A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 05

English drama

PAR. Neighbours, neighbours! the weakest now-a-days goes to the wall;
    But mark my words, and follow the counsel of John Ball.
    England is grown to such a pass of late,
    That rich men triumph to see the poor beg at their gate.
    But I am able, by good Scripture, before you to prove
    That God doth not this dealing allow nor love.
    But when Adam delved, and Eve span,
    Who was then a gentleman?
    Brethren, brethren, it were better to have this community,
    Than to have this difference in degrees:
    The landlord his rent, the lawyer his fees.
    So quickly the poor man's substance is spent,
    But merrily with the world it went,
    When men ate berries of the hawthorn-tree:
    And thou help me, I'll help thee:
    There was no place for surgery,
    And old men knew not usury.
    Now 'tis come to a woful pass,
    The widow, that hath but a pan of brass,
    And scarce a house to hide her head;
    Sometimes no penny to buy her bread,
    Must pay her landlord many a groat,
    Or 'twill be pulled out of her throat.
    Brethren mine, so might I thrive,
    As I wish not to be alive,
    To see such dealings with extremity,
    The rich have all, the poor live in misery:
    But follow the counsel of John Ball.
    I promise you, I love ye all;
    And make division equally
    Of each man's goods indifferently,
    And rightly may you follow arms
    To rid you from these civil harms.

    J. S. Well said, parson, so may it be,
    As we purpose to prefer thee:
    We will have all the rich men displaced,
    And all the bravery of them defaced;
    And as rightly as I am Jack Straw,
    In spite of all the men of law,
    Make thee Archbishop of Canterbury
    And Chancellor of England, or I'll die.
    How sayest thou, Wat, shall it be so?

    W. T. Ay, Jack Straw, or else I'll bide many a foul blow.
    It shall be no other but he,
    That thus favours the commonalty.
    Stay we no longer prating here,
    But let us roundly to this gear.
    'Tis more than time that we were gone,
    We'll be lords, my masters, every one.

    T. M. And I, my masters, will make one,
    To fight when all our foes be gone;
    Well shall they see, before we'll lack,
    We'll stuff the gallows till it crack.

    J. S. I hope we shall have men enou',
    To aid us herein, Wat; how thinkest thou?

    PAR. Tag and rag, thou needst not doubt.

    W. T. But who shall be captain of the rout?

    PAR. That shall you two, for all our Kentish men.

    J. S. Fellow-captain, welcome, let's about it.

    W. T. Agreed, fellow-captain; to London.

                                                [_Exeunt all but Nobbs._

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

General

A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 05

English drama

PAR. Neighbours, neighbours! the weakest now-a-days goes to the wall;
    But mark my words, and follow the counsel of John Ball.
    England is grown to such a pass of late,
    That rich men triumph to see the poor beg at their gate.
    But I am able, by good Scripture, before you to prove
    That God doth not this dealing allow nor love.
    But when Adam delved, and Eve span,
    Who was then a gentleman?
    Brethren, brethren, it were better to have this community,
    Than to have this difference in degrees:
    The landlord his rent, the lawyer his fees.
    So quickly the poor man's substance is spent,
    But merrily with the world it went,
    When men ate berries of the hawthorn-tree:
    And thou help me, I'll help thee:
    There was no place for surgery,
    And old men knew not usury.
    Now 'tis come to a woful pass,
    The widow, that hath but a pan of brass,
    And scarce a house to hide her head;
    Sometimes no penny to buy her bread,
    Must pay her landlord many a groat,
    Or 'twill be pulled out of her throat.
    Brethren mine, so might I thrive,
    As I wish not to be alive,
    To see such dealings with extremity,
    The rich have all, the poor live in misery:
    But follow the counsel of John Ball.
    I promise you, I love ye all;
    And make division equally
    Of each man's goods indifferently,
    And rightly may you follow arms
    To rid you from these civil harms.

    J. S. Well said, parson, so may it be,
    As we purpose to prefer thee:
    We will have all the rich men displaced,
    And all the bravery of them defaced;
    And as rightly as I am Jack Straw,
    In spite of all the men of law,
    Make thee Archbishop of Canterbury
    And Chancellor of England, or I'll die.
    How sayest thou, Wat, shall it be so?

    W. T. Ay, Jack Straw, or else I'll bide many a foul blow.
    It shall be no other but he,
    That thus favours the commonalty.
    Stay we no longer prating here,
    But let us roundly to this gear.
    'Tis more than time that we were gone,
    We'll be lords, my masters, every one.

    T. M. And I, my masters, will make one,
    To fight when all our foes be gone;
    Well shall they see, before we'll lack,
    We'll stuff the gallows till it crack.

    J. S. I hope we shall have men enou',
    To aid us herein, Wat; how thinkest thou?

    PAR. Tag and rag, thou needst not doubt.

    W. T. But who shall be captain of the rout?

    PAR. That shall you two, for all our Kentish men.

    J. S. Fellow-captain, welcome, let's about it.

    W. T. Agreed, fellow-captain; to London.

                                                [_Exeunt all but Nobbs._

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 05

A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 05

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