Let all the ends thou aim'st at be thy country's,
Thy God's, and truth's; then if thou fall'st, O
Cromwell,

Thou fall'st a blessed martyr! Serve the king;
And,-Prithee, lead me in :

There take an inventory of all I have,

To the last penny; 'tis the king's: my robe,
And my integrity to heaven, is all

I dare now call mine own. O Cromwell, Cromwell!
Had I but served my God with half the zeal
I served my king, he would not in mine age
Have left me naked to mine enemies.'

William Shakespeare.

IX

BRAVE LORD WILLOUGHBY

THE fifteenth day of July,

With glistering spear and shield,
A famous fight in Flanders
Was foughten in the field:
The most conspicuous officers
Were English captains three,
But the bravest man in battel
Was brave Lord Willoughby.

The next was Captain Norris,
A valiant man was he:
The other, Captain Turner,
From field would never flee.
With fifteen hundred fighting men,

Alas! there were no more,
They fought with forty thousand then
Upon the bloody shore.

'Stand to it, noble pikemen,

And look you round about:

And shoot you right, you bowmen,

And we will keep them out:

You musket and cailìver men,
Do you prove true to me,
I'll be the bravest man in fight,'
Says brave Lord Willoughby.

And then the bloody enemy
They fiercely did assail,
And fought it out most valiantly
Not doubting to prevail :

The wounded men on both sides fell
Most piteous for to see,

Yet nothing could the courage quell Of brave Lord Willoughby.

For seven hours to all men's view
This fight endurèd sore,
Until our men so feeble grew
That they could fight no more;

And then upon dead horses
Full savourly they eat,
And drank the puddle water,
They could no better get.

When they had fed so freely,

They kneeled on the ground,

And praised God devoutly

For the favour they had found;

And bearing up their colours,
The fight they did renew,

And cutting tow'rds the Spaniard,
Five thousand more they slew.

The sharp steel-pointed arrows
And bullets thick did fly,
Then did our valiant soldiers

Charge on most furiously:
Which made the Spaniards waver,
They thought it best to flee:
They feared the stout behaviour

Of brave Lord Willoughby.

Then quoth the Spanish general,
'Come let us march away,

I fear we shall be spoiled all
If that we longer stay:

For yonder comes Lord Willoughby
With courage fierce and fell,

He will not give one inch of ground
For all the devils in hell.'

And when the fearful enemy
Was quickly put to flight,
Our men pursued courageously
To rout his forces quite;
And at last they gave a shout

Which echoed through the sky: 'God and Saint George for England!' The conquerors did cry.

This news was brought to England
With all the speed might be,

And soon our gracious Queen was told
Of this same victory.

'O! this is brave Lord Willoughby

My love that ever won:

Of all the lords of honour

'Tis he great deeds hath done!'

To the soldiers that were maimèd,
And wounded in the fray,
The Queen allowed a pension
Of eighteen pence a day,
And from all costs and charges
She quit and set them free;
And this she did all for the sake
Of brave Lord Willoughby.

Then courage, noble Englishmen,
And never be dismayed!
If that we be but one to ten,
We will not be afraid

To fight with foreign enemies,
And set our country free,
And thus I end the bloody bout
Of brave Lord Willoughby.

Anonymous.

X

THE HONOUR OF BRISTOL

ATTEND you, and give ear awhile,
And you shall understand

Of a battle fought upon the seas

By a ship of brave command.

The fight it was so glorious

Men's hearts it did fulfil,

And it made them cry, 'To sea, to sea,
With the Angel Gabriel!'

This lusty ship of Bristol,
Sailed out adventurously

Against the foes of England,

Her strength with them to try;

Well victualled, rigged, and manned she was,

With good provision still,

Which made them cry, 'To sea, to sea,

With the Angel Gabriel !'

The Captain, famous Netherway

(That was his noble name);

The Master-he was called John Mines

A mariner of fame :

The Gunner, Thomas Watson,

A man of perfect skill:

With many another valiant heart

In the Angel Gabriel.

They waving up and down the seas
Upon the ocean main,

'It is not long ago,' quoth they,

'That England fought with Spain :

O would the Spaniard we might meet
Our stomachs to fulfil!

We would play him fair a noble bout
With our Angel Gabriel!'

They had no sooner spoken
But straight appeared in sight
Three lusty Spanish vessels

Of warlike trim and might;
With bloody resolution

They thought our men to spill,

And vowed that they would make a prize Of our Angel Gabriel.

Our gallant ship had in her
Full forty fighting men;
With twenty piece of ordnance
We played about them then,
With powder, shot, and bullets
Right well we worked our will,
And hot and bloody grew the fight
With our Angel Gabriel.

Our Captain to our Master said,
'Take courage, Master bold!'
Our Master to the seamen said,
'Stand fast, my hearts of gold!
Our Gunner unto all the rest,

'Brave hearts, be valiant still! Fight on, fight on in the defence Of our Angel Gabriel !'

We

gave them such a broadside
It smote their mast asunder,

And tore the bowsprit off their ship,
Which made the Spaniards wonder,
And caused them in fear to cry,
With voices loud and shrill,
'Help, help, or sunken we shall be
By the Angel Gabriel!'