THE
SALSBURY-BALLAD,
With the Learned COMMENTARIES of a Friend to the Authors Memory.
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I.
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O Salsbury People, give ear to my Song,
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And attention unto my new Ditty:
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For it is in the praise of your River Avon,
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Of your Bishop, your Church and your City.
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II.
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And you Maior and Aldermen all on a row,
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Who govern that a watered Mead,
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First b listen awhile, upon your c tipto,
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Then carry this home and d read.
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a The City of New Sarum
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built in the Bishops Meadow.
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c In a posture of attention.
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d Here the Poet is in a good humour, and supposes that all of them can read.
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III.
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Therein you may find many an excellent e Lore,
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That unto your Wives you may teach;
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Though f perhaps once and more our Poet may soar
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Clear out of your Worships reach.
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e An old word frequent in
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Spenser, and (if we may join
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the best English Poet with
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the worst Rimers in the
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world) in Sternhold and Hop-
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kins, Thy law and eke thy lore, etc. I should cite the places, but that such Quotations would
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look strangely on the margin of a Ballad. It signifies Lesson or Doctrin. Vid. Skinners Lexicon.
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f I find now I praised the Poet too soon; for this is an impudent and unmannerly supposition,
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and I approve it not; though it is something mollified by those words perhaps and your Worships.
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IV.
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O g Clarendon Park, and O Clerbury Hill,
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Join with your old Friend the River,
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To inspire my Muse, and assist my Quill,
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In the great things I have to deliver.
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g This seems Heathenish to
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pray to Hills and Parks and
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Rivers; but 'tis no more than
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other Poets invoking Parnas-
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sus and Helicon; nevertheless
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I believe the Poet was a good Christian, for if you read to the end of this Part, you will
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find the Bishop was very much in his favour.
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V.
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School-Mistresses fine, to the number of h Nine,
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Ile call on no Muses but you;
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Nor no other help to enter my i Whelp,
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Unless it be k bouncing l Pru.
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h Not but that there are a
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greater number of School-
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Mistresses in the Close, but
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the Poet hath need of no
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more of them than there
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were Muses.
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i My young barking Muse. Ma Muse nourrie en Satire. Boi.
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k That word signifies fat or dancing.
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l A diminutive from Prudence, and seems to be put
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here for any Woman at large only to complete the Ryme, it being a name suitable enough; for
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most Women are wise, if not cunning. I confess some who pretend to have been intimately
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acquainted with the Poet in his life-time, are very positive, that this name did not only point
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out a particular Woman, but even the Poets Mistress; but I cannot agree to this, for had it
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been so, he would have given her a more honourable Epithet.
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VI.
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Encourage you m Ten, the most timorous Pen
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That e'r such a task did begin:
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When you find any wit, then in my mouth spit,
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And chuck me under the chin.
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m The nine School-Mistres-
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ses and this bouncing Pru.
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VII.
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I will not forget those n Stones that are set
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In a round, upon Salsbury Plains;
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Though who brought 'em there, 'tis hard to declare,
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The o Romans, Merlin or Danes.
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n Stonehenge the noblest piece
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of Antiquity in England.
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o Here the Poet briefly sums
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up the several opinions of
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Historians and Antiquarians concerning the Founders of Stonehenge.
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VIII.
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Nor those pretty Sheep, whom greater Beasts keep,
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Nor you Bustards that stalk thereby:
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You Bustards that chuse to do like my Muse,
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Who walks because she can't fly.
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IX.
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Nor q you that know all the diseases of Eyes,
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And for all a sure remedy find;
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Who alone give light, after twenty years night,
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To those who are born r stone-blind.
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q Doctor Peter Turberville, the
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best Oculist of this Age or
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any before him.
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r The Daughter of George
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Turberville of Whitminster in
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Glocestershire, and one Peverel of Salsbury and divers others.
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X.
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Nor you the good s Bishop that came from the t West,
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And spared neither pains nor cost,
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To build up the u House, pull'd down by x Prick-louse,
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And fit it for such an Host.
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s If you can have patience
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till you come to the nine-
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teenth Stanza of the Second
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Part, you will know what
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this Bishops name is.
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u The Bishops Palace in Salsbury.
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x One Vanling a London-Tailor, who
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bought it of the sacrilegious Rebels.
