Ent'ring the houses then, And of the richest men, For gold and treasure We searchèd each day; In some places we did find 95 Pye baking in the oven, Meat at the fire roasting, And men run away. Dub a-dub, &c.
Full of rich merchandise, Every shop we did see, 100 Damask and sattins And velvet full fair; Which soldiers measure out By the length of their swords; Of all commodities, 105 Each one hath share. Dub a-dub, &c.
Thus Cales was taken, And our brave general March'd to the market-place, There he did stand; 110 There many prisoners Of good account were took; Many crav'd mercy, And mercy they found. Dub a-dub, &c.
When as our general 115 Saw they delayèd time, And would not ransom The town as they said, With their fair wainscots, Their presses and bedsteads, 120 Their joint-stools and tables, A fire we made: And when the town burnt in a flame, With tan-ta-ra, tan-ta-ra-ra, From thence we came. 125
"When the Scottish Covenanters rose up in arms, and advanced to the English borders in 1639, many of the courtiers complimented the king by raising forces at their own expense. Among these none were more distinguished than the gallant Sir John Suckling, who raised a troop of horse, so richly accoutred, that it cost him 12,000_l._ The like expensive equipment of other parts of the army made the king remark, that "the Scots would fight stoutly, if it were but for the Englishmen's fine cloaths." When they came to action, the rugged Scots proved more than a match for the fine showy English: many of whom behaved remarkably ill, and among the rest this splendid troop of Sir John Suckling's." PERCY.
This scoffing ballad, sometimes attributed to Suckling himself, is taken from the _Musarum Deliciæ_ of Sir John Mennis and Dr. James Smith (p. 81 of the reprint, _Upon Sir John Sucklings most warlike preparations for the Scotish warre_). The former is said by Wood to have been the author. Percy's copy (_Reliques_, ii. 341) has one or two different readings.--The first stanza is a parody on _John Dory_.
Sir John got him an ambling nag, To Scotland for to ride-a, With a hundred horse more, all his own he swore, To guard him on every side-a.
No errant-knight ever went to fight 5 With halfe so gay a bravado, Had you seen but his look, you'ld have sworn on a book, Hee'ld have conquer'd a whole armado.