THE POPE.

Though I brought never fo many to hel,
And to utter dampnacion,

Throughe myne enfample, and confel,
Or thorow any abhominacion,

Yet doth our lawe excufe my fashion

And thou, Luther, arte accurfed,

50

Thou ftryveft against my purgatory,
Because thou findeft it not in fcripture;
As though I by myne auctorite
Myght not make one for myne honoure.
Knoweft thou not, that I have power

To make, and mar, in heaven and hell,

In erth, and every creature;

Whatfoever I do it must be well.

As for fcripture, I am above it;

Am not I Gods hye vicare?

Shulde I be bounde to folowe it,

*As the carpenter his ruler?

Nay, nay, heretickes ye are,

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65

That will not obey my auctoritie.

With this SWORDE I wyll declare,
That ye fhal al accused be.

70

THE

THE CARDINAL.

I am a cardinal of Rome,

Sent from Chriftes hye vicary,

To graunt pardon to more and fume,
That wil Luther refift ftrongly:
He is a greate hereticke treuly,

And regardeth to much the fcripture;
For he thinketh onely thereby

To fubdue the popes high honoure.

Receive ye this PARDON devoutely, And loke that ye agaynft him fight;

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80

Plucke up youre herts, and be manlye,

For the pope fayth ye do but ryght:

85

And this be fure, that at one flyghte,

Allthough ye be overcome by chaunce, Ye fhall to heaven go with greate myghte; God can make you no refiftaunce.

II.

JOHN ANDERSON MY JO.

A SCOTTISH SONG.

While in England Verfe was made the vehicle of contreversy, and Popery was attacked in it by logical argument, or flinging Satire; we may be fure the zeal of the Scottish Reformers would not suffer their pens to be idle, but many * pafquil was difcharged at the Romifh priests, and their enormous encroachments on property. Of this kind perhaps is the following, (preserved in an ancient MS. Collection of Scottish poems in the Pepyfan library :)

Tak a Wobfter, that is leill,
And a Miller, that will not fteill,
With ane Prieft, that is not gredy,
And lay ane deid corpfe thame by,
And, throw virtue of thame three,
That deid corpfe fall qwyknit be.

Thus far all was fair: but their furious hatred of popery led them to employ their rhymes in a still more licentious manner. It is a received tradition in Scotland, that at the time of the Reformation, ridiculous and baudy Songs were compoSed by the rabble to the tunes of the most favourite hymns in the Latin fervice. Greene fleeves and pudding pies ( defigned to ridicule the popish clergy) is faid to bave been one of these metamorphosed hymns: Maggy Lauder was another: John Anderson my jo was a third. The original music of all thefe burlefque fonnets was very fine.

of their manner we have inferted one

To give a Specimen of the least offenfive.

The Reader will perdon the meanneß of the compofition for

the

the sake of the anecdote, which strongly marks the Spirit of

the times.

thereby occafioned, will acFrom the Records of the Ge

The adaptation of folemn church mufic to these ludicrous \pieces, and the jumble of ideas, count for the following fact. neral Assembly in Scotland, called, "The Book of the Univerfal Kirk,„, p. 90, 7th July, 1568, it appears, that Tho, mas Balendyne printer in Edinburgh, printed "a pfalme buik, in the end whereof was found, printit, ane baudy fang, called, Welcome Fortunes *. »

WOMAN.

OHN Anderfon my jo, cum in as ze gae bye,

JOHN

And ze fall get a fheips heid weel baken in a pyes Weel baken in a pye, and the haggis in a pat:

John Anderfon my jo, cum in, and ze's get that.

MAN.

And how doe ze, Cummer? and how doe ze thrive?
And how mony bairns hae ze? WOм. Cummer, I hae

five.

MAN. Are they to zour awin gude man? Woм. Na, Cummer, na;

For four of tham were gotten, quhan Wullie was awa'.

* See also Biograph. Britan. vol. I. p. 177.

III.

LITTLE JOHN NOBODY.

We have here a witty libel on the Reformation under king Edward VI, written about the year 1550, and preserved in the Pepys collection, Brittish Museum, and Strype's Mem. of Cranmer. The author artfully declines entering into the merits of the cause, and wholly reflects on the lives and actions of many of the Reformed. It is so easy to find flaws and imperfections in the conduct of men even the best of them, and still easier to make general exclamations about the profligacy of the present times, that no great point is gained by arguments of that fort, unleß the author could have proved that the principles of the Reformed Religion had a natural tendency to produce a corruption of manners: whereas he indirectly owns that their REVEREND FATHER [archbiShop Cranmer] had done what he could to stem the torrent, by giving the people acceß to the Scriptures, by teaching them to pray with understanding, by publishing homilies, and other religious tracts. It must however be acknowledged, that our libeller had at that time fufficient room for just satire. For under the banners of the Reformed ad inlifted themselves, many concealed papists who had private ends to gratify; many that were of no religion; many greedy courtiers, who thirfted after the poffeffions of the church; and many dissolute perfons, who wanted to be exempt from all ecclefiaftical cenfures; as these men were loudest of all others in their cries for Reformation, so in effect none obftructed the regular progreß of it so much, or by their vicious lives brought vexation and Shame more on the truly venerable and pious Reformers.

The reader will remark the fondneß of our Satirist for alliteration in this he was guilty of no affectation or fingu,