A History of the Cries of London Part 9

FINIS.

Printed at London for F. Coules.

The following ballad was published in "Playford's Select Ayres," 1659, p.

95; with music by Dr. John Wilson, and Musical Companion, 1673. It is in the Percy Folio MS., iii., 308-11. Also in "Windsor Drollery," 2; and "Le Prince d'Amour," 1660, p. 177. It is attributed to Shakespeare, but with only ma.n.u.script evidence.

"THE SONG OF THE PEDLARS.

"From the fair Lavinian sh.o.r.e, I your markets come to store.

Muse not though so far I dwell And my wares come here to sell: Such is the insatiate thirst after gold, Then come to my pack While I cry, what d'ye lack, What d'ye buy? for here it is to be sold.

"Courteous Sir, I've wares for you, Garters red and stockings blue, Dainty gaudes for Sunday gear, Beads and laces for your dear, First let me have but a touch of your gold Then come--Not a swain, Half so neat, On the plain Shall we meet So comely to behold.

"Madam, come, here you may find Rings with posies to your mind, Silken bands for true-love-knot, And complexion I have got.

First let me have but a touch of your gold, Then come--To your face, I'll restore Every grace Though you're more Than three score and ten years old.

"Gentles all, now fare you well, I must trudge my wares to sell; Lads so blythe and Dames so young, Drop a guerdon for my song.

Just let me have but a touch of your gold, I'll come with my pack Again to cry, What d'ye lack, What d'ye buy?

For here it is to be sold."

Mr. John Payne Collier, in his "_A Book of Roxburghe Ballads_," London, 1847, reproduces a capital ditty; "ryhte merrie and very excellent in its way," relating to the popular pursuits and the customs of London and the Londoners in the early part of the seventeenth century. It is printed _verbatim_ from a broadside, signed W. Turner, and called:--

"The Common Cries of London Town, Some go up street and some go down.

With Turner's Dish of Stuff, or a Gallymaufery

To the tune of _Wotton Towns End_.[6] Printed for F. C[oles,] T.

V[ere,] and W. G[ilbertson.] 1662."

The only known copy is dated 1662, but contains internal evidence, in the following stanza (which occurs in the opening of The Second Part,) that it was written in the reign of James I.

"That's the fat foole of the Curtin: And the lean fool of the Bull: Since _Shancke_ did leave to sing his rimes, He is counted but a gull.

"The players on the Bankside, The round Globe and the Swan, Will teach you idle tricks of love, But the Bull will play the man."

_Shancke._--John Shancke the comic actor here mentioned was celebrated for singing rhymes, and what were technically "jigs" on the stage. In this respect, as a low comedian he had been the legitimate successor of Tarlton, Kempe, Phillips, and Singer. He was on the stage from 1603 to 1635, when he died. Then, John Taylor the _Water Poet_, no mean authority, informs us that the Swan Theatre, on the Bankside, in the Liberty of Paris Gardens, had been abandoned by the players in 1613. The Curtain Theatre in Holywell street--or Halliwell street, as it was usually spelt at that time--Sh.o.r.editch Fields[7] had also fallen into disuse before the reign of Charles I. The Globe on the Bankside, and the [Red] Bull Theatre at the upper end of St. John's street, Clerkenwell were employed until after the restoration. The allusion to the Waterman carrying "bonny la.s.ses over to the plays," is also a curious note of time. With these matters before us, we may safely conclude that "Turner's Dish of Stuff" is but a reprint of an earlier production. As we find it, so we lay it before our readers: thus:--

"THE COMMON CRIES OF LONDON TOWN: SOME GO UP STREET, SOME GO DOWN.

With Turner's Dish of Stuff, or a Gallymaufery.

_To the tune_ of Wotton Towns End."

[Ill.u.s.tration]

"My masters all, attend you, if mirth you love to heare, And I will tell you what they cry in London all the yeare.

Ile please you if I can, I will not be too long: I pray you all attend awhile, and listen to my song.

"The fish-wife first begins, Anye muscles lilly white!

Herrings, sprats or plaice, or c.o.c.kles for delight.

Anye welflet oysters!

Then she doth change her note: She had need to have her tongue be greas'd, for the rattles in the throat.

"For why, they are but Kentish, to tell you out of doubt.

Her measure is too little; goe, beat the bottom out.

Half a peck for two pence?

I doubt it is a bodge.

Thus all the City over the people they do dodge.

"The wench that cries the kitchin stuff, I marvel what she ayle, She sings her note so merry, but she hath a draggle tayle: An empty car came running, and hit her on the b.u.m; Down she threw her greasie tub, and away straight she did run.

"But she did give her blessing to some, but not to all, To bear a load to Tyburne, and there to let it fall: The miller and his golden thumb, and his dirty neck, If he grind but two bushels, he must needs steal a peck.

"The weaver and the taylor, cozens they be sure, They cannot work but they must steal, to keep their hands inure; For it is a common proverb thorowout the town, The taylor he must cut three sleeves to every woman's gown.

"Mark but the waterman attending for his fare, Of hot and cold, of wet and dry, he alwaies takes his share: He carrieth bonny la.s.ses over to the playes, And here and there he gets a bit, and that his stomach staies.

"There was a singing boy who did not ride to Rumford; When I go to my own school I will take him in a comfort; But what I leave behind shall be no private gain; But all is one when I am gone: let him take it for his pain.

"Old shoes for new brooms!

the broom-man he doth sing, For hats or caps or buskins, or any old pouch ring.

Buy a mat, a bed-mat!

a ha.s.sock or a presse, A cover for a close stool, a bigger or a lesse.

"Ripe, cherry ripe!

the coster-monger cries; Pippins fine or pears!

another after hies, With basket on his head his living to advance, And in his purse a pair of dice for to play at mumchance.

"Hot pippin pies!

to sell unto my friends, Or pudding pies in pans, well stuft with candle's ends.

Will you buy any milk?

I heard a wench that cries: With a pale of fresh cheese and cream, another after hies.

"Oh! the wench went neatly; me thought it did me good, To see her cherry cheeks so dimpled ore with blood: Her waistcoat washed white as any lilly floure; Would I had time to talk with her the s.p.a.ce of half an hour.

"Buy black! saith the blaking man, the best that ere was seen; Tis good for poore citizens to make their shoes to s.h.i.+ne.

Oh! tis a rare commodity, it must not be forgot; It will make them to glister galantly, and quickly make them rot.

"The world is full of thread-bare poets that live upon their pen, But they will write too eloquent, they are such witty men.

But the tinker with his budget, the beggar with his wallet, And Turners turned a gallant man at making of a ballet."

THE SECOND PART.

_To the same Tune._

[Ill.u.s.tration]

"That's the fat foole of the Curtin, and the lean fool of the Bull: Since Shancke did leave to sing his rimes, he is counted but a gull.

The players on the Bankside, the round Globe and the Swan, Will teach you idle tricks of love, but the Bull will play the man.