(Vol. iii., pp. 324. 377.)
The songs of the old bellman are interesting relics of the manners and
customs of "London in the olden time;" but they must not be confounded
with the more modern "copies of verses" which, until lately, were
annually handed about at Christmas time by that all-important
functionary the "Parish Beadle." The history of the old London bellman
may be gleaned from a series of tracts from the pen of those two
prolific writers--Thomas Dekker and Samuel Rowlands. The first of these
in the order of date is _The Belman of London. Bringing to light the
most notorious Villanies that are now practised in the Kingdome.
Profitable for Gentlemen, Lawyers, Merchants, Citizens, Farmers,
Masters of Households, and all sortes of Servants to marke, and
delightfull for all Men to Reade._ Printed at London for Nathaniel
Butler, 4to. 1608. The author of this tract was Thomas Dekker. Its
popularity was so great that it passed through _three_ editions in the
course of one year. The title-page above given is that of the first
impression. It is adorned with an interesting woodcut of the bellman
with bell, lantern, and halberd, followed by his dog. In the following
year the same author printed his _Lanthorne and Candle-light, or the
Bellman's second Nights-walke. In which he brings to light a Brood of
more strange Villanies then ever were till this yeare discovered, &c._
London, printed for John Busbie, 4to. 1609. The success of the _Bellman
of London_, which Dekker published anonymously, induced him to write
this second part, to the dedication of which "to Maister Francis Mustian
of Peckham" he puts his name, while he also admits the authorship of the
first part. This is the second edition of _Lanthorne and Candle-light_,
but it came out originally in the same year. On the title-page of this
tract the bellman is represented in a night-cap, without his dog, and
with a "brown bill" on his shoulder. Three years later Dekker produced
his _O per se O, or a New Cryer of Lanthorne and Candle-light. Being an
Addition, or Lengthening of the Bellman's Second Night-walke, &c._
Printed at London for John Busbie, 4to. 1612. Previous to the year 1648,
this production went through no fewer than _nine_ distinct editions,
varying only in a slight degree from each other. One of these editions,
now before me, has for its title _English Villanies Eight severall times
Prest to Death by the Printers_, 4to. 1648. The author in this calls the
bellman "the childe of darkeness, a common night-walker, a man that hath
no man to wait upon him, but onely a dogge; one that was a disordered
person, and at midnight would beat at men's doores bidding them (in
meere mockerie) to looke to their candles, when they themselves were in
their dead sleepes." The following verses are at the back of the
title-page, preceded by a woodcut of a bellman. The same lines are also
given, "with additions," in the earlier editions of the _Villanies_, but
they are too indecent to quote:
"THE BELL-MAN'S CRY.
"Men and children, maids and wives,
'Tis not too late to mend your lives:
Midnight feastings are great wasters,
Servants' riots undoe masters.
When you heare this ringing bell,
Thinke it is your latest knell:
Foure a clock, the cock is crowing,
I must to my home be going:
When all other men doe rise,
Then must I shut up mine eyes."
The exceeding popularity of the _Bellman of London_ induced Samuel
Rowlands to bring out his _Martin Mark-all, Beadle of Bridewell, his
Defence and Answere to the Belman of London, discovering the
long-concealed Originall and Regiment of Rogues when they first began to
take head, and how they have succeeded, &c._ Printed for John Budge,
&c., 4to. 1610. The object of this publication was to expose Dekker's
_Bellman_, which Rowlands says was only a "vamp up" of Harman's _Caveat
or Warening for Common Cursetors_; but Harman himself was only a
borrower, and the origin of his work is _The Fraternitye of Vacabondes_,
printed prior to 1565. Greene's _Ground-work of Coney-catching_ is
another work which may be pointed out as having been taken from the same
original. But as these tracts do not contain any "bellman's songs," I
need not now dwell upon them.
Among the many curious musical works printed in London at the close of
the sixteenth and the beginning of the following century, I can scarcely
point out a more desirable volume than one with this title: _Melismata,
Musical Phansies fitting the Court, City, and Country Humours, to three,
four, and five voices_:
_To all delightful, except to the spiteful;
To none offensive, except to the pensive._
London, printed by William Stansby, &c., 4to. 1611. The work is in five
divisions, viz., 1. Court Varieties; 2. Citie Rounds; 3. Citie Conceits;
4. Country Rounds; 5. Country Pastimes. Among the "City Conceits" we
have the following:
"A BEL-MAN'S SONG.
"Maides to bed, and cover coale,
Let the mouse out of her hole;
Crickets in the chimney sing,
Whilst the little bell doth ring:
If fast asleepe, who can tell
When the clapper hits the bell."
But perhaps the most curious collection of bellman's songs that has been
handed down to us, is a small tract of twelve leaves entitled _The
Common Calls, Cries, and Sounds of the Bel-Man; or Diverse Verses to put
us in minde of our Mortality_, 12mo. Printed at London, 1639. This
excessively rare and interesting "set of rhymes" is now before me, and
from them I have extracted a few specimens of the _genuine_ old songs of
the London bellman of past times:--
"THE BEL-MAN'S SOUNDS.
"_For Christmas Day._
"Remember all that on this morne,
Our blessed Saviour Christ was borne;
Who issued from a Virgin pure,
Our soules from Satan to secure;
And patronise our feeble spirit,
That we through him may heaven inherit."
"_For New-Yeares Day._
"All you that doe the bell-man heere,
The first day of this hopefull yeare;
I doe in love admonish you,
To bid your old sins all adue,
And walk as God's just law requires,
In holy deeds and good desires,
Which if to doe youle doe your best,
God will in Christ forgive the rest."
"COMMON SOUNDS.
"The belman like the wakefull morning cocke,
Doth warne you to be vigilant and wise:
Looke to youre fire, your candle, and your locke,
Prevent what may through negligence arise:
So may you sleepe with peace and wake with joy,
And no mischances shall your state annoy."
"All you which in your beds doe lie,
Unto the Lord ye ought to cry,
That he would pardon all your sins;
And thus the bell-man's prayer begins:
Lord, give us grace our sinful life to mend,
And at the last to send a joyfull end:
Having put out your fire and your light,
For to conclude, I bid you all good night."
The collection of Bellman's songs here described is sometimes found
appended to a little work entitled _Time well Improved, or Some Helps
for Weak Heads in their Meditations_, 12mo. 1657. The latter publication
is a reprint, with a new title-page, of Samuel Rowlands' _Heaven's
Glory, seeke it; Earth's Vanitie, fly it; Hell's Horror, fere it_. But
whether the songs in question were written, or merely collected by
Rowlands, does not appear.