Kinge John and Bishoppe- Percy; c.1650 Child A
[When Child published Child's English and Scottish Popular Ballads the earliest text of this ballad known was that in the Percy Folio and this MS., as Dr. Furnivall shows in his Forewords (pp. xii-xiii), is certainly later than 1642. I'ved attacehd a date of 1650. The Corpus MS. text was written at least three quarters of a century before the Percy Folio. (See: A New Text of an Old Ballad by Roberta D. Cornelius; 1931)
At the bottom of the page is Kinge John and Bishoppe from Ballads and Romances: Volume 1- Page 536; Thomas Percy, John Wesley Hales, Frederick James Furnivall - 1867. The notes and footnotes are presently incomplete.]
Kinge John and Bishoppe- Child Version A; Child 45 King John and the Bishop
Percy Manuscript, p. 184. Hales and Furnivall, I, 508.
1 Off an ancient story Ile tell you anon,
Of a notable prince that was called King Iohn,
In England was borne, with maine and with might;
Hee did much wrong and mainteined litle right.
2 This noble prince was vexed in veretye,
For he was angry with the Bishopp of Canterbury;
Ffor his house-keeping and his good cheere,
Th rode post for him, as you shall heare.
3 They rode post for him verry hastilye;
The king sayd the bishopp kept a better house then hee:
A hundred men euen, as I [have heard] say,
The bishopp kept in his house euerye day,
And fifty gold chaines, without any doubt,
In veluett coates waited the bishopp about.
4 The bishopp, he came to the court anon,
Before his prince that was called King Iohn.
As soone as the bishopp the king did see,
'O,' quoth the king, 'Bishopp, thow art welcome to mee.
There is noe man soe welcome to towne
As thou that workes treason against my crowne'
5 'My leege,' quoth the bishopp, 'I wold it were knowne
I spend, your grace, nothing but that that's my owne;
I trust your grace will doe me noe deare
For spending my owne trew gotten geere.'
6 'Yes,' quoth the king, 'Bishopp, thou must needs dye,
Eccept thou can answere mee questions three;
Thy head shalbe smitten quite from thy bodye,
And all thy liuing remayne vnto mee.
7 'First,' quoth the king, 'Tell me in this steade,
With this crowne of gold heere vpon my head,
Amongst my nobilitye, with ioy and much mirth,
Lett me know within one pennye what I am worth.
8 'Secondlye, tell me without any dowbt
How soone I may goe the whole world about;
And thirdly, tell mee or euer I stinte,
What is the thing, bishopp, that I doe thinke.
Twenty dayes pardon thoust haue trulye,
And come againe and answere mee.'
9 The bishopp bade the king god night att a word;
He rode betwixt Cambridge and Oxenford,
But neuer a doctor there was soe wise
Cold shew him these questions or enterprise.
10 Wherewith the bishopp was nothing gladd,
But in his hart was heauy and sadd,
And hyed him home to a house in the countrye,
To ease some part of his melanchollye.
11 His halfe-brother dwelt there, was feirce and fell,
Noe better but a shepard to the bishoppe himsell;
The shepard came to the bishopp anon,
Saying, My Lord, you are welcome home!
12 'What ayles you,' quoth the shepard, 'that you are soe sadd,
And had wonte to haue beene soe merry and gladd?'
'Nothing,' quoth the bishopp, 'I ayle att this time;
Will not thee availe to know, brother mine.'
13 'Brother,' quoth the shepeard, 'you haue heard itt,
That a foole may teach a wisemane witt;
Say me therfore whatsoeuer you will,
And if I doe you noe good, Ile doe you noe ill.'
14 Quoth the bishop: I haue beene att the court anon,
Before my prince is called King Iohn,
And there he hath charged mee
Against his crowne with traitorye.
15 If I cannott answer his misterye,
Three questions hee hath propounded to mee,
He will haue my land soe faire and free,
And alsoe the head from my bodye.
