¶ Mans age deuided here ye haue,
By prentiships, from birth to his graue.
_Chap._ 49.
7 _The first seuen yeers bring vp as a childe,_[E378]
14 _The next to learning, for waxing too wilde._
21 _The next keepe vnder sir hobbard de hoy,_
28 _The next a man no longer a boy._
35 _The next, let lustie laie wisely to wiue,_
42 _The next, laie now or else neuer to thriue._
49 _The next, make sure for terme of thy life,_
56 _The next, saue somewhat for children and wife._
63 _The next, be staied, giue ouer thy lust,_
70 _The next, thinke hourely whither thou must._
77 _The next, get chaire and crotches to stay,_
84 _The next, to heauen God send vs the way._
Who looseth their youth, shall rue it in age:
Who hateth the truth, in sorowe shall rage.
61.
¶ Another diuision of the nature of mans age.
_Chap._ 50.
The Ape, the Lion, the Foxe, the Asse,
Thus sets foorth man, as in a glasse.
[1]
Ape _Like Apes we be toieng, till twentie and one,_
Lyon _Then hastie as Lions till fortie be gone:_
Foxe _Then wilie as Foxes, till threescore and three,_
Asse _Then after for Asses accounted[1] we bee._
[2]
Who plaies with his better, this lesson must knowe,
what humblenes Foxe to the Lion doth owe.
Foxe, Ape with his toieng[E379] and rudenes of Asse,
brings (out of good hower) displeasure to passe.
[1] accompted. 1577.
62.
_Comparing good husband with vnthrift his brother,
The better discerneth the tone from the tother._[E380]
_Chap._ 51
1
Ill husbandrie braggeth,
to go with the best:
Good husbandrie baggeth
vp gold in his chest.
2
Ill husbandry trudgeth,
with vnthrifts about:
Good husbandry snudgeth,
for fear of a dout.
3
Ill husbandrie spendeth
abrode like a mome:
Good husbandrie tendeth
his charges at home.
4
Ill husbandrie selleth
his corne on the ground:
Good husbandrie smelleth
no gain that way found.
5
Ill husbandrie loseth,
for lack of good fence:
Good husbandrie closeth,
and gaineth the pence.
6
Ill husbandrie trusteth
to him and to hur:[E381]
Good husbandrie lusteth
himselfe for to stur.
7
Ill husbandrie eateth
himselfe out a doore:
Good husbandrie meateth
his friend and the poore.
8
Ill husbandrie daieth,[E382]
or letteth it lie:
Good husbandrie paieth,
the cheaper to bie.
9
Ill husbandrie lurketh,
and stealeth a sleepe:
Good husbandrie worketh,
his houshold to kéepe.
10
Ill husbandrie liueth,
by that and by this:[E383]
Good husbandrie giueth
to erie man his.
11
Ill husbandrie taketh,
and spendeth vp all:
Good husbandrie maketh
good shift with a small.
12
Ill husbandry praieth
his wife to make shift:
Good husbandrie saieth
take this of my gift.
13
Ill husbandry drowseth
at fortune so auke:
Good husbandrie rowseth
himselfe as a hauke.
14
Ill husbandrie lieth
in prison for debt:
Good husbandrie spieth
where profit to get.
15
Ill husbandrie waies
has to fraud what he can
Good husbandrie praies
hath of euerie man.
16
Ill husbandrie neuer
hath welth to keep touch
Good husbandrie euer
hath penie in pouch.
[17]
Good husband his boone,
Or request hath a far.
Ill husband assoone
Hath a tode with an R.[E384]
63.
¶ _A comparison betweene Champion countrie and seuerall.
Chap._ 52.
1
The countrie[1] enclosed I praise,
the tother delighteth not me,
For nothing the wealth it doth raise,
to such as inferior be.
How both of them partly I knowe,
here somewhat I mind for to showe.[2]
[Sidenote: Champion.]
2
There swineherd that keepeth the hog,
there neatherd, with cur and his horne,
There shepherd with whistle and dog,
be fence to the medowe and corne.
There horse being tide on a balke,
is readie with theefe for to walke.
3
Where all thing in common doth rest,
corne field with the pasture and meade,
Though common ye doo for the best,
yet what doth it stand ye in steade?
There common as commoners vse,
for otherwise shalt thou not chuse.[3]
4
What laier much better then there,
or cheaper (thereon to doo well?)
