Crane The old courtier

An old song made by an aged old pate, Of an old worshipful Gentleman who had a great 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 assuages That every quarter paid their old servants their wages, And never knew what belonged to coachmen, footmen, nor pages, But kept twenty old fellows with blue coats and badges Like an Old Courtier of the Queen's and the Queen's Old Courtier.

With an old study fill'd full of learned old books, With an old reverent Chaplain, you might know him by his looks ; Like an Old Courtier of the Queen's and the Queen's Old Courtier.

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 frieze coat to cover his Worship's trunk hose, And a cup of old Sherry to comfort his copper nose ; Like an Old Courtier of the Queen's and the Queen's Old Courtier.

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 of the Queen's and the Queen's Old Courtier.

With a good old fashion, when Christmasse was come, To call in all his old neighbours with bagpipe and drum ; Like an Old Courtier of the Queen's and the Queen's Old Courtier.

With good cheer enough to furnish every old room, And old liquor able to make a cat speak and a man dumb ; Like an Old Courtier of the Queen's and the Queen's Old Courtier.

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 died gave every child a thousand good pounds ; Like an Old Courtier of the Queen's and the Queen's Old Courtier.

English Broadside Ballad Archive (University of California at Santa Barbara, Department of English, http://ebba.english.ucsb.edu/ballad/20822/image)

Ce diaporama a été produit à l'aide du logiciel Raconte-Moi d'AbulÉdu et utilise le travail de Atul Varma (sous licence cc-by) pour la partie web.