(See Appendix to _Westm. Droll_., p. lxii.) The author of this
frollicsome ditty was no other than ABRAHAM COWLEY (1618-67), dear to all
who know his choice “Essays in Prose and Verse,” his unlaboured letters,
the best of his smaller poems, or the story of his stainless life and
gentleness. It is that noble thinker and poet, Walter Savage Landor, who
writes, and in his finest mood:—
_Time has been_
_When ~Cowley~ shone near ~Milton~, nay, above!_
_An age roll’d on before a keener sight_
_Could separate and see them far apart._
(_Hellenics_, edit. 1859, p. 258.)
Yet while we yield unquestioningly the higher rank as Poet to John
Milton, we hold the generous nature of his rival, Cowley, in more loving
regard. He was not of the massive build in mind, or stern unflinching
resolution needed for such times as those wherein his lot was cast.
When the weakest goes to the wall, amid universal disturbance and
selfish warring for supremacy, his was not the strong arm to beat back
encroachment. Gentle, affectionate, and truthful, exceptionally pure and
single-minded, although living as Queen Henrietta’s secretary in her
French Court, where impurity of thought and lightness of conduct were
scarcely visited with censure, the uncongenial scenes and company around
him help to enhance the charm of his mild disposition. Heartless wits
might lampoon him, stealthy foes defame him, lest he should gain one
favour or reward that they were hankering after. To us he remains the
lover of the “Old Patrician trees,” the friend of Crashaw and of Evelyn,
the writer of the most delightful essays and familiar letters: alas! too
few.
The “Song” in _Westminster-Drollery_, ii. 89, set by Pelham Humphrey, is
the opening verse of Cowley’s “ODE: Sitting and Drinking in the Chair
made out of the Reliques of Sir Francis Drake’s Ship.” [The chair was
presented to the University Library, Oxford.]
Corrections: _dull men_ are those _who_ tarry; and spy _too_. Three
verses follow. Of these we add the earliest, leaving uncopied the others,
of 21 and 18 lines. They are to be found on p. 9 of Cowley’s “Verses
written on Several Occasions,” folio ed., 1668. The idea of the shipwreck
“in the wide Sea of Drink” had been early welcomed by him, and treated
largely, Feb. 1638-9, in his _Naufragium Joculare_.
2.
_What do I mean: What thoughts do me misguide?_
_As well upon a staff may Witches ride_
_Their fancy’d Journies in the Ayr,_
_As I sail round the Ocean in this Chair:_
_’Tis true; but yet this Chair which here you see,_
_For all its quiet now and gravitie,_
_Has wandred, and has travail’d more_
_Than ever Beast, or Fish, or Bird, or ever Tree before._
_In every Ayr, and every Sea ’t has been,_
_’T has compos’d all the Earth, and all the Heavens ’t has seen._
_Let not the Pope’s it self with this compare,_
_This is the only Universal Chair._
It must have been written before 1661, as it appears among the “_Choyce
Poems, being Songs, Sonnets, &c._”, printed for Henry Brome, (who ten
years afterwards published _Westm. Droll._) at the Gun in Ivie Lane, in
that year. It is in the additional opening sheet, p. 13; not found in the
1658 editions of _Choyce Poems_.
_Westminster-Drollery_ Appendix, p. liv. “_The Green Gown_,” Pan, _leave
piping, &c._
Under the title “The Fetching Home of May,” we meet an early ballad-form
copy in the Roxburghe Collection, i. 535, printed for J. Wright, junior,
dwelling at the upper end of the Old Bailey. It begins “Now _Pan_ leaves
piping,” and is in two parts, each containing five verses. Three of
these are not represented in the _Antidote_ of 1661. Wm. Chappell, the
safest of all guides in such matters, notes that “the publisher [of
the broadside] flourished in and after 1635. No clue remains to the
authorship.” (_Bd. Soc._ reprint, iii. 311, 1875.)
As in the case of the companion-ditty, “Come, Lasses and Lads” (_Westm.
Droll._, ii. 80), we may feel satisfied that this lively song was written
before the year 1642. No hint of the Puritanic suppression of Maypoles
can be discerned in either of them. Such sports were soon afterwards
prohibited, and if ballads celebrating their past delights had then
been newly written, the author must have yielded to the temptation to
gird at the hypocrites and despots who desolated each village green. We
cannot regard the _Roxburghe Ballad_ as being superior to the _Antidote_
version: But they mutually help one another in corrections. We note the
chief: first verse, So lively _it_ passes; _Good lack_, what paines; 2,
_Thus_ they so much; 3 (our 4), Came very _lazily_. It is after the five
verses that differences are greatest. Our 6th verse is absent, and our
7th appears as the 8th; with new 6th, 7th, 9th, and 10th, which we here
give, but print them to match our others:
THE FETCHING HOME OF MAY.
(_The Second Part._)
6.
This Maying so pleased || Most of the fine lasses,
That they much desired to fetch in May flowers,
For to strew the windows and such like places,
Besides they’l have May bows, fit for shady bowers.
But most of all they goe || To find where Love doth growe,
Each young man knowes ’tis so, || Else hee’s a clowne:
For ’tis an old saying, || “There is great joying,
When maids go a Maying,” || _They’ll have a greene gowne_.
7.
Maidens and young men goe, || As ’tis an order old,
For to drink merrily and eat spiced cakes;
The lads and the lasses their customs wil hold,
For they wil goe walk i’ th’ fields, like loving mates:
_Em_ calls for _Mary_, || And _Ruth_ calls for _Sarah_,
_Iddy_ calls for _Har[r]y_ || To man them along:
_Martin_ calls _Marcy_, || _Dick_ calls for _Debary_,
Then they goe lovingly || _All in a throng_.
8. (_Westm. Droll._, 7.)
The bright _Apollo_ || Was all the while peeping
To see if his _Daphne_ had bin in the throng,
And, missing her, hastily downward was creeping,
For [_Thetis_] imagined [he] they tarri’d too long.
Then all the troope mourned || And homeward returned,
For _Cynthia_ scorned || To smile or to frowne:
Thus did they gather May || All the long summer’s day,
And went at night away, || _With a green gowne_.
9.
Bright _Venus_ still glisters, Out-shining of _Luna_;
_Saturne_ was present, as right did require;
And he called _Jupiter_ with his Queen _Juno_,
To see how Dame _Venus_ did burn in desire:
Now _Jove_ sent _Mercury_ || To _Vulcan_ hastily,
Because he should descry [decoy] Dame _Venus_ down:
_Vulkan_ came running, On _Mars_ he stood frowning,
Yet for all his cunning, || _Venus had a greene gowne_.
10.
Cupid shootes arrowes At _Venus_ her darlings,
For they are nearest unto him by kind:
_Diana_ he hits not, nor can he pierce worldlings,
For they have strong armour his darts to defend:
The one hath chastity, And _Cupid_ doth defie;
The others cruelty || makes him a clowne:
But leaving this I see, From _Cupid_ few are free,
And ther’s much courtesie _In a greene gowne_.
FINIS.
We have a firm conviction that these verses (not including “The bright
Apollo”) were unauthorized additions by an inferior hand, of a mere
ballad-monger. We hold by the _Antidote_.