Soon as great Charles [the Second] our royal King was crown'd,
He built the Church[es] up again, the Meetings were pull'd down ;
No canting then was in the land, the Subjects were at peace,
The Church again did flourish, and joy did then increase.

So let the bells in Steeples ring, &c.

The cursed Presbyteria]n crew was then put to the flight,
Some did fly [away] by day, and others run by night;

42

In barns and stables they did cant, and [in] every place they could: He made them [to] remember the spilling royal blood.

So let the bells in Steeples ring, &c.

48

May God [who rules] for ever bless the [English] Church and Crown,
And never let any Subject strive the King for to dethrone;
May Churchmen ever flourish, and peace increase again;
God for ever bless the King, and send him long to reign.

So let the bells in Steeples ring, and Musick sweetly play,
That loyal Tories mayn't forget the Twenty-ninth of May.

54

[In White-letter. One woodcut, given on next page. No printer's name, but probably issued from Stonecutter Street, in the reign of George III.]

Alfred Tennyson, in his poem of The Talking Oak, 1842, mentions the tree in which Charles II. found shelter after Worcester Fight:

And more than England honours that,

Thy famous brother-oak:

Wherein the younger Charles abode
Till all the paths were dim,

And far below the Roundhead rode,

And humm'd a surly hymn.

John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, made an insolent allusion to the Royal Oak, soon after the Restoration. We need not give his poem complete.

Preserv'd by wonder in the Oak, O Charles,

And then brought in by the Duke of Albemarle,
The first by Providence, the next all Devil,
Shew th' art a compound made of Good and Evil:
The Bad we've too long known, the Good's to come,
But not expected till the Day of Doom

O Heavens! wert thou for this loose life preserv'd?
Are there no Gods nor Laws to be observ'd?

Nineveh repented after forty days;

Be yet a King, and wear the Royal Bays.

[Roxburghe Collection, III. 760, 761.]

King Charles the Second's

Ou Tories round the nation, Of every birth and station,

Therefore this loyal health let every Churchman sing,

"O blessed Twenty-ninth of May, that did restore the King, Which did such joy unto a dying nation bring!"

O Britons most disloyal, to give your King denial!

5

All other nations you've outdone, You brought King Charles to trial; You made laws of your own, your King for to dethrone,

And after you cut off his head, you banished his son:

As good a Prince as ever reign'd in Christendom.

When Cromwell, the usurper, had slain the King his master,

10

'Twas he that would the Scepter sway, committing blood and slaughter,
The churches they pull'd down, whilst useless lay the Crown;
Presbyters, we shall ne'er forget the year of Forty-One,
When you your King did banish for a brewer's son.

He that was born a Prince, Sir, to stand Britain's defence, Sir,
Was forc'd to be under the frowns of a greasy Cook-wench, Sir:
His life for to invade, their traps for him they laid,
At length to Madam Jane Land this Prince became a page,'
And fore'd to fly [by Sea] to France his life to save.

15

20

The disguise of a serving man, in which Charles escaped to Bristol after the Battle of Worcester, with the lady, Mistress Jane Lane, on a pillion behind him.

VOL. IV

2 L

With bloodhounds they did seek him, but heaven did still keep him, And did preserve him in the Oak, while his princely heart was aching,

To see himself pursu'd, all by this cursed brood

Who took his Father's life away, and spilt his Royal blood:
Who was a Prince most justly true-a Churchman good.

Many did their lives surrender, for Charles their good defender,
Striving his Cause for to maintain against the base Pretender;
Many a noble Lord, that ne'er fear'd scar nor sword,

On Tower-hill did lose their lives all for their Sovereign's good: Thus glorious Britain soon became a scene of blood.

25

30

Heaven rous'd up a hero, who for no usurper car'd, Sir,
General Monk brought in the King: therefore, his loyal Health, Sir!
Let every Churchman sing, whilst rogues hang in a string,
"O blessed Twenty-ninth of May, [that did restore the King,]
That did such joy unto a dying Nation bring."

35

The Subjects were huzzaing; the drums and trumpets playing; The conduits they did run with wine; bonfires too were blazing. The Tories did begin their loyal health to sing,

"O blessed Twenty-ninth of May, [that did restore the King, Which did such joy unto a dying nation bring."]

