Part 6 (1/2)

In bowsing than in nigling. [7]

This is bien bowse, etc.

[_She tosses off her bowle, falls back and is carried out_.]

[1: strong ale]

[2: cup or platter]

[3: water; pot]

[4: wine]

[5: mouth]

[6: wife]

[7: fornicating]

”A BEGGAR I'LL BE” [Notes]

[1660--1663]

[A black-letter broadside ballad]

I A Beggar, a Beggar, a Beggar I'll be, There's none leads a life more jocund than he; A Beggar I was, and a Beggar I am, A Beggar I'll be, from a Beggar I came; If, as it begins, our trading do fall, We, in the Conclusion, shall Beggars be all.

Tradesmen are unfortunate in their Affairs, And few Men are thriving but Courtiers and Play'rs.

II

A Craver my Father, a Maunder my Mother, [1]

A Filer my Sister, a Filcher my Brother, A Canter my Uncle, that car'd not for Pelf, A Lifter my Aunt, and a Beggar myself; In white wheaten Straw, when their Bellies were full, Then was I got between a Tinker and a Trull.

And therefore a Beggar, a Beggar I'll be, For there's none lives a Life more jocund than he

III

For such pretty Pledges, as Lullies from Hedges. [2]

We are not in fear to be drawn upon Sledges, But sometimes the Whip doth make us to skip And then we from Tything to Tything do trip; But when in a poor Boozing-Can we do bib it, [3]

We stand more in dread of the Stocks than the Gibbet And therefore a merry mad Beggar I'll be For when it is night in the Barn tumbles he.

IV

We throw down no Altar, nor never do falter, So much as to change a Gold-chain for a Halter; Though some Men do flout us, and others do doubt us, We commonly bear forty Pieces about us; But many good Fellows are fine and look fiercer, And owe for their Cloaths to the Taylor and Mercer: And if from the Harmans I keep out my Feet, [4]

I fear not the Compter, King's Bench, nor the Fleet. [5]

V

Sometimes I do frame myself to be lame, And when a Coach comes, I hop to my game; We seldom miscarry, or never do marry, By the Gown, Common-Prayer, or Cloak-Directory; But Simon and Susan, like Birds of a Feather They kiss, and they laugh, and so jumble together; [6]

Like Pigs in the Pea-straw, intangled they lie, Till there they beget such a bold rogue as I.

VI

When Boys do come to us, and their Intent is To follow our Calling, we ne'er bind 'em 'Prentice; Soon as they come to 't, we teach them to do 't, And give them a Staff and a Wallet to boot; We teach them their Lingua, to crave and to cant, [7]

The Devil is in them if then they can want.