What drudgerie more any where
lesse good thereof where can ye tell?
What gotten by Sommer is seene:
in Winter is eaten vp cleene.
5
Example by Leicester shire,
what soile can be better than that?
For any thing hart can desire,
and yet doth it want ye see what.
Mast, couert, close pasture, and wood,
and other things needfull as good.
[Sidenote: Enclosure.]
6
All these doo enclosure bring,
experience teacheth no lesse,
I speake not to boast of the thing,
but onely a troth to expresse.
Example (if doubt ye doo make):
by Suffolke and Essex go take.[E385]
[Sidenote: Seuerall.]
7
More plentie of mutton and biefe,
corne, butter, and cheese of the best,
More wealth any where (to be briefe),
more people, more handsome and prest,
Where find ye? (go search any coast)
than there where enclosure is most.
8
More worke for the labouring man,
as well in the towne as the feeld:
Or thereof (deuise if ye can)
more profit what countries doo yeeld?
More seldome where see ye the poore,
go begging from doore vnto doore?
[Sidenote: Champion countrie.]
9
In Norfolke behold the dispaire
of tillage too much to be borne:
By drouers from faire to faire,
and others destroieng the corne.
By custome and couetous pates,
by gaps, and by opening of gates.[4][E386]
10
What speake I of commoners by,
with drawing all after a line:
So noieng the corne, as it ly,
with cattle, with conies,[5] and swine.
When thou[6] hast bestowed thy cost,
looke halfe of the same to be lost.
11
The flocks of the Lords of the soile
do yeerly the winter corne wrong:
The same in a manner they spoile,
with feeding so lowe and so long.
And therefore that champion feeld
doth seldome good winter corne yeeld.
[Sidenote: Champion noiances.]
12[7]
By Cambridge a towne I doo knowe,
where many good husbands doo dwell;
Whose losses by losels doth showe,[E387]
more here than is needfull to tell:
Determine at court what they shall,
performed is nothing at all.[E388]
13
The champion robbeth by night,
and prowleth and filcheth by day:
Himselfe and his beast out of sight,
both spoileth and maketh away
Not onely thy grasse, but thy corne,
both after, and er it be shorne.
14
Pease bolt with thy pease he will haue,
his houshold to feede and his hog:
Now stealeth he, now will he craue,
and now will he coosen and cog.
In Bridewell a number be stript,
lesse woorthie than theefe to be whipt.[E389]
15
The oxboy, as ill is as hee,
or worser, if worse may be found:
For spoiling from thine and from thee,
of grasse and of corne on the ground.
Laie neuer so well for to saue it,
by night or by daie he will haue it.
16
What orchard vnrobbed escapes?
or pullet dare walke in their jet?
But homeward or outward (like apes)
they count it their owne they can get.
Lord, if ye doo take them,[E390] what sturs!
how hold they togither like burs!
17
For commons these commoners crie,
enclosing they may not abide:
Yet some be not able to bie
a cow with hir calfe by hir side.
Nor laie not to liue by their wurke,
but theeuishlie loiter and lurke.
18
The Lord of the towne is to blame,
for these and for many faults mo.[E391]
For that he doth knowe of the same,
yet lets it vnpunished go.
Such Lords ill example doth giue,
where verlets[E392] and drabs so may liue.
19
What footpathes are made, and how brode!
annoiance too much to be borne:
With horse and with cattle what rode
is made thorow erie mans corne!
Where champions ruleth the roste,[E393]
there dailie disorder is moste.
20
Their sheepe when they driue for to wash,
how careles such sheepe they doo guide!
The fermer they leaue in the lash,
with losses on euerie side.
Though any mans corne they doo bite,
they will not alow him a mite.
21
What hunting and hauking is there!
corne looking for sickle at hand:
Actes lawles to doo without feare,
how yeerlie[8] togither they band.
More harme to another to doo,
than they would be done so vntoo.
22
More profit is quieter found
(where pastures in seuerall bee:)
Of one seelie aker of ground,
than champion maketh of three.
Againe what a ioie is it knowne,
when men may be bold of their owne!
[Sidenote: Champion.]
[Sidenote: Seuerall.]
23
The tone is commended for graine,
yet bread made of beanes they doo eate:
The tother for one loafe haue twaine,
of mastlin, of rie, or of wheate.
