Astonyed lay the heire of Linne, Ne knewe if he were live or dead: At length he looked, and sawe a bille, And in it a key of gold so redd. He took the bill, and lookt it on, Itt told him of a hole in the wall, In which there stood three chests in-fere.* Two were full of the beaten golde, The third was full of white money; And over them in broad letters These words were written so plaine to see : "Once more, my sonne, I sette thee clere; Amend thy life and follies past; For but thou amend thee of thy life, And let it bee, sayd the heire of Linne ; This reade shall guide me to the end. Away then went with a merry cheare, * In-fere, i. e. together. ti. e. unless I amend. i. e. advice, counsel. 40 45 50 55 I wis, he neither ceas'd ne blanne, Till John o' the Scales house he did winne. 60 And when he came to John o' the Scales, And John himself sate at the bord-head, Because now lord of Linne was hee. I pray thee, he said, good John o' the Scales, Away, away, thou thriftless loone; If ever I trust thee one pennie. Then bespake the heire of Linne, To John o' the Scales wife then spake he: I pray for sweet saint Charitìe. Away, away, thou thriftless loone, I swear thou gettest no almes of mee; V. 60, an old northern phrase. 65 70 75 * Perhaps the hole in the door or window, by which it was speered, i. e. sparred, fastened, or shut. In Bale's 2d part of the Acts of Eng. Votaries, we have this phrase, (fol. 38) "The dore thereof oft tymes opened and speared agayne." For if we shold hang any losel heere, Then bespake a good fellòwe, Which sat at John o' the Scales his bord; Sayd, Turn againe, thou heire of Linne; Some time thou wast a well good lord: Some time a good fellow thou hast been, And ever, I pray thee, John o' the Scales, For well I wot thou hadst his land, Up then spake him John o' the Scales, And here I proffer thee, heire of Linne, Before these lords so faire and free, 80 85 90 95 Thou shalt have it backe again better cheape, I drawe you to record, lords, he said. With that he cast him a gods pennie : Now by my fay, sayd the heire of Linne, And he pull'd forth three bagges of gold, He told him forth the good red gold, 105 And now Ime againe the lord of Linne. Sayes, Have thou here, thou good fellòwe, Forty pence thou didst lend mee: Ile make the keeper of my forrest, Both of the wild deere and the tame; I wis, good fellowe, I were to blame. Now welladay! sayth Joan o' the Scales: Yesterday I was lady of Linne, Now Ime but John o' the Scales his wife. 115 120 V. 34. of part i., and 102 of part ii., cast is the reading of the MS. Now fare thee well, sayd the heire of Linne; 125 Christs curse light on me, if ever again I bring my lands in jeopardy. In the present edition of this ballad, several ancient readings are restored from the folio MS. VI. Gascoigne's Praise of the Fair Bridges, ON HER HAVING A SCAR IN HER FOREHEAD. George Gascoigne was a celebrated poet in the early part of Queen Elizabeth's reign, and appears to great advantage among the miscellaneous writers of that age. He was author of three or four plays, and of many smaller poems; one of the most remarkable of which is a satire in blank verse, called Steele-glass, 1576, 4to. Gascoigne was born in Essex, educated in both universities, whence he removed to Gray's-inn; but, disliking the study of the law, became first a dangler at court, and afterwards a soldier in the wars of the Low Countries. He had no great success in any of these pursuits, as appears from a poem of his, entitled "Gascoigne's Wodmanship, written to Lord Gray of Wilton." Many of his epistles dedicatory are dated in 1575, 1576, from "his poore house in Walthamstoe:" where he died a middleaged man in 1578, according to Anth. Wood: or rather in VOL. II. H |