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REIGNS OF JAMES It AND CHARLES I. 347 |
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And yet he runs it stoutly, He scarce has touch'd the bank,
How wide, how swift he strains! The cry bounce finely in,
With what a skip he took that leap, And swiftly swim across the stream,
And scours o'er the plains ! &c. And raise a glorious din, &c.
See how our horses foam! His legs begin to fail,
The dogs begin to droop ;. His wind and speed are gone,
With winding horn, on shoulder borne, He stands at bay, and gives 'em play,
'Tis time to cheer them up, &c. He can no longer run, Sec.
Hark ! Leader, Countess, Bouncer! But vain are heels and antlers, . -
Cheer up my good dogs all; With such a pack set round,
To Tatler, hark! he holds it smart, Spite of his heart, they seize each part,
And answers ev'ry call, &c. And pull him fearless down, ,&c.
Up yonder steep I'll follow, Ha ! dead, 'ware dead! whip off, Beset with craggy stones; And take a special care;
My lord cries, " Jack, you dog, come back, Dismount with speed, and pray take heed, Or else you'll break your bones! " &c. Lest they his haunches tear! &c.
See, now he takes the moors, The sport is ended now,
And strains to reach the stream ! We're laden with the spoil;
He leaps the flood, to cool his blood, As home we pass, we talk o' th' chace,
And quench his thirsty flame, &c. O'erpaid for all our toil, &c.
Many songs to the tune will be found in the publications enumerated above. Others in the Songs sung at the Mug-houses in London and Westminster, 1716 ; in 120 Loyal Songs, 1684 ; and in the various collections of ballads. " The Church Scuffle, or News from St. Andrew's " is one of these; and contained in the collection given to the Cheetham Library by Mr. Halliwell (No. 366).
THE NOBLE SHIRVE.
This tune is taken from a manuscript volume of virginal music, formerly in the possession of Mr. "Windsor, of Bath, and now in that of Dr. Rimbault.
Although the transcript is of the seventeenth, the tunes are generally traceable to the sixteenth century, and perhaps the latest are of the reign of James I.
I regret very much not having been able to find the ballad from which it derives its name, for I imagine it would prove an interesting, and, probably, a very early one.
" Shirve" is a very old form of " Shire-reeve," or Sheriff; and I have not been able to trace any other instance of its' use so late as the seventeenth century. It was then, almost universally, written " Shricve." The tune is one that—-like The Three Ravens (ante p. 59), and The Friar in the Well (p. 274)— requires a burden at the end of the first and second lines of words, as well as at the end. The third and fourth bars of music seem almost to speak the words " down-a-down," and " hey down-a-down" (or some similar burden); and the seventh and eighth, " down, a-down, a-down-a."
Those repeated burdens were more common in the sixteenth than- in the seventeenth century.
As every ballad-tune sounds the better for having words to it, I have taken one of the snatches of old songs sung by Moros, the fool, or jester, in Wager's |
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