The champion liueth full bare,
when woodland full merie doth fare.
[Sidenote: Champion.]
[Sidenote: Seuerall.]
24
Tone giueth his corne in a darth,
to horse, sheepe, and hog euery daie;
The tother giue cattle warme barth,
and feede them with strawe and with haie.
Corne spent of the tone so in vaine:
the tother doth sell to his gaine.
[Sidenote: Champion.]
[Sidenote: Seuerall.]
25
Tone barefoote and ragged doth go,
and readie in winter to sterue:
When tother ye see doo not so,
but hath that is needfull to serue.
Tone paine in a cotage doth take,
when tother trim bowers doo make.
[Sidenote: Champion.]
[Sidenote: Seuerall.]
26
Tone laieth for turfe and for sedge,
and hath it with woonderfull suit:
When tother in euerie hedge,
hath plentie of fewell and fruit.
Euils twentie times worser than thease,
enclosure quickly would ease.
[Sidenote: Seuerall.]
27
In woodland the poore men that haue
scarse fully two akers of land,
More merily liue and doo saue,
than tother with twentie in hand.
Yet paie they as much for the twoo
as tother for twentie must doo.
28
The labourer comming from thence,
in woodland to worke any where:
(I warrant you) goeth not hence,
to worke anie more againe there.
If this same be true (as it is:)
why gather they nothing of this?
29
The poore at enclosing doo grutch,
because of abuses that fall,
Least some man should haue but too much,
and some againe nothing at all.
If order might therein be found,
what were to the seuerall ground?
Thus endeth Husbandry. 1577.
Here followeth Huswifery. 1573.
* * * "It is likely this was wrote soon after Ket's rebellion, as a
dissuasive from the like, and to persuade the poorer sort quietly to
endure Enclosures."--T.R.
[1] countery. 1577.
[2]
Because of them both I do know
I mind thereof somewhat to show. 1577.
[3]
There common as commoners do,
As good else to cobble a shoe. 1573 (M.) and 1577.
[4] "In Norfolk (in our Author's time) there was a considerable
Rebellion, call'd Ket's Rebellion against Inclosures, and to this
day they take the Liberty of throwing open all Enclosures out of the
Common Field, these are commonly call'd Lammas Lands, and half Year
Lands."--T.R.
[5] sheep and with swine. 1577.
[6] one. 1577.
[7] Stanzas 12-21 are not in 1577.
[8] _Query_, yarely.
64.
¶ _The description of an enuious and naughtie neighbour.[E394]
Chap._ 53.[1]
An enuious neighbour is easie to finde,
His cumbersome fetches are seldome[2] behinde.
His hatred procureth from naughtie to wurse,
His friendship like Iudas that carried the purse.[E395]
His head is a storehouse, with quarrels full fraught,
His braine is vnquiet, till all come to naught.
His memorie pregnant, old euils to recite,
His mind euer fixed each euill to requite.
His mouth full of venim, his lips out of frame,[E396]
His tongue a false witnes, his friend to defame.
His eies be promooters, some trespas to spie,
His eares be as spials,[E397] alarum to crie.
His hands be as tyrants, reuenging ech thing,
His feete at thine elbow, as serpent to sting.
His breast full of rancor, like Canker[3] to freat,
His hart like a Lion, his neighbour to eat.
His gate like a sheepebiter,[E398] fleering aside,
His looke like a coxcombe,[E399] vp puffed with pride.
His face made of brasse, like a vice in a game,
His iesture like Dauus,[E400] whom Terence doth name.
His brag as Thersites,[E401] with elbowes abrode.
His cheekes in his furie shall swell like a tode.[E402]
His colour like ashes, his cap in his eies,
His nose in the aire, his snout in the skies.
His promise to trust to as slipprie[4] as ice,
His credit much like to the chance of the dice.
His knowledge or skill is in prating[5] too much,
His companie shunned,[6] and so be all such.
His friendship is counterfait, seldome to trust,
His dooings vnluckie and euer vniust.
His fetch is to flatter, to get what he can,
His purpose once gotten, a pin[7] for thee than.
[1] This chapter precedes the Author's Life in 1577 edition.
[2] sieldome. 1614.
[3] Coprus. 1577.
[4] slipper. 1577.
[5] parting. 1577.
[6] shenned. 1577.
