This Ralpho knew, and therefore took
The other course, of which we spoke.

Never did trufty fquire with knight,

Thus was th' accomplish'd Squire endued With gifts and knowledge perilous fhrewd:

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Or knight with fquire, e'er jump more right.
Their arms and equipage did fit,

As well as virtues, parts, and wit:
Their valours, too, were of a rate,

And out they fally'd at the gate.

Few miles on horfeback had they jogged
But fortune unto them turn'd dogged;

For they a fad adventure met,

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Of which anon we mean to treat :
But ere we venture to unfold

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Atchievements fo refolv'd and bold,
We should, as learned poets use,
Invoke th' affiftance of fome Mufe;
However critics count it fillier
Than jugglers talking to familiar;
We think 'tis no great matter which,
They 're all alike, yet we fhall pitch.
On one that fits our purpose most,
Whom therefore thus do we accoft.

Thou that with ale, or viler liquors,

Didst inspire Withers, Pryn, and Vickars,
And force them, though it was in fpite
Of Nature, and their stars, to write;
Who (as we find in fullen writs,

And cross-grain'd works of modern wits)

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645

650

With

With vanity, opinion, want,
The wonder of the ignorant,
The praises of the author, penn'd
B' himself, or wit-infuring friend;
The itch of picture in the front,
With bays and wicked rhyme upon 't,
All that is left o' th' Forked hill
To make men scribble without skill;
Canft make a poet, spite of Fate,
And teach all people to tranflate,
Though out of languages in which
They understand no part of speech;
Affift me but this once, I' mplore,
And I fhall trouble thee no more.

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When w' are, or are not understood.

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To this town people did repair

On days of market or of fair,

And

Ver. 665.] Brentford, which is eight miles wek from London, is here probably meant, as may be gathered from Part II. Cant. iii. Ver. 995, &c. where

he tells the Knight what befel him there :

And though you overcame the Bear,
The dogs beat you at Brentford fair,
Where furdy butchers broke your noddle.

From Ifthmian or Nemæan game;
Others derive it from the Bear
That 's fix'd in northern hemisphere,
And round about the pole does make
A circle, like a bear at stake,

That at the chain's end wheels about,
And overturns the rabble-rout:
For after folemn proclamation

In the bear's name (as is the fashion

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According

Ver. 678.] This game is ufhered into the Poem with more folemnity than thofe celebrated ones in Homer and Virgil. As the Poem is only adorned with this game, and the Riding Skimmington, so it was incumbent on the Poet to be very particular and full in the defcription: and may we not venture to affirm, they are exactly fuitable to the nature of thefe adventures; and, confequently, to a Briton, preferable to those in Homer or Virgil?

Ver. 689, 690.] Alluding to the bull-running at Tutbury in Staffordshire; where folemn proclamation was made by the Steward, before the bull was turned

D 2

loofe;

According to the law of arms,

To keep men from inglorious harms)
That none presume to come so near
As forty foot of stake of bear,

If any yet be fo fool-hardy,

T'expose themselves to vain jeopardy,
If they come wounded off, and lame,

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No honour's got by fuch a maim,

Although the bear gain much, being bound
In honour to make good his ground

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When he's engag'd, and takes no notice,
If any prefs upon him, who 'tis,

But lets them know, at their own cost,
That he intends to keep his post.

This to prevent, and other harms,
Which always wait on feats of arms
(For in the hurry of a fray

"Tis hard to keep out of harm's way);
Thither the Knight his courfe did steer,

To keep the peace 'twixt Dog and Bear,
As he believ'd h' was bound to do
In confcience and commiffion too;
And therefore thus bespoke the Squire :
We that are wifely mounted higher

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Than

loofe; "That all manner of perfons give way to the bull, none being to come near him by forty foot, 66 any way to hinder the minstrels, but to attend his or "their own fafety, every one at his peril." See Dr. Plot's Staffordshire.

Ver. 714.] This fpeech is fet down, as it was deli

For fo of late men fighting name,
Because they often prove the fame
(For where the first does hap to be,
The last does coincidere)

Quantum in nobis, have thought good
To fave th' expence of Christian blood,

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And

vered by the Knight, in his own words: but fince it is below the gravity of Heroical poetry to admit of humour, but all men are obliged to speak wifely alike, and too much of so extravagant a folly would become tedious and impertinent, the rest of his harangues have only his fenfe expreffed in other words, unless in some few places, where his own words could not be fo well avoided.

Ver. 715.] Had that remarkable motion in the House of Commons taken place, the Conftables might have vied with Sir Hudibras for an equality at least; "That it was neceffary for the Houfe of Commons to "have a High Conftable of their own, that will make "no fcruple of laying his Majesty by the heels ;" but they proceeded not fo far as to name any body; becaufe Harry Martyn (out of tenderness of conscience in this particular) immediately quashed the motion, by faying, the power was too great for any man.