As it fell on a holy day,
And upon a holytide a:
John Dory brought him an ambling nag,
To Paris for to ride a.
And when John Dory to Paris was come,
A little before the gate a;
John Dory was fitted, the porter was witted,
To let him in thereat a.
The first man that John Dory did meet,
Was good King John of France a;
John Dory could well of his courtesie,
But fell down in a trance a.
A pardon, a pardon, my liege and my king,
For my merry men and for me a:
And all the churls in merry England
I'll bring them bound to thee a.
And Nichol was then a Cornish man
A little beside Bohyde a;
He manned him forth a goodly bark,
With fifty good oars of a side a.
Run up, my boy, into the main top,
And look what thou can'st spy a;
Who, ho! who, ho! a good ship do I see,
I trow it be John Dory a.
They hoist their sails both top and top,
The mizen and all was tried a,
And every man stood to his lot,
Whatever should betide a.
The roaring cannons then were plied,
And dub-a-dub went the drum a:
The braying trumpets loud they cried,
To courage both all and some a.
The grappling hooks were brought at length,
The brown bill and the sword a;
John Dory at length, for all his strength,
Was clapt fast under board a.
This song is mentioned by Carew in his Survey of Cornwall; in it he
says--"the prowesse of one Nicholas, sonne to a widdow neere Foy is
deskanted upon." (He was one of the "Fowey gallants.")