[7] penny. 1577.
[In the edition of 1577 the following piece is inserted here.]
64.*
_To light a candell before the Deuill._[E403]
To beard thy foes shews forth thy witt,
but helpes the matter nere a whit.
My sonne, were it not worst
to frame thy nature so,
That as thine vse is to thy friend,
likewise to greet thy foe:
Though not for hope of good,
yet for the feare of euill,
Thou maist find ease so proffering vp
a candell to the deuill.
This knowne, the surest way
thine enemies wrath to swage;
If thou canst currey fauour thus,
thou shalt be counted sage.
Of truth I tell no lye,
by proofe to well I knowe,
The stubborne want of only this
hath brought full many lowe.
And yet to speak the trouth
the Deuill is worse then naught,
That no good turne will once deserue,
yet looketh vp so haught.
Exalt him how we please,
and giue him what we can,
Yet skarcely shall we find such Deuill
a truly honest man.
But where the mighty may
of force the weake constraine,
It shal be wysely doone to bow
to voyd a farther payne,
Like as in tempest great,
where wind doth beare the stroke,
Much safer stands the bowing reede
then doth the stubborne oke.
And chiefly when of all
thy selfe art one of those
That fortune needes, will haue to dwell
fast by the Deuils nose:
Then (though against thine hart)
thy tongue thou must so charme
That tongue may say, where ere thou come
the Deuill doth no man harme.
For where as no reuenge
may stand a man in steede,
As good is then an humble speech,
as otherwise to bleede.
Like as ye see by him
that hath a shrew to wife,
As good it is to speak her faire
as still to liue in strife.
Put thou no Deuill in boote
as once did master Shorne:[E404]
Take heede as from madde bayted bull
to keepe thee fro his horne.
And where ye see the Deuill
so bold to wrest with lawe,
Make _congé_ oft, and crouch aloofe,
but come not in his clawe.
The scholer forth of schoole
may boldlier take his mind,
The fields haue eyes, the bushes eares,
false birds can fetch the wind.[E405]
The further from the gone
the safer may ye skippe,
The nerer to the carters hand
the nerer to the whippe.
The neerer to the whippe
the sooner comes the jerke,
The sooner that poore beast is strucke
the sooner doth he yerke.
Some loueth for to whippe,
to see how ierkes will smart,
In wofull taking is that horse
that nedes must drawe in cart.
Such fellow is the Deuell,
that doth euen what he list,
Yet thinketh he what ere he doth
none ought dare say, but whist.
Take therefore heed, my sonne,
and marke full well this song,
Learne thus with craft to claw the deuell,
else liue in rest not long.
65.
¶ _A sonet against a slanderous tongue._[E406]
¶ _Chap._ 54.
Doth darnell good, among the flowrie wheat?
Doo thistles good, so thick in fallow spide?
Doo taint wormes good, that lurke where ox should eat
Or sucking drones, in hiue where bees abide?
Doo hornets good, or these same biting gnats?
Foule swelling toades, what good by them is seene?
In house well deckt, what good doth gnawing rats?
Or casting mowles, among the meadowes greene?
Doth heauie newes make glad the hart of man?
Or noisome smels, what good doth that to health?
Now once for all, what good (shew who so can?)
Doo stinging[1] snakes, to this our Commonwealth?
_No more doth good a peeuish slanderous toung,
But hurts it selfe, and noies both old and young._[E407]
[1] stinking. 1577.
66.
¶ _A sonet vpon the Authors first seuen yeeres seruice.
Chap._ 55.
Seuen times hath Janus[E408] tane new yéere by hand,
Seuen times hath blustring March blowne forth his powre:
To driue out Aprils buds, by sea and land,
For minion Maie, to deck most trim with flowre.
Seuen times hath temperate Ver,[E409] like pageant plaide,
And pleasant Æstas eke hir flowers told:
Seuen times Autumnes heate hath béene delaide,[E410]
With Hyems boistrous blasts, and bitter cold.
Seuen times the thirtéene Moones[E411] haue changed hew,
Seuen times the Sunne his course hath gone about:
Seuen times ech bird hir nest hath built anew,
Since first time you to serue, I choosed out.
_Still yours am I, though thus the time hath past,
And trust to be, as[1] long as life shall last._
[1] so. 1577.
67.
Man minded for to thriue
must wisely lay to wiue.