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XI.
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'Twas you that let in y St. Burien Streams
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To increase the small z River * Ex:
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'Twas you brought again the a lost Badge and Chain,
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And did it to b Sarum annex.
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y This I suppose is one of
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those places our Poet threat-
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ens the Aldermen within
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the third Stanza; but I will
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not let him be obscure: He
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means the Deanry of St. Burien near the Lands-end in Cornwal, procured to be annext to the
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Bishoprick of Exeter, (by this Bishop before his Translation) upon the Death of Doctor Wykes,
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which happened in the time of Dr. Sparrow the present Bishop, who now enjoys it.
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z River for Sea, not without a conceit.
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* The name of the River upon which Exeter stands,
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put figuratively for the City. To increase the small River Ex, i.e. to augment the poor Bishop-
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rick of Exeter.
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a The Ensigns of the Chancellorship of the Garter, a Medal and a Gold-Chain.
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We are said to lose what we have been possessors of. The first Chancellor of the Garter was
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Bishop Beauchamp, A.D. 1450. and that honour was enjoyed by his Successors the Bishops of
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Salsbury, till the time of Cardinal Campegio, who having incurr'd the displeasure of K. Hen. VIII.
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for differing from him about the Match, retired to Rome and there died, A.D. 1539. and lies
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buried in Santa Maria Trastevere, that Office having continued in the Bishops of Salsbury 89 years.
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b Since which time it has been in lay hands, till it pleased K. Charles II. (upon the humble
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Petition and claim of the present Bishop of Salsbury) to restore it to him and his Successors;
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the Letters Patents bear date Nov. 25, 1671. so that it was out of that Sea 132 years.
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XII.
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You first made the Salsbury men c understand
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Their River might d eas'ly be taught
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To bear Ships up and down, and enrich the Town,
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e And you were the first at it wrought.
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c Beat it into their heads.
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d For a very few thousand
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pounds. So Horace speaking
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of a River, Doctus iter melius,
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and in another place, Multa
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mole docendus aprice parcere campo.
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e On the 20. of October, 1675. by a good token 'twas the very
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day and hour Northampton was burning.
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XIII.
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'Twas you that kept up the Citizens f hearts,
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Or the g Giants had over-born 'em;
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For them you did h ride, for them you i replied,
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you brought their Vessels to k Harnham.
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f At the meeting of the Com-
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missioners for making the Ri-
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ver navigable at Salsbury, Mar.
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22. 1675.
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g Divers great
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Gentlemen of Hampshire; the
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Poet alludes to Beavais and Ascabert, whose Pictures are upon Hampton-Gate.
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h To London to
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the King and Council.
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i Answered the Objections of the Opposers.
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k Harnham-Bridge,
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where the Key is, i.e. They ow the making their River navigable to your management.
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XIV.
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l But when will this paltry Poet begin,
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And shew us a touch of his Art?
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m With a cup of old Sack, he'l wind up his n Jack,
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And o twang it i' th' Second Part.
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l This is supposed to be ob-
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jected by the unattentive
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and irreverent Reader, as if
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the Poet had done nothing
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all this while.
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m The Poets mild answer. It should have been a Glass of Claret, if Ryme would have permit-
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ted.
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n His Engin wherewith he makes verses; so Chaucer, As winding up makes a Jack go,
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so good wine makes good verses flow.
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o Twang is a very emphatical word, but not easily tran-
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slated; it signifies as much as clatter in French, or rimbombar in Italian.
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The Second PART to the same Tune.
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I.
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OLd Sarum was built on a a dry barren Hill,
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A great many years ago.
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'Twas a Roman Town of strength and renown,
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As its stately Ruins show.
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a Vide infra Stanza 17.
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---From their hill, Where there
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was neither well nor spring.
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II.
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Therein was a Castle for men of Arms,
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And a Cloister for men of the Gown;
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There were Friers and Monks, and b Liers and c Punks,
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d Though not any whose names are come down.
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d This refers to Punks, none
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celebrated in History; as Thais,
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Messalina, and others since.
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III.
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The Soldiers and Church-men did not long agree,
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For the surly men with the e Hilt on
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Made f sport at the gate, with the Priests that came g late
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From h shriving the Nuns of Wilton.
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e Hilt for Sword, by a known
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Figure.
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f By asking of them roguish
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questions.
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g After the Watch was set.
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h From doing their daily drudgery.
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IV.
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i Whereupon Bishop Poor went to the k King,
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And told him his piteous tale,
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That rather than abide such a thorn in his side,
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He'd build a new Church in the Vale.
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i This Whereupon is a very
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comprehensive word, and
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yet seems more than it is;
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one would think the Poet
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here makes a leap from the
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Foundation of Old Sarum by the Romans to Bishop Poors time; but 'tis only from Herman the
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first Bishop of Salsbury, Anno 1083. to Richard Poor the seventh, 1217. This Whereupon there-
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fore is as much as to say, After 134 years suffering the affronts of the Garrison, their patience
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was worn out, flesh and bloud could endure no longer; but Bishop Poor being a stout man
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went to the King.
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V.
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Ile build a new Church in the Vale, said he,
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If your l Highness will give me m scope.
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Who I? said the King, n Ile not do such a thing,
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Without our old Father the Pope.
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l According to the stile of
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those times.
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n Where note that King had
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no mind to incur the Popes displeasure. In those days he was a terrible Fellow in England.
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VI.
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Then Ile go to that o Whore, replied Bishop Poor,
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With a Purse full of good old Gold;
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For why should I beg and make a low leg,
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Where ev'ry thing is to be sold?
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o This is a very hard place,
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why Bishop Poor being a Pa-
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pist should call the Pope
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Whore? Some think the Bi-
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shop spoke it prophetically,
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knowing that in the succeeding times of Calvin and the Presbyterians, he should be proved to
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be the Whore. Others more acutely think this might be Pope Joane: But this ingenious solu-
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tion is against Chronology: For Pope Joane (if ever there was such a one) was in the year 853.
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374 years before Bishop Poor. The best reason in my opinion is taken out of the Context, the
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last verse of this Stanza, Where everything is to be sold. Rome is a Whore, because it does kind-
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nesses for Money only, not for love, which is the very definition of a Whore.
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VII.
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He went, he prevail'd, he return'd in a trice,
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With ample Autority seiz'd,
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To remove p Sarums Stones, and q St. Osmunds Bones,
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And to build a new Church where he pleas'd.
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p The Walls of the City and
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Cathedral.
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q This S. Osmund was the se-
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cond Bishop of Old Sarum; he was also Earl of Dorset and Lord Chancellor of England, he
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died 1099. and was removed with great Pomp to New Sarum, where he lies buried in the
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middle of our Lady Chappel under a black Marble-stone bearing only this Inscription, ANNO
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MXCIX. He was Sainted by Pope Calixtus III. Anno 1456. The Process and charge thereof
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may be seen in Salsbury Muniments.
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VIII.
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To the Abbess of Wilton he shewed his Bull,
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And how much he was in the Popes grace;
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Though they two consulted their r bellies full,
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Yet they could not agree of a place.
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r A Proverbial Phrase used
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for Rymes sake; for I can-
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not believe what some of
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the wicked hint, that the Poet had any waggish meaning here.
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IX.
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One time as this Prelate lay on his Down-Bed,
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Recruiting his Spirits with rest,
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There appear'd, as 'tis said, a beautiful s Maid,
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With her own dear Babe at her brest.
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s Who that Maid and Babe
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were, the learned and devout
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understand.
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X.
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To him thus she spoke, (the day was scarce broke,
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And his eyes yet to slumber did yield)
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Go build me a Church | without any delay,
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Go build it in Merry-field.
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XI.
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He awakes and he rings, up ran Monks and Friers
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At the sound of his little Bell.
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I must know, said he, where Merry-field is,
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But the Devil a bit could they tell.
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XII.
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Full early he arose on a Morning gray,
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To meditate and to walk;
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And by chance over-heard a Soldier on the Guard
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As he thus to his fellow did talk.
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XIII.
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I will lay on the side of my good Yewen Bow,
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That I shoot clean over the Corn,
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As far as that Cow in Merry-field,
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Which grazes under the thorn.
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XIV.
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Then the Bishop cried out, Where is Merry-field?
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For his mind was still on his Vow.
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The Soldier reply'd, By the River-side,
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Where you see that brindle Cow.
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XV.
