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REIGN OF ELIZABETH. 195 |
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Let Misery pack, with a whip at his back,
To the deep Tantalian flood ; In Lethe profound, let envy be drown'd,
That pines at another man's good; Let Sorrow's expanse be banded from hence,
All payments of grief delay, And wholly consort with mirth and with sport
To drive the cold winter away.
'Tis ill for a mind to anger inclin'd
To think of old injuries now; If wrath be to seek, do not lend her thy cheek,
Nor let her inhabit thy brow. Cross out of thy books malevolent looks,
Both beauty and youth's decay, And spend the long nights in honest delights,
To drive the cold winter away.
The court in all state now opens her gate,
And bids a free welcome to most; The city likewise, tho' somewhat precise,
Doth willingly part with her cost: And yet by report, from city and court,
The country will gain the day; More liquor is spent, and with better content,
To drive the cold winter away.
Our good gentry there, for cost do not spare,
The yeomanry fast not till Lent;» The farmers, and such, think nothing too much,
If they keep but to pay for their rent. The poorest of all do merrily call,
When at a fit place they can stay, For a song or a tale, or a pot of good ale,
To drive the cold winter away.
Thus none will allow of solitude now,
But merrily greets the time, To.make it appear, of all the whole year,
That this is accounted the prime: December is seen apparel'd in green,
And January, fresh as May, Comes dancing along, with a cup and a song,
To drive the cold winter away. |
Old grudges forgot, are put in the pot,
All sorrows aside they lay, The old and the young doth carol hi3 song,
To drive the cold winter away.
Sisley and Nanny, more jocund than any,
As blithe as the month of June, Do carol and sing, like bird3 of the Spring,
(No nightingale sweeter in tune) To bring in content, when summer is spent,
In pleasant delight and play, [year,
With mirth and good cheer, to end the old
And drive the cold winter away.
The shepherd and swain do highly disdain '
To waste out their time in care, And Clim of the Cloughb hath plenty enough
If he but a penny can spare, To spend at the night in joy and delight,
Now after his labours all day, For better than lands is the help of his hands,
To drive the cold winter away.
To mask and to mum kind neighbours will
With wassails of nut-brown ale, [come To drink and carouse to all in the house,
As merry as bucks in the dale; Where cake, bread and cheese, is brought for
To make you the longer'stay; [your fees, At the fire to warm will do you no harm,
To drive the cold winter away.
When Christmas's tide comes in like a bride,
With holly and ivy clad, Twelve days in the year, much mirth and
In every household is had ; [good cheer, The country guise is then to devise
Some gambols of Christmas play, Whereat the young men do best that they can,
To drive the cold winter away.
When white-bearded frost hath threatened his
And fallen from branch and brier, [worst, Then time away calls, from husbandry halls
And from the good countryman's fire,-Together to go to plough and to sow,
To get us both food and array ; And thus with content the time we have spent
To drive the cold winter away.
b Clim of the Clough means Clement of the Cleft. The name is derived from a noted archer, once famous in the north of England. See the old ballad, Adam Bell, Clim of the Clough, and William of Clouialy, printed by Bp. Percy. A Clough is a sloping valley, breach, or Clefl, from the side of a hill, where trees or furze usually grow. |
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THE SECOND PART.
This time of the year is spent in good cheer, And neighbours together do meet,
To sit by the fire, with friendly desire, Each other in love to greet;
* For the support and encouragement of tho Ashing towns, in the time of Elizabeth, Wednesdays and Fridays were constantly observed as fast days, or days of abstinence from flesh. This was by the advice of her minister, Cecil; and by the vulgar it was generally called Cecil's Fast. See Warburton's and Blakeway's notes in Boswell's edition of Shakespeare, x. 49 and 50. |
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