What hap may thereby fall
here argued find ye shall.
¶ _The Authours Dialogue betweene two Bachelers, of wiuing and
thriuing by Affirmation and Obiection._[E412]
_Chap._ 56.
_Affirmation._
[1]
Frend, where we met this other day,
We heard one make his mone and say,
Good Lord, how might I thriue?
We heard an other answere him,
Then make thee handsome, trick and trim,
And lay in time to wiue.
_Obiection._
[2]
And what of that, say you to mee?
Do you your selfe thinke that to be
The best way for to thriue?
If truth were truely bolted out,[E413]
As touching thrift, I stand in dout,
If men were best to wiue.
_Affirmation._
[3]
There is no doubt, for proue I can,
I haue but seldome seene that man
Which could the way to thriue:[E414]
Vntill it was his happie lot,
To stay himselfe in some good plot,[E415]
And wisely then to wiue.
_Obiection._
[4]
And I am of an other minde,
For by no reason can I finde,
How that way I should thriue:
For where as now I spend a pennie,
I should not then be quit with mennie,
Through bondage for to wiue.
_Affirmation._
[5]
Not so, for now where thou dost spend,
Of this and that,[E416] to no good end,
Which hindereth thee to thriue:
Such vaine expences thou shouldst saue,
And daily then lay more to haue,
As others do that wiue.
_Obiection._
[6]
Why then do folke this prouerbe put,
The blacke oxe neare trod on thy fut,[E417]
If that way were to thriue?
Hereout a man may soone picke forth,
Few feeleth what a pennie is worth,
Till such time as they wiue.
_Affirmation._
[7]
It may so chaunce as thou doest say,
This lesson therefore beare away,
If thereby thou wilt thriue:
Looke ere thou leape, see ere thou go,
It may be for thy profite so,
For thee to lay to wiue.
_Obiection._
[8]
It is too much we dailie heare,
To wiue and thriue both in a yeare,[E418]
As touching now to thriue:
I know not herein what to spie,
But that there doth small profite lie,
To fansie for to wiue.
_Affirmation._
[9]
In deede the first yeare oft is such,
That fondly some bestoweth much,
A let to them to thriue:
Yet other moe may soone be founde,
Which getteth many a faire pounde,
The same day that they wiue.
_Obiection._
[10]
I graunt some getteth more that day,
Than they can easily beare away,
Nowe needes then must they thriue:
What gaineth such thinke you by that?
A little burden, you wote what,
Through fondnesse for to wiue.
_Affirmation._
[11]
Thou seemest blinde as mo[E419] haue bin,
It is not beautie bringeth in
The thing to make thee thriue:
In womankinde, see that ye do
Require of hir no gift but two,
When ere ye minde to wiue.
_Obiection._
[12]
But two, say you? I pray you than
Shew those as briefly as you can,
If that may helpe to thriue:
I weene we must conclude anon,
Of those same twaine to want the ton,
When ere we chance to wiue.
[Sidenote: Honestie and huswiferie.]
_Affirmation._
[13]
An honest huswife, trust to mee,
Be those same twaine, I say to thee,
That helpe so much to thriue:
As honestie farre passeth golde,
So huswiferie in yong and olde,
Do pleasure such as wiue.
_Obiection._
[14]
The honestie in deede I graunt,
Is one good point the wife should haunt,
To make hir husband thriue:
But now faine would I haue you show,
How should a man good huswife know,
If once he hap to wiue?
_Affirmation._
[15]
A huswife good betimes will rise,
And order things in comelie wise,
Hir minde is set to thriue:
Vpon hir distaffe she will spinne,
And with hir needle she will winne,
If such ye hap to wiue.
_Obiection._
[16]
It is not idle going about,
Nor all day pricking on a clout,
Can make a man to thriue:
Or if there be no other winning,
But that the wife gets by hir spinning,
Small thrift it is to wiue.
_Affirmation._
[17]
Some more than this yet do shee[1] shall,
Although thy stocke be verie small,
Yet will shee helpe thee thriue:
Lay thou[2] to saue, as well as she,
And then thou shalt[3] enriched be,
When such thou hapst[4] to wiue.
_Obiection._
[18]
If she were mine, I tell thee troth,
Too much to trouble hir I were loth,
For greedines to thriue:
Least some should talke, as is the speech,
The good wiues husband weares no breech,[E420]
If such I hap to wiue.