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Upon this he declared his pious intent,
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And about the t Indulgences ran,
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And brought in bad people to build a good u Steeple,
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And thus the Cathedral began.
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t Indulgences are a sort of
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Roman Coin the Popes use
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to give to pious uses, as buil-
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ding of Churches, maintain-
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ing Rebellion against Protestant Princes, etc. To which sometimes they add dead Bodies,
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Promises and Hopes; so one of their own Poets:
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Le Cose de la guerra andavan zoppe:
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I Bolognese richiedean danari
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Al Papa, ed egli respondeva coppe,
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E mandava Indulgenze per gli Altari. C. 12.
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Part' eran Ghibelline, e favorite
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Da l'Imperio Aleman per suo interesse.
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Part' eran Guelfe, e oon la Chiesa unite,
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Che le pascea di speme, e di promesse. C.1.
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Which last Verses may be thus translated in our Authors stile and measure:
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* These held that the Emperor was in the right,
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Those that the Popes Cause was good.
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They that were for the Popes were fed with thin hopes,
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And Pardons and || pieces of Wood.
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Thus the Pope having promised twenty five thousand Crowns a Month towards carrying on
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the Rebellion in Ireland, paid them in this coin, and sent by the Irish Ambassadors,
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(the Bishop of Fern and Sir Nicolas Plunket) Anno 1647. from Rome two dead Bodies, which
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for ought anyone knew, might have been Heathens, instead of ready money.
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* The Ghibellines.
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The Guelfs.
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|| Chips of the Cross.
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u Not that the Cathedral began by the Steeple, but Steeple is put here for Church, by the
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same Figure, as before Hilt for Sword.
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XVI.
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The Principal Stones in a x fortunate hour,
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For the Pope, King and some of the y Peers,
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Were laid by z Pandulfos Legantine Power,
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And 'twas finish'd in * thirty years.
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x In an hour found out ac-
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cording to the rules of A-
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strology by the William Lil-
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lies of those times, this they
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took more care, because the
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Church built before by Bishop Osmund was founded in an ill hour; in an ill hour, I say,
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for the Steeple was burnt down by Lightning the day after 'twas finished. Vide Godw.
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y The five first Stones were laid by Pandulfo the Popes Legat, the first for the Pope, the se-
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cond for the King, the two next for the Earl and Countess of Salsbury, the fifth for the Bishop.
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z Signifies no more than Pandulfo himself, as by such a ones Lordship or Worship we mean
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their persons; but this expression is more antient and Poetical, being often used in Homer,
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, etc.
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* And cost but forty thousand marks, Vid. The Account in Sals-
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bury Muniments. Upon this excellent Pile, see also the Verses of Daniel Rogers, in Godwin
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and Camdens Britannia, which begin thus, Mira cano, etc.
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XVII.
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Then the men of Old Sarum came down from their Hill,
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a Where there was neither Well nor Spring;
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That they might have a Mill, and water at b will,
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And hear the sweet c Fishes sing.
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b In the first Verse of this
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Part, he calls it, A dry bar-
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ren Hill.
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b At hand for all convenien-
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ces, as washing of dishes,
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drowning of children, etc.
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c This is another place wherein the Poet intended to walk
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incognito; but I'll pull off his mask, noble Citizens, he means Frogs. Aristophanes thought
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so well of their voices, that he makes 'em sustain the part of the Chorus in one of his Come-
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dies: the words of their Song are , , , the meaning thereof, and the
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Tune I confess myself ignorant of.
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XVIII.
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But if I proceed, as I once had decreed,
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And d foolishly undertook,
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To let my e vein run, I shall never have done,
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And instead of a Song make a Book.
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d Here the Poet chides him-
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self for his fool-hardy un-
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dertaking in the first Part,
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and begins to take up.
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XIX.
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O pardon me, pardon me, Bishop f Ward,
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For putting thy name in my Song;
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For I am alas but a silly g Bard,
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And my Verses cannot live long.
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f Now I am out of your debt
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for what I promised in my
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Commentary upon the 9th
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Stanza of the first Part.
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XX.
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Though sometimes a lucky Ballad may hit,
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And in spight of times Iron h Fangs,
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Outlive greater Volumes stuft fuller of wit,
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And conceiv'd with more labour and pangs.
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XXI.
