The Cavalier Songs and Ballads of England from 1642 to 1684. Various
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Restore the King to glory! [31] Then that name I have honour’d so Will famous be in story; While if he doe not, I much feare The ruine of the nation, And (that I should be loth to see) His house’s desolation. London, etc.
THE LAWYERS’ LAMENTATION FOR THE LOSS OF CHARING-CROSS.
From a Collection of Loyal Songs, 1610 to 1660.
Undone! undone! the lawyers cry,
They ramble up and down;
We know not the way to Westminster Now Charing-Cross is down. Now fare thee well, old Charing-Cross, Then fare thee well, old stump; It was a thing set up by a King, And so pull’d down by the Rump.
And when they came to the bottom of the Strand
They were all at a loss:
This is not the way to Westminster, We must go by Charing-Cross. Then fare thee well, etc.
The Parliament did vote it down
As a thing they thought most fitting,
For fear it should fall, and so kill ’em all
In the House as they were sitting.
Then fare thee well, etc.
Some letters about this Cross were found, Or else it might been freed; But I dare say, and safely swear, It could neither write nor read. Then fare thee well, etc.
The Whigs they do affirm and say To Popery it was bent; For what I know it might be so, For to church it never went, Then fare thee well, etc.
This cursed Rump-Rebellious Crew, They were so damn’d hard-hearted; They pass’d a vote that Charing-Cross Should be taken down and carted: Then fare thee well, etc.
Now, Whigs, I would advise you all, ’Tis what I’d have you do; For fear the King should come again, Pray pull down Tyburn too. Then fare thee well, etc.
THE DOWNFAL OF CHARING-CROSS.
Charing-Cross, as it stood before the civil wars, was one of those beautiful Gothic obelisks, erected to conjugal affection by Edward I., who built such a one wherever the hearse of his beloved Eleanor rested in its way from Lincolnshire to Westminster. But neither its ornamental situation, the beauty of its structure, nor the noble design of its erection (which did honour to humanity), could preserve it from the merciless zeal of the times; for in 1647 it was demolished by order of the House of Commons, as Popish and superstitious. This occasioned the following not unhumorous sarcasm, which has been often printed among the popular sonnets of those times.
The plot referred to in ver. 3 was that entered into by Mr. Waller the poet, and others, with a view to reduce the city and Tower to the service of the King; for which two of them, Nath. Tomkins and Richard Chaloner, suffered death, July 5, 1643. Vid. Ath. Ox. 11. 24.—Percy’s Reliