The Bad-Husbands Folly;
OR,
Poverty made known:
A man may waste and spend away his store,
But if misery comes he has no help therefore
This man that brought [h]imself unto decay,
Shews other Good-fellows that they go not astray.
To the Tune of, Come hither my own sweet Duck.
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TO all Good-Fellows now,
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I mean to sing a Song,
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I have wrought my own decay,
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and have done my self great wrong:
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In following the Ale-house.
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I have spent away my store,
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Bad Company did me undo,
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but i'le do so no more.
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That man that haunts the Ale-house,
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and likewise the Drunken Crew,
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Is in danger to dye a Beggar,
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without any more ado:
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Would I might be an Example,
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to all Good fellows sure;
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Bad Company did me undo,
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but i'le do, etc.
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I had a fair Estate of Land,
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was worth forty pound a year,
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I sold and Mortgaged all that,
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and spent it in strong Beer:
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My wife and friends could not rule me,
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until I did wax poor,
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Bad Company did me undo,
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but i'le do so no more.
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The second Part, to the same Tune.
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I Came unto my Hostis,
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and called for Liquor apace,
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She saw my money was plenty,
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and she smiled in my face:
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If I said fill a flaggon
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they set two upon the score,
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Bad Company, etc.
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I ranted night and day,
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and I let my Money flye,
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While my wife was almost dead with grief
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to hear her Children cry:
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For they were almost starv'd and pin'd,
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they wanted food so sore,
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Bad Company, etc.
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At two a Clock i'th morn,
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I would come Drunken home,
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And if my wife spoke but a word,
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I'de kick her about the Room:
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And domineer and swear,
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and call her Bitch and Whore,
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Bad Company, etc.
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Then I fell sick upon the same,
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and lay three months and more,
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But never an Alewife in the Town,
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would come within my door:
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But my poor wife was my best friend,
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and stuck to me therefore,
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Bad Company did me undo,
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but i'le do so no more.
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My wife she sold her Petticoat,
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and pawn'd her Wedding-Ring,
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To relieve me in my misery,
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in any kind of thing:
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O was not I a woful man,
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to waste and spend my store,
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And let my wife & Children want at home,
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but i'le do so no more.
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When I began to mend a little,
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I walkt to take the air,
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And as I went along the Town,
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I came by my Hostisses door,
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I askt her for to trust me two-pence,
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she denyed me like a whore,
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The money that I have spent with her,
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but i'le do so no more.
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As soon as I get strength agen,
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i[']le fall to work apace,
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To maintain my wife and children,
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for my Hostesses are base:
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I see who is a mans best friend,
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if he be sick or poor,
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Bad Company, etc.
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And when I do get money agen,
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i'le learn for to be wise,
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And not believe that Drunken Crew,
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that fill'd my ears with lyes:
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And carry it home unto my wife,
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and of my Children take more care,
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Bad Company, etc.
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He runs a very long Race,
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that never turns again;
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And brings himself unto disgrace,
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and has poverty for his pain:
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But now I will be careful sure,
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and forgo the Ale-house door.
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Bad Company, etc.
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Now to conclude and make an end,
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What I have put in Rhime,
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That all Good-fellows they may see,
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to mend their lives in time:
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And learn for to be Thrifty,
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to save something by in store,
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Bad Company did me undo,
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but i'le do so no more.
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