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But if I was owner of Virgils Tromp-
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Ette and Horaces well-tuned i Lyre,
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k I'd wear 'em out to the very stump,
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But I'd make thy great name to aspire.
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i An obsolete word signify-
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ing a Welsh Harp.
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k Here the Poet shews his
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good inclination towards the
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Bishop.
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XXII.
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Then answer'd my Muse, with a scornful smile
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Leave off such fond thoughts, l Poor heart,
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'Tis fansie and skill, not love and good-will,
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Must fit thee for such a part.
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l How familiarly and obli-
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gingly the Muse speaks to the
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Poet.
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XXIII.
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I'l make it the care of the ages to come,
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When thou shalt be dead and rotten,
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To publish his fame, and embalm his name,
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That it never shall be m forgotten.
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m ------Sopra te non haura possa,
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Quel duro, eterno, ineccitabil sonno,
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D'havert chiusa in cosi poca fossa,
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Se tanto i versi miei prometter ponno.
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XXIV.
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While Lovers shall languish betwixt hopes and fears,
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With a visage pale, n blue and forlorn:
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And all the world round, any wife may be found,
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Whose o dear Husband drinks in a p Horn.
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A Poetical Description of a
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long time.
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n This seems to be taken
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out of Horace, Et tinctus
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viol pallor amantium.
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I hope the Ghost of a Ballad-maker will not be offended with me for this discovery. I am
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sure the best French Poet now living reputes it an honour that it was said of him.
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N'est qu' un gueux, revestu des depoilles d'Horace.
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o The Poet does not think it strange, if Women who hate their Husbands should let them
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drink in Horns.
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p The meaning of this is, This Bishops name shall not be forgotten, till
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all the world over all loving Wives shall be so rich as to be able to provide their Husbands
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Cups of more precious matter than Horn, and there shall be found no Horn in any loving
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Wifes House.
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XXV.
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While the River of Avon runs down to the Sea,
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And Grass grows on Salsbury Plain,
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While q Englishmen dance to the Musick of France,
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And Tradesmen mind nothing but gain.
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q While the English follow
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the French fashions.
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This sort of Description is
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frequent both in Antient and
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Modern Poets:
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So Virgil, Dum juga montis aper, fluvios dum piscis amabit,
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Dumque thymo pascentur apes, dum rore cicadae, etc.
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So Ovid, ------Tenedos dum stabit & Ida.
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Dum rapidas Simois in mare volves aquas, etc.
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So the Italian Theocritus:
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Mentre per questi monti
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Andran le fere errando
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E gli alti pini hauran pungenti foglie.
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Mentre li vivi fonti
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Correran mormorando.
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Nel alto mar, che con amor gli accoglie, etc.
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And in another place:
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Mentre serpente in dumi
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Saranno, e pesci in fiumi,
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Ne Sol vivrai, ne la mia stanca lingua,
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Ma per Pastor diversi,
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In mille altre sampogne, e mille versi.
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But in mine opinion these are too general, whereas those of our Poet are particular and Sa-
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tyrical, and therefore more commendable.
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XXVI.
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But it is not for such weak r shoulders as thine
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To undergo such a s care:
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For that I design a Poet t Divine;
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u Wind thou up thy Song with a Prayer.
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r Alluding to that of Horace,
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Quid valeant humeri, quid fer-
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re recusent: And that of Vir-
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gil, Non tali auxilio & de-
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fensoribus istis.
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s Of eternizing the Bishops name.
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t As if she should say with Horace,
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---Quibus ingenium est, & mens divinior atque os,
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Magna sonaturum, dabo NOMINIS HUIUS honorem.
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u Mark how precise the Muse is in observing old Customs.
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XXVII.
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She said, I x obey'd. The Queen and the King
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God bless, and their Brother JAMES,
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And y Old Christ-church Haven, and New Sarums Avon,
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And make it as good as the Thames.
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x The Poets ready obedi-
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ence is remarkable; She said,
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I obeyd: Dictum factum: It is
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a sign his Pegasus was well
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managed, that he stops so
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short, in his full career.
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y Christ-church is a very antient Town, by Ptolomy called Portus
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Alauni, by the Saxons Twinambourn, because it lies betwixt two Rivers, which answers to the
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Latin Interamnium, now Terni.
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