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REIGN OF CHARLES II. 493 |
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GRIM KING OF THE GHOSTS. Black-letter copies of this ballad are to be found in the Bagford, the Pepys, the Douce, and the Roxburghe Collections. It is usually entitled " The Lunatick Lover: Or the Young Man's call to Grim King of the Ghosts for cure. To an excellent new tune." Percy reprinted it in his Beliques of Ancient Poetry, and Ritson, in his Select Collection of English Songs; the first stanza will therefore suffice.
" Grim King of the Ghosts! make haste, Come, you night hags, with all your And bring hither all your train : And revelling witches, away, [charms,
Bee how the pale moon does waste, And hug me close in your arms;
And just now is in the wane. To you my respects I'll pay."
Among the ballads sung to the tune, are the following:— 1. " The Father's wholesome Admonition: To the tune of Grim King of the Ghosts." See Roxburghe Collection, ii. 165.
% " The Subjects' Satisfaction ; being a new song of the proclaiming King William and Queen Mary, the 13th of this instant February, to the great joy and comfort of the whole kingdom. To the tune of Grim King of the Ghosts, or Hail to the myrtle shades.'''' See Roxburghe Collection, ii. 437.
3. " The Protestant's Joy; or an excellent new song on the glorious Coronation of King William and Queen Mary, which in much triumph was celebrated at Westminster on the 11th of this instant April. Tune of Grim King of the Ghosts, or Hail to the myrtle shades." This has a woodcut intended to represent the King and Queen seated on the throne. See Bagford Collection (643, m. 10, p. 172, Brit. Mus.) "Printed for J. Deacon, in Guiltspur Street." It commences thus:— " Let Protestants freely allow Brave boys, let us merrily sing,
Their spirits a happy good cheer, While smiling full bumpers go round;
Th' eleventh of April now, Hear joyful good tidings I bring,
Has prov'd the best day in the year. King William and Mary are crown'd." The tune was introduced into The Beggars' Opera, The Devil to pay, The Oxford Act, and other ballad-operas; also printed in Watts' Musical Miscellany, i. 126 (1729) to a song entitled "Rosalind's Complaint," commencing, "On the bank of a river so deep."
It was to this air that Rowe wrote his celebrated song " Colin's Complaint;" in which, according to Dr. Johnson, he alluded to his own situation with the Countess Dowager of Warwick, and his successful rival, Addison. Goldsmith, in his preface to The Beauties of English Poetry, says, " This, by Mr. Rowe, is better • than anything of the kind in our language." It commences— " Despairing beside a clear stream, The wind that blew over the plain,
A shepherd forsaken was laid; To his sighs with a sigh did reply;
And while a false nymph was his theme, And the brook, in return to his pain, A willow supported his head : Ran mournfully murmuring by."
It has been reprinted in Ritson's English Songs, and in many other collections. There are several parodies; one of which is contained in " A complete Collection |
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