mackerel, mackerel, mackerel. New haddock, haddock, haddock new. New thornback new. Quick periwinkle quick. Quick winkles quick. Hot apple-pies hot. Hot pudden-pies hot. Hot pippin-pies hot. Hot mutton-pies hot. Apples fine, pears fine, medlars fine, pippins fine, cherry ripe. Ripe strawberry ripe. Fine Seville oranges, fine lemons fine. Fine pomgranates fine.
Tink-a-tink… Have you any work for a tinker? Have you any old bellows to mend? Have you any wood to cleave? Broom, broom, broom: broom for old shoes or pouch-rings, boots or buskins for new broom. Broom, broom, broom. Have you any boots, maids, or have you any shoon, or an old pair of buskins? Will you buy my new broom? An old pair of shoon, or an old pair of buskins? For all my new broom.
Broom, broom. Chimney sweep, chimney sweep. Salt, salt, fine salt. White salt, fine salt. Have you any kitchen stuff, maids'' Have you any coney-skins, coney-skins, maids? Will you buy any milk today mistress? I have fresh cheese and cream, I have fresh. White cabbage, white young cabbage white. White turnips, white young turnips white. White parsnips, white young parsnips white. White radish, white young radish. White lettuce, white young lecture.
Now let us sing, now let us sing, and so we wilI make an end with Alleluia.
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One a penny, two a penny, hot cross buns.
if you have no daughters, give them to your sons,
But if you have none of these pretty little elves,
you cannot do better then eat them yourselves.
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She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks; her priests sigh and her virgins are afflicted, and among all her lovers she bath none to comfort her.
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Man's life is but vain for 'tis subject to pain
And sorrow, and short as a bubble;
'Tis a Hodg Podg of business and money and care,
And care and money and trouble.
But we'll take no care, when the weather proves fair;
Nor will we vex now though it rain;
We'll banish all sorrow and sing till tomorrow
And angle and angle again.
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Here on his back doth lye Sir Andrew Keeling,
And at his feet his mournful lady kneeling;
But when he was alive and had his feeling,
She lay upon her Back and he was kneeling.