The Cavalier Songs and Ballads of England from 1642 to 1684

Ballads, English; English poetry -- Early modern, 1500-1700

The starry rule of Heaven is fixt,
      There’s no dissension in the sky;
   And can there be a mean betwixt,
      Confusion and conformity?
   A place divided never thrives,
   ’Tis bad when hornets dwell in hives,
   But worse when children play with knives.

   I would as soon turn back to mass,
      Or change my praise to _Thee_ and _Thou_;
   Let the Pope ride me like an ass,
      And his priests milk me like a cow!
   As buckle to Smectymnian laws,
   The bad effects o’ th’ Good old Cause,
   That have dove’s plumes, but vulture’s claws.

   For ’twas the holy Kirk that nursed,
      The Brownists and the ranters’ crew;
   Foul error’s motley vesture first
      Was oaded {98} in a northern blue;
   And what’s th’ enthusiastick breed,
   Or men of Knipperdolin’s creed,
   But Cov’nanters run up to seed!

   Yet they all cry they love the King,
      And make boast of their innocence:
   There cannot be so vile a thing
      But may be cover’d with pretence;
   Yet when all’s said, one thing I’ll swear,
   No subject like th’ old Cavalier,
   No traytor like _Jack-Presbyter_.



THE DEVIL’S PROGRESS ON EARTH,
OR
HUGGLE DUGGLE.


                From Durfey’s “Pills to Purge Melancholy.”

   _Frier Bacon_ walks again,
      And Doctor _Forster_ {99} too;
   _Prosperine_ and _Pluto_,
      And many a goblin crew:
   With that a merry devil,
      To make the _Airing_, vow’d;
         Huggle Duggle, Ha! ha! ha!
      The Devil laugh’d aloud.

   Why think you that he laugh’d?
      Forsooth he came from court;
   And there amongst the gallants
      Had spy’d such pretty sport;
   There was such cunning jugling,
      And ladys gon so proud;
         Huggle Duggle, etc.

   With that into the city
      Away the Devil went;
   To view the merchants’ dealings
      It was his full intent:
   And there along the brave Exchange
      He crept into the croud.
         Huggle Duggle, etc.

   He went into the city
      To see all there was well;
   Their scales were false, their weights were light,
      Their conscience fit for hell;
   And _Panders_ chosen magistrates,
      And _Puritans_ allow’d.
         Huggle Duggle, etc.

   With that unto the country
      Away the Devil goeth;
   For there is all plain dealing,
      For that the Devil knoweth:
   But the rich man reaps the gains
      For which the poor man plough’d.
         Huggle Duggle, etc.

   With that the Devil in haste
      Took post away to hell,
   And call’d his fellow furies,
      And told them all on earth was well:
   That falsehood there did flourish,
      Plain dealing was in a cloud.
         Huggle Duggle, Ha! ha! ha!
      The devils laugh’d aloud.



A BOTTLE DEFINITION OF THAT FALLEN ANGEL, CALLED A WHIG.


From a collection of Historical and State Poems, Satyrs, Songs, and
Epigrams, by Ned Ward, A. D. 1717.

   WHAT is a Whig?  A cunning rogue
   That once was in, now out of vogue:
   A rebel to the Church and throne,
   Of Lucifer the very spawn.

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

Opening the text

History

The Cavalier Songs and Ballads of England from 1642 to 1684

Ballads, English; English poetry -- Early modern, 1500-1700

The starry rule of Heaven is fixt,
      There’s no dissension in the sky;
   And can there be a mean betwixt,
      Confusion and conformity?
   A place divided never thrives,
   ’Tis bad when hornets dwell in hives,
   But worse when children play with knives.

   I would as soon turn back to mass,
      Or change my praise to _Thee_ and _Thou_;
   Let the Pope ride me like an ass,
      And his priests milk me like a cow!
   As buckle to Smectymnian laws,
   The bad effects o’ th’ Good old Cause,
   That have dove’s plumes, but vulture’s claws.

   For ’twas the holy Kirk that nursed,
      The Brownists and the ranters’ crew;
   Foul error’s motley vesture first
      Was oaded {98} in a northern blue;
   And what’s th’ enthusiastick breed,
   Or men of Knipperdolin’s creed,
   But Cov’nanters run up to seed!

   Yet they all cry they love the King,
      And make boast of their innocence:
   There cannot be so vile a thing
      But may be cover’d with pretence;
   Yet when all’s said, one thing I’ll swear,
   No subject like th’ old Cavalier,
   No traytor like _Jack-Presbyter_.



THE DEVIL’S PROGRESS ON EARTH,
OR
HUGGLE DUGGLE.


                From Durfey’s “Pills to Purge Melancholy.”

   _Frier Bacon_ walks again,
      And Doctor _Forster_ {99} too;
   _Prosperine_ and _Pluto_,
      And many a goblin crew:
   With that a merry devil,
      To make the _Airing_, vow’d;
         Huggle Duggle, Ha! ha! ha!
      The Devil laugh’d aloud.

   Why think you that he laugh’d?
      Forsooth he came from court;
   And there amongst the gallants
      Had spy’d such pretty sport;
   There was such cunning jugling,
      And ladys gon so proud;
         Huggle Duggle, etc.

   With that into the city
      Away the Devil went;
   To view the merchants’ dealings
      It was his full intent:
   And there along the brave Exchange
      He crept into the croud.
         Huggle Duggle, etc.

   He went into the city
      To see all there was well;
   Their scales were false, their weights were light,
      Their conscience fit for hell;
   And _Panders_ chosen magistrates,
      And _Puritans_ allow’d.
         Huggle Duggle, etc.

   With that unto the country
      Away the Devil goeth;
   For there is all plain dealing,
      For that the Devil knoweth:
   But the rich man reaps the gains
      For which the poor man plough’d.
         Huggle Duggle, etc.

   With that the Devil in haste
      Took post away to hell,
   And call’d his fellow furies,
      And told them all on earth was well:
   That falsehood there did flourish,
      Plain dealing was in a cloud.
         Huggle Duggle, Ha! ha! ha!
      The devils laugh’d aloud.



A BOTTLE DEFINITION OF THAT FALLEN ANGEL, CALLED A WHIG.


From a collection of Historical and State Poems, Satyrs, Songs, and
Epigrams, by Ned Ward, A. D. 1717.

   WHAT is a Whig?  A cunning rogue
   That once was in, now out of vogue:
   A rebel to the Church and throne,
   Of Lucifer the very spawn.

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

The Cavalier Songs and Ballads of England from 1642 to 1684

The Cavalier Songs and Ballads of England from 1642 to 1684

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