_Old Hewson the Cobbler_ (Vol. iii., pp. 11. 73.).--The most satisfactory
account of "old Hewson" is the following, extracted from _The Loyal
Martyrology, by William Winstanley_, small 8vo. 1665, (p. 123.):--
"John Hewson, who, from a cobbler, rose by degrees to be a colonel, and
though a person of no parts either in body or mind, yet made by
Cromwell one of his pageant lords. He was a fellow fit for any
mischief, and capable of nothing else; a sordid lump of ignorance and
impiety, and therefore the more fit to share in Cromwell's designs, and
to act in that horrid murther of his Majesty. Upon the turn of the
times, he ran away for fear of Squire Dun [the common hangman], and (by
report) is since dead, and buried at Amsterdam."
In the collection of songs entitled _The Rump_, 1666, may be found two
ballads relative to Hewson, viz., "A Hymne to the Gentle Craft; or Hewson's
Lamentation. To the tune of the Blind Beggar:"
"Listen a while to what I shall say
Of a blind cobbler that's gone astray
Out of the parliament's high way,
Good people pity the blind."
"The Cobbler's Last Will and Testament; or the Lord Hewson's translation:"
"To Christians all, I greeting send,
That they may learn their souls to amend
By viewing, of my _cobbler's end_."
Lord Hewson's "one eye" is a frequent subject of ridicule in the political
songs of the period. Thus in "The Bloody Bed-roll, or Treason displayed in
its Colours:"
"Make room for one-ey'd HEWSON,
A Lord of such account,
'Twas a pretty jest
That such a beast
Should to such honour mount."
The song inquired for by my friend MR. CHAPELL, beginning, "My name is old
Hewson," is not contained in any of the well-known printed collections of
political songs and ballads, nor is it to be found among the broadsides
preserved in the King's Pamphlets. A full index to the latter is now before
me, so I make this statement _positively_, and to save others the trouble
of a search.