16 The first question was, to tell him in that stead,
With the crowne of gold vpon his head,
Amongst his nobilitye, with ioy and much mirth,
To lett him know within one penye what hee is worth.
17 And secondlye, to tell him with-out any doubt
How soone he may goe the whole world about;
And thirdlye, to tell him, or ere I stint,
What is the thinge that he does thinke.
18 'Brother,' quoth the shepard, 'you are a man of learninge;
What neede you stand in doubt of soe small a thinge?
Lend me,' quoth the shepard, 'your ministers apparrell,
Ile ryde to the court and answere your quarrell.
19 'Lend me your serving men, say me not nay,
With all your best horsses that ryd on the way;
Ile to the court, this matter to stay;
Ile speake with King Iohn and heare what heele say.'
20 The bishopp with speed prepared then
To sett forth the shepard with horsse and man;
The shepard was liuely without any doubt;
I wott a royall companye came to the court.
21 The shepard hee came to the court anon
Before [his] prince that was called King Iohn.
As soone as the king the shepard did see,
'O,' quoth the king, 'Bishopp thou art welcome to me.'
The shepard was soe like the bishopp his brother,
The king cold not know the one from the other.
22 Quoth the king, Bishopp, thou art welcome to me
If thou can answer me my questions three.
Said the shepeard, If it please your grace,
Show mee what the first quest[i]on was.
23 'First,' quoth the king, 'Tell mee in this stead,
With the crowne of gold vpon my head,
Amongst my nobilitye, with ioy and much mirth,
Within one pennye what I am worth.'
24 Quoth the shepard, To make your grace noe offence,
I thinke you are worth nine and twenty pence;
For our Lord Iesus, that bought vs all,
For thirty pence was sold into thrall
Amongst the cursed Iewes, as I to you doe showe;
But I know Christ was one penye better then you.
25 Then the king laught, and swore by St Andrew
He was not thought to bee of such a small value.
'Secondlye, tell mee with-out any doubt
How soone I may goe the world round about.'
26 Saies the shepard, It is noe time with your grace to scorne,
But rise betime with the sun in the morne,
And follow his course till his vprising,
And then you may know without any leasing.
27 And this [to] your grace shall proue the same,
You are come to the same place from whence you came;
[In] twenty-four houres, with-out any doubt,
Your grace may the world goe round about;
The world round about, euen as I doe say,
If with the sun you can goe the next way.
28 'And thirdlye tell me or euer I stint,
What is the thing, bishoppe, that I doe thinke.'
'That shall I doe,' quoth the shepeard; 'For veretye,
You thinke I am the bishopp of Canterburye.'
29 'Why, art not thou? the truth tell to me;
For I doe thinke soe,' quoth the king, 'By St Marye.'
'Not soe,' quoth the shepeard; 'The truth shalbe knowne,
I am his poore shepeard; my brother is att home.'
30 'Why,' quoth the king, 'if itt soe bee,
Ile make thee bishopp here to mee.'
'Noe, Sir,' quoth the shepard, 'I pray you be still,
For Ile not bee bishop but against my will;
For I am not fitt for any such deede,
For I can neither write nor reede.'
31 'Why then,' quoth the king, 'Ile giue thee cleere
A pattent of three hundred pound a yeere;
That I will giue thee franke and free;
Take thee that, shepard, for coming to me.
32 'Free pardon Ile giue,' the kings grace said,
'To saue the bishopp, his land and his head;
With him nor thee Ile be nothing wrath;
Here is the pardon for him and thee both.'
33 Then the shepard he had noe more to say,
But tooke the pardon and rode his way:
When he came to the bishopps place,
The bishopp asket anon how all things was.
34 'Brother,' quoth the shepard, 'I haue well sped,
For I haue saued both your land and your head;
The king with you is nothing wrath,
For heere is the pardon for you and mee both.'
