Printed by Percy (_Reliques of Ancient English Poetry_, 1765). ‘From an old black-letter copy.’ _Cailìver_ (l. 21)=Caliver, a kind of light musket. X There are broadsides of this ballad in the Roxburghe and Bagford Collections. The version here given is taken from Mr. Henley’s volume, _Lyra Heroica_ (David Nutt, 1891), by permission of editor and publisher. The full title of the Roxburghe broadside is as follows:--‘The Honour of Bristol, shewing how the Angel Gabriel of Bristol fought with three ships, who boarded as many times, wherein we cleared our Decks, and killed five hundred of their Men, and wounded many more, and make them fly into Cales, where we lost but three men, to the Honour of the Angel Gabriel of Bristol. To the tune of _Our Noble King in his Progress_.’ Calés (l. 13), pronounced as a dissyllable, is, of course, Cadiz. XI--XII The first is entitled: _To the Lord General Cromwell, May 1652: On the Proposals of certain Ministers at the Committee for Propagation of the Gospel_, and was written against the intolerant Fifteen Proposals of John Owen and the majority of the Committee. This sonnet first appeared at the end of Philip’s _Life of Milton_ (1694). _Hireling wolves_ (l. 14)=the paid clergy. The second is from the chorus of _Samson Agonistes_ (ll. 1268-1286). _Samson Agonistes_ was first published in 1671, in the small octavo volume which contained _Paradise Regained_. XIII--XIV The _Horatian Ode_ was first printed in 1776, in Captain Edward Thompson’s edition of Marvell’s _Works_. l. 15. _side._ Party. 32. _Bergamot._ A kind of pear. 67, &c. The finding of the human head at Rome, regarded as a happy omen, is mentioned by Pliny (_Nat. Hist._, xxviii. 4). The second appeared in _Poems_ (1681). XV Produced in 1643. The author was a famous ballad-monger of Charles I.’s time. The original refrain was ‘When the King comes home in peace again’ (_Roxburghe Collection of Ballads_, iii. 256; _Loyal Garland_, 1671 and 1686; Ritson, _Ancient Songs_). The song was written to support the declining cause of the Royal Martyr. It helped to keep up the spirits of the Cavaliers in the days before the Restoration (1660), which event it was used to celebrate. When the Revolution (1688) drove the Stuarts into exile, this song became a weapon in the hands of the Jacobites. XVI This was a very popular loyal song in the reign of Charles II. Both words and music are given in Playford’s _Musical Companion_ (1667). XVII--XVIII The first is from Dryden’s opera, _King Arthur, or the British Worthy_ (1691). As to the first: ‘A battle is supposed to be given behind the scenes, with drums, trumpets, and military shouts and excursions; after which, the Britons, expressing their joy for the victory, sing this song of triumph.’--Author’s Note. The second is an extract from _Annus Mirabilis_ (1667). XIX