VIII.

THE OLD AND YOUNG COURTIER.

This excellent old song, the subject of which is a comparison between the manners of the old gentry, as still subsisting in the times of Elizabeth, and the modern refinements affected by their sons in the reigns of her successors, is given, with corrections, from an ancient black-letter copy in the Pepys collection, compared with another printed among some miscellaneous "poems and songs" in a book intitled, _Le Prince d'amour_, or _The Prince of Love_, 1660, 8vo.

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[This was one of the most popular of old songs, and Dr. King in his Preface to the _Art of Cookery_ places it by the side of _Chevy Chase_ as one of the ballads to be hung up over the carved mantelpiece in the homes of old British hospitality. It is to be found in broadside in nearly all the collections, and appears to have been printed for the first time in the reign of James I. by T. Symcocke. Pepys notices it in his _Diary_ under the date 16th June, 1668--"Come to Newbery, and there dined--and musick: a song of the old Courtier of Queen Elizabeth's, and how he was changed upon the coming in of the King, did please me mightily, and I did cause W. Hewer to write it out."

The song was parodied and altered into many forms. About the middle of the last century it was revived and sung by Mr. Vernon in Shadwell's comedy, _The Squire of Alsatia_, with a new burden, "moderation and alteration," and finally it has been again revived in the present century, with still greater alterations, under the title of _The Old English Gentleman_.

Mr. Chappell has the following note on the object of the song:--"Southey remarks very justly on the complaints of the decay of hospitality, that 'while rents were received in kind they must have been chiefly consumed in kind; at least there could be no accumulation of disposable wealth.' He supposes this mode of payment to have fallen generally into disuse during the reign of James I. Without doubt, many of the poor would feel the change." _Popular Music of the Olden Time_, vol. ii. p. 778.]

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An old song made by an aged old pate, Of an old worshipful gentleman, who had a greate estate, That kept a brave old house at a bountiful rate, And an old porter to relieve the poor at his gate; Like an old courtier of the queen's, And the queen's old courtier.

With an old lady, whose anger one word asswages; They every quarter paid their old servants their wages, And never knew what belong'd to coachmen, footmen, nor pages, But kept twenty old fellows with blue coats and badges; Like an old courtier, &c.

With an old study fill'd full of learned old books, With an old reverend chaplain, you might know him by his looks. With an old buttery hatch worn quite off the hooks, And an old kitchen, that maintain'd half a dozen old cooks: Like an old courtier, &c.

With an old hall, hung about with pikes, guns, and bows, With old swords, and bucklers, that had borne many shrewde blows, And an old frize coat, to cover his worship's trunk hose, And a cup of old sherry, to comfort his copper nose; Like an old courtier, &c.

With a good old fashion, when Christmasse was come, To call in all his old neighbours with bagpipe and drum, With good chear enough to furnish every old room, And old liquor able to make a cat speak, and man dumb, Like an old courtier, &c.

With an old falconer, huntsman, and a kennel of hounds, That never hawked, nor hunted, but in his own grounds, Who, like a wise man, kept himself within his own bounds, And when he dyed gave every child a thousand good pounds; Like an old courtier, &c.

But to his eldest son his house and land he assign'd, Charging him in his will to keep the old bountifull mind, To be good to his old tenants, and to his neighbours be kind: But in the ensuing ditty you shall hear how he was inclin'd; Like a young courtier of the king's, And the king's young courtier.

Like a flourishing young gallant, newly come to his land, Who keeps a brace of painted madams at his command, And takes up a thousand pound upon his father's land, And gets drunk in a tavern, till he can neither go nor stand; Like a young courtier, &c.

With a new-fangled lady, that is dainty, nice, and spare, Who never knew what belong'd to good house-keeping, or care, Who buyes gaudy-color'd fans to play with wanton air, And seven or eight different dressings of other womens hair; Like a young courtier, &c.

With a new-fashion'd hall, built where the old one stood, Hung round with new pictures, that do the poor no good, With a fine marble chimney, wherein burns neither coal nor wood, And a new smooth shovelboard, whereon no victuals ne'er stood; Like a young courtier, &c.

With a new study, stuft full of pamphlets, and plays, And a new chaplain, that swears faster than he prays, With a new buttery hatch, that opens once in four or five days, And a new French cook, to devise fine kickshaws, and toys; Like a young courtier, &c.

With a new fashion, when Christmas is drawing on, On a new journey to London straight we all must begone, And leave none to keep house, but our new porter John, Who relieves the poor with a thump on the back with a stone; Like a young courtier, &c.

With a new gentleman-usher, whose carriage is compleat, With a new coachman, footmen, and pages to carry up the meat, With a waiting-gentlewoman, whose dressing is very neat, Who when her lady has din'd, lets the servants not eat; Like a young courtier, &c.

With new titles of honour bought with his father's old gold, For which sundry of his ancestors old manors are sold; And this is the course most of our new gallants hold, Which makes that good house-keeping is now grown so cold, Among the young courtiers of the king, Or the king's young courtiers.

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