35 Then the bishopes hart was of a merry cheere:
'Brother, thy paines Ile quitt them cleare;
For I will giue thee a patent to thee and to thine
Of fifty pound a yeere, land good and fine.'
36 . . . . . .
. . . .
'I will to thee noe longer croche nor creepe,
Nor Ile serue thee noe more to keepe thy sheepe.'
37 Whereeuer wist you shepard before,
That had in his head witt such store
To pleasure a bishopp in such a like case,
To answer three questions to the kings grace?
Whereeuer wist you shepard gett cleare
Three hundred and fifty pound a yeere?
38 I neuer hard of his fellow before.
Nor I neuer shall: now I need to say noe more.
I neuer knew shepeard that gott such a liuinge
But David, the shepeard, that was a king.
____________
Ballads and Romances: Volume 1 - Page 536
Thomas Percy, John Wesley Hales, Frederick James Furnivall - 1867
Kinge John and Bishoppe
[Page 184 of MS.]
"In most copies of ye old song 'tis ' the Abbots of Canterbury,' " says Percy's note in the manuscript. Another copy is " In the printed collection of old Ballads, 1726, Vol. 2. p. 43. N. viii.," but "N.B. This song is more ancient and very different from the printed copy: containing double the quantity." In his Introduction to "K. John and the Abbot of Canterbury," "Reliques," v. 2, p. 302, 1st ed., the Bishop says, " The common popular ballad of 'King John and the Abbot' seems to have been abridged and modernized about the time of James I. from one much older, intitled 'King John and the Bishop of Canterbury.' The editor's folio MS. contains a copy of this last, but in too corrupt a state to be reprinted; it however afforded many lines worth revising, which will be found inserted in the ensuing stanzas [of "K. John and the Abbot"], chiefly printed from an ancient black-letter copy "to the tune of Derrydown." Besides the above names, the tune is also referred to as "A Cobbler there was," and as "Death and the Cobler " (Chappell's "Pop. Music," i. 348; tune at p. 350). " Both 'The King and the Abbot' and 'The King and the Bishop' are in the catalogue of ballads printed by Thackeray in the reign of Charles II. The story upon which these ballads are founded can be traced back to the fifteenth century" (ib. p. 350).
OFF an ancient story lle tell you anon,
Of a notable prince that was called King John,
in England was borne, with maine & with might a bad lot he,
hee did much[1] wrong, & maintained litle right.
this Noble prince was vexed in veretye,
for he was angry with the bishopp of canterbury
ffor his house-keeping & his good cheere.
the rode post for him, as you shall heare;
they rode post for him verry hastilye;
the King sayd the bishopp kept a better house then
hee; a 100 men euen, as I say,1 the Bishopp kept in his house euerye day, & 50 gold chaines,2 without any doubt, in veluett coates waited the Bishopp about, the Bishopp, he came to the court anon before his prince that was called King Iohn. as soone as the Bishopp the King did see, " O," quoth the King,3 "Bishopp, thow art welcome to mee! there is noe man soe welcome to towne as thou that workes4 treason against my crowne." " My leege," qwoth the Bishopp, " I wold it were knowne; I spend, yowr grace, nothing but that Mats5 my owne; I trust your grace will doe me noe deare 6 for spending mys owne trew gotten geere." " yes," quoth. the king, " Bishopp, thou must needs dyes :
and he was angry with the Bishop of Canter* bury
for being richer than himself.
The Bishop comes to court;
King John
welcomes
him,
accuses him of treason,
and says in? must die unless hec 1 hear say, conj.—P.
* Neck-chains were occasionally worn during the middle ages by knights and gentlemen ; and to them were [was orig.] afterwards appended the badges of royalty and nobility. In the sixteenth century gentlemen ushers and stewards used generally to wear gold chains as badges of office. In Middleton's " Mad World, my Masters," 1608, Sir Bounteous Progress, a rich old knight, exclaims: " Bun, sirrah, call in my chief gentleman in the chain of gold." Peacham, writing in 1638, says of the days of Elizabeth :
" Chains of gold were then of lords, knights, and gentlemen, commonly worn; but a chain of gold now (to so high a rate is gold raised) is as much as some of them are worth." (Fairholt's Costume in England, p. 416-17.)—F.
