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KBIGNS OF JAMES I. AND CHARLES I. 359 |
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Desert is nice in its address, And courtiers find't their interest
And merit oft-times doth oppress, In time to feather well their nest,
Beyond what guilt would do; Providing for their fall.
But they are sure of their demands 0ur comfort ioth Qn ^ d d
That come to court with golden hands, Thingg. when they are ^ ^^ wiU
And brazen faces too. And let us but reflect [mend:
The King, they say, doth still profess On our condition th'other day,
To give his party some redress, When none but tyrants bore the sway,
And cherish honesty ; . What, then, did we expect ?
But his good wishes prove in vain, Meanwhile, a calm retreat is best;
Whose service with his servant's gain Bnt discontent) if not suppreat)
Not always doth agree. wm breed dialoyalty,
All princes, be they ne'er so wise, This is the constant note I sing,—
Are fain to see with others' eyes, I have been faithful to my king,
Bnt seldom hear at all; And so shall ever be.
3. Upon Sir John Suckling's 100 Horse. Contained in Le Prince d? Amour, or The Prince of Love, 1660, p. 148. Sir John raised a magnificent regiment of cavalry at his own expense (12,000?.), in the beginning of our civil wars, which became equally conspicuous for cowardice and finery. They rendered him the subject of much ridicule; and although he had previously served in a campaign under Gustavus Adolphus—during which he was present at three battles, five sieges, and as many skirmishes—his military reputation did not escape. ' " I tell thee, Jack, thou gav'st the King For ev'ry horBe shall have on's back
So rare a present, that nothing A man as valiant as Sir Jack,
Could welcomer have been; Although not half so witty:
A hundred horse ! beshrew my heart, Yet I did hear the other day
It was a brave heroic part, Two tailors made seven run away,
The like will scarce be seen. Good faith, the more's the pity." &c.
There are seven stanzas, and then " An Answer" to it.a
4 and 5. A ballad on a Friend's Wedding, and Three Merry Boys of Kent, in Folly in Print, or a Booh of Rhymes, 1667.
6. A new ballad, called The Chequers Inn, in Poems on State Affairs, iii. 57, 1704, It begins :—" I tell thee, Dick, where I have been,
Where I the Parliament have seen," &c.
7. A Christmas Song, when the Rump Parliament was first dissolved, Loyal Songs, ii. 99, 1731.
Besides these, there is one in Carey's Trivial Poems, 1651; three in 180 Loyal Songs, 1685 ; &c.
" The grace and elegance of Sir John Suckling's songs and ballads are inimitable." " They have a touch," says Phillips, " of a gentle spirit, and seem
■ These were not the only satires Sir John Suckling With a hundred horse, without remorse,
had to hear. There were, at least, two others. One, to To keep ye from the foe;
the tune of John Dory, begins— No carpet knight ever went to fight
"Sir John got on a bonny brown heaBt, With half so much bravado J [the book,
To Scotland for to ride-a; v Had you seen but his look, you would sweare by
A brave buff coat upon his back, He'd ha' conquer'd the whole Armado."
And a short sword by his side-a." There are also two other versions of the latter; the one
The other— beginning, "Then as it fell out on a holiday," (see " Cen-
" Sir John got him an ambling nag, aura Literaria," vol. vi., p. 269) and the other in Percy's
To Scotland for to go, Reliquet of Ancient Poetry, vol. ii., p. 326. |
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