When great Charles was crowned, His foes he soon confounded,
He built the churches up again, nothing but joy abounded.
He paid his father's scores, upon the sons of s

40

In his blest reign [the] Presbyters were kicked out of doors:
Thus the land did flourish, heaven did increase our store.

45

Now Churchmen of each station, pray that this British nation
By canters ne'er be overcome, the love of feuds and factions,
Let every Tory sing, and strike the musick string,
"O blessed Twenty-ninth of May, and long live George our King!
To his health, boys, your glasses fill unto the brim.”

Printed in Stonecutter Street. [No printer's name. Temp. Geo. III.]

50

A Turn-Coat of the Times.

66 Pray lend me your Ear, if you've any to spare!
You that love Common-wealth as you hate Common-Prayer,
That can in a breath Pray, Dissemble, or Swear,
Which no body can deny.

I'm first on the wrong-side, and then on the right,
To-day I'm a Jack, but to-morrow a Mite,
I for either King pray, but for neither dare fight:
Which no body can deny.

Sometimes I'm a Rebel, sometimes I'm a Saint,
Sometimes I can Preach, and at other times Cant;
There is nothing but Grace, I thank God, that I want:
Which no body can deny.

....

I can pledge every Health my Companions drink round,
I can say Heaven bless!' or, The Devil confound!'
I can hold with the Hare, and run with the Hound:

SECOND

Which no body can deny . . . .

Each Party, you see, is thus full of great Hope,
There are some for the Devil and some for the Pope,
And I am for any thing, but for a Rope:

Which no body can deny."

-The Trimmer. 1690.

TO NONE was the TURN-COAT OF THE TIMES described in the following Roxburghe Ballad: neither to the Williamite Trimmer, who (in our motto) held a pendulum's oscillation towards Jacobitism whenever it seemed to gain influence, and back to his little Dutchman (of G. G. and P. memory!) so soon as victory appeared at the Boyne; nor to the versatile Vicar of Bray, whose tergiversations, "when George in pudding-time came o'er," were ready to be followed by any fresh cate-in-pan, if those who were "out in the fifteen" could have gained the upper hand. It is probable that "The Turn-Coat of the Times was written early in 1661, but the state of affairs glanced at thus truthfully wears a perpetual interest; and the class of men here exemplified are too far from being extinct or unknown in later days for us to have any fear that the portrait will fail to be accounted a likeness.

The tune belonging to "The Turn-Coat of the Times" ought not to baffle us, for it was often mentioned afterwards, and as "The King's Delight" it had early been a favourite, probably in James the First's reign. The comedy of "The Fool turn'd Critic" mentions it as already old in 1678: "We have now such tunes, such lamentable tunes! that would make me forswear all music. Maiden Fair and The King's Delight are incomparable to some of these we have now." Let readers observe: This is not "O maiden fair,

where art thou roaming?" or "O mistress mine, where art thou roaming?" mentioned by Shakespeare in Twelfth Night, ii. 3; but the tune here alluded to belonged to "The Revolted Lover"= "Once I lov'd a maiden fair, but she did deceive me" (Roxb. Coll., I. 350; Roxb. Bds., ii. 404). We shall find the tune of The TurnCoat of the Times mentioned in several later ditties. Our second half-line names Hide Park, a locality frequently referred to in festive songs. There were several distinct tunes of this title, but to these we shall come hereafter, in Roxb. Coll. II. 379-" News from Hide Park"="One evening, a little before it was dark: sing tantara rara tantivee." We do not despair of identifying the ballad "True Love is a gift for a Queen:" but expect to find this line from its burden, not its title. Burdens are shy game, remaining hidden until we come upon them unexpectedly. If we are able to make a good bag with them, it is only after a long tramp over the stubble-fields, but they are in season all the year round, and of piquant flavour to persons who like high feeding. Many a ballad, like the "Turn-Coat Knave" in his second verse, although it bears a brave front, does not show all it has, to the hurrying reader.

We insert "A Turn-Coat of the Times" at this place, because it forms a suitable preparation for our beholding the intrigues and treachery of the Protestant sectaries, with whom ere long the Duke of Monmouth unfortunately cast in his lot.