» 'q«-he, Bp.'conj.—P.
* workest.—P. workes is right in the Northern dialect.—F.
» what is.—P.
• injury.—F.
7 of my .—P.
' needs must thou die.—P.
eccept thou can answere mec questions 3,
thy head shalbe smitten quite from thy bodye,
& all thy lining remayne vnto mee.
first," qwoth the Ki»^, " tell me in this steade,
with this crowne of gold heere vpon1 my head,
amongst my Nobilitye2 with Ioy & much Mirth,
lett me know within one pennye what I am worth :
secondlye, tell me without any dowbt
how soone I may goe the whole world about:
& thirdly, tell mee or euer I stinte,3
what is the thing, Bishopp, that I doe thinke.
20 dayes pardon thoust haue trulye,4
&5 come againe6 & answere7 mee."
the Bishopp bade the Kinj 'god night's att a
word. he rode betwixt Cambridge & oxenford, but neuer a Doctor there was soe wise cold shew him these questions or enterprise; wherewith the Bishopp was nothing gladd, but in his hart was heauy & sadd, & hyed him home to a house in the countrye To ease some part of his Melanchollye. [page iss.] his halfe brother dwelt there, was feirce & fell, noe better but a shepard to the Bishoppe him-sell; the shepard came to the Bishopp anon, saying, " my Lord, you are welcome home ! what ayles yon," q;wth the shepard, " f7iixt you are
soe sadd, & had wonte to haue beene soe Merry & gladd ? " " Nothing," quoth the Bishopp, " I ayle att this time, will not thee 9 availe to know, Brother mine." 2 all my nobles.—P. * you shrink.—P.
* verilyo.—P. On thoust, see note ', .. 20.—F.
goodnight.—P. that will thee.—P.
"Brother," qwoth the Shepeard, "you haue heard
itt,1 that a ffoole may teach a wisemane witt2; say me therforo what-soeuer you will, & if I doe you noe good, He doe you noe ill." Qwoth the Bishop : " I haue beene att thy court anon, before my prince is called King Iohn, & there he hath charged mee against his crowne with traitorye; if I cannott answer his Misteryo, 3 questions hee hath propounded to mee, he will haue my Land soe faire & free, & alsoe the head from my bodye. the first question was, ' to toll him in flat stead with the crowne of gold vpon his head, amongst his Nobilitye 3 with Ioy & much mirth, to lett him know within one penye what hee is worth ;' & secondlye ' to tell him with-out any doubt how soone he may goe the whole world about;' & thirdlye, ' to tell him, or ere I stint, what is the thinge that he does4 thinke.'" " Brother," quoth the shepard, " you are a man of Learninge; what neede you stand in doubt of soe small a thinge ? lend me," qwoth the shepard, " your Ministers * apparrell, Be ryde to the court ifc answere your quarrell; lend me yowr serving men, say me not nay; with all your best horsses that ryd on the way, He to the court, this matter to stay; " Brother, n foul may teach a wise man ; tell mo your trouble."
The Bishop tells his half-brother
the three questions which he must answer or die :
1. What King John fa worth.
2. How
quickly he can cirele the world. 8. What ho is thinking about.
"Mere
trifles." says the Shepherd. " Lcud me your dress,
men,
and horses,
and I'll to court and
1 never heard yet. Pr. copy.—P.