_Affirmation._
[19]
What hurts it thee what some do say,
If honestlie she take the way
To helpe thee for to thriue?
For honestie will make hir prest,
To doo the thing that shall be best,
If such ye hap to wiue.
_Obiection._
[20]
Why did _Diogenes_ say than,
To one that askt of him time whan,
Were best to wiue to thriue?
Not yet (quoth[5] he) if thou be yong,
If thou waxe old, then holde thy tong,
It is too late to wiue.[E421]
_Affirmation._
[21]
Belike he knew some shrewish wife,
Which with hir husband made such strife,
That hindered him to thriue:
Who then may blame him for that clause,
Though then he spake as some had cause,
As touching for to wiue?
_Obiection._
[22]
Why then I see to take a shrew,
(As seldome other there be few)
Is not the way to thriue:
So hard a thing I spie it is,
The good to chuse, the shrew to mis,
That feareth me to wiue.[E422]
_Affirmation._
[23]
She may in something seeme a shrew,
Yet such a huswife as but few,
To helpe thee for to thriue:
This prouerbe looke in mind ye keepe,
As good a shrew is as a sheepe,[E423]
For you to take to wiue.
_Obiection._
[24]
Now be she lambe or be she eaw,
Giue me the sheepe, take thou the shreaw,
See which of vs shall thriue:
If she be shrewish thinke for troth,
For all her thrift I would be loth
To match with such to wiue.
_Affirmation._
[25]
Tush, farewell then, I leaue you off,
Such fooles as you that loue to scoff,
Shall seldome wiue to thriue:
Contrarie hir, as you do me,
And then ye shall, I warrant ye,
Repent ye if ye wiue.
_Obiection._
[26]
Friend, let vs both giue iustly place,
To wedded man to iudge this cace,
Which best way is to thriue:
For both our talke as seemeth plaine,
Is but as hapneth in our braine,
To will or not to wiue.
¶ _Wedded mans iudgement
Vpon the former argument._
[Sidenote: Moderator.]
[27]
As Cock that wants his mate, goes rouing all about,
With crowing early and late, to find his louer out:
And as poore sillie hen, long wanting cock to guide,
Soone droopes and shortly then beginnes to peake aside:
Euen so it is with man and wife, where gouernment is found,
The want of ton the others life doth shortly soone confound.
[28]
In iest and in earnest, here argued ye finde,
That husband and huswife togither must dwell,
And thereto the iudgement of wedded mans minde,
That husbandrie otherwise speedeth not well:
So somewhat more nowe I intende for to tell,
Of huswiferie like as of husbandrie tolde,
How huswifelie huswife helpes bring in the golde.
[1] they. 1577.
[2] you. 1577.
[3] you shall. 1577.
[4] you hap. 1577.
[5] quod. 1577.
_Thus endeth the booke of_ Husbandrie.
[Finis (1577).]
The points of Huswiferie, vnited to the comfort of Husbandrie, newly
corrected and amplified, with diuers good lessons for housholders to
recreate the Reader, as by the Table at the end hereof more plainlie
may appeere.
Set forth by Thomas Tusser Gentleman.
68.
_To the right Honorable and my especiall good Ladie and Maistres, the
Ladie Paget._[E424]
1
Though danger be mickle,
and fauour so fickle,
Yet dutie doth tickle
my fansie to wright:
Concerning how prettie,
how fine and how nettie,
Good huswife should iettie,[1]
from morning to night.
2
Not minding[2] by writing,
to kindle a spiting,
But shew by enditing,
as afterward told:
How husbandrie easeth,
to huswiferie pleaseth,
And manie purse greaseth
with siluer and gold.
3
For husbandrie wéepeth,
where huswiferie sléepeth,
And hardly he créepeth,
vp ladder to thrift:
That wanteth to bold him,
thrifts ladder to hold him,
Before it be told him,
he falles without shift.
4
Least many should feare me,
and others forsweare me,
Of troth I doo beare me
vpright as ye sée:
Full minded to looue all,
and not to reprooue all,
But onely to mooue all,
good huswiues to bée.
5
For if I should mind some,
or descant behind some,
And missing to find some,
displease so I mought:
Or if I should blend them,
and so to offend them,
What stur I should send them
I stand in a dought.