2 ' A fool may put somewhat in a wise body's head:' Bay, in Bolm's Handbook, p. 94. ' Fools may sometimes give wise men counsel: ' ib. p. 356. ' A fool may
give a wise man a counsel:' Proverbs of Scotland, ed. Hislop, 1862, p. 281.—F. * all his nobles.—P. * that he doth.—P. * Abbots or Bishops.—P.
llc speake with Kmj Iohn & hearc what heele say."
the Bishopp with speed prepared then
to sett forth the shepard with horsse & man 1;
the shepard was liuely with-out any donht;
I wott a royall companye came to the court.
the shepard hee came to the court anon
hefore [his] prince that was called 'King Iohn.
as soone as the \dng the shepard did see,
" 0," qtwth the king, " Bishopp, thou art welcome
tome!" the shepard was soe like the Bishopp his brother, the King cold not know the one from the other. Quoth the King, " Bishopp, thou art welcome to me if thou can answer me my questions 3 ! " said the shepeard, " if it please your grace, show mee what the first quest[i]on was." " first," qwoth the Icing, "tell mee in this stead with the crowne of gold vpon my head, amongst2 my nobilitye3 with Ioy & much mirth, within one pennye what I am worth." Qwoth the shepard, " to make4 your grace noe offence, I thinke you are worth 29 pence; for onr Lord Iesus, that bought vs all, for 30 pence was sold into thrall amongst the cursed Iewes, as I to you doe showe ; but I know christ was one penye better then you." then the King laught, & swore by St. Andrew he was not thought to bee of such a small value. " Secondlye, tell mee w'ith-out any doubt how soone I may goe the world round about." saies the shepard, "it5 is noe time with your grace to scorne; but rise betime with the sun in the Morne, & follow his course till his vprising,
& then you may know with-out any Leasing— & this1 your grace shall proue the same— 116 you are come to the same place from whence you came; 24 houres,3 with-out any doubt, [page Im.] your grace may the world goe round about; the world round about, euon as I doe say, if with the sun you can goe the next way." " & thirdlye tell me or cue/-13 stint, what is the thing, Bishoppe, that I doe thinke." " that shall I doe," qwoth the shepeard ; " for veretye you thinke I am the Bishopp of Canterburye." " why ? art not thou ? the truth tell to me ; for I doe thinke soe," qwoth the king, "by St. Marye." " not soe," quoth the shepeard ; " the truth shalbe knowne, 128 I am his poore shepeard ; my brother is att home." " why," qwoth the ILing, " if itt soe bee, Ho make thee Bishopp here to4 mee." " Noe, Sir," qwoth the' „hepard, " I pray you be still, for Ho not bee Bishop but against my will; for I am not fitt for any such deede, for I can neither write nor reede." " why then," qwoth the king, " Be giue thee cleere a patten5 of 300 pound a yeere; that I will giue thee franke & free; take thee that, shepard, for coming 6 to me. free pardon Be giue," the kings grace said, " to sauc the Bishopp, his land & his head; with him nor thee Be be nothing wrath 7; here is the pardon for him & thee both." 132
136
then tho shepard he had noe more to say,
but tooke the pardon & rode his way.
when he came to the Bishopps place,
the Bishopp asket anon how all things was:
" Brother," qwoth the shepard, " I haue well sped,
for I haue saued both your Land & your head ;
the King with you is nothing wrath,
for heere is the pardon for you & mee both."
then the Bishopes hart was of a Merry cheere,
" brother, thy paines Be quitt them cleare,
for I will giue thee a patent to thee & to thine
of 50\' a yeere land good & fine."
" I will to thee noe longer croche1 nor creepo,
nor Be serue thee noe more to keepe thy sheepo."
whereener wist you shepard before,
that had in his head witt such store
to pleasure a Bishopp in such a like case,
to answer 3 questions to the TLings grace ?
whereeuer wist you shepard gett cleare
350V pound a yeere ?
I neuer hard of his fellow before,
nor I ncuer shall, now I need to say noe more:
I neuer knew shepeard that gott such a liuinge
But David the shepeard that was a King.
1. Mickle
ffins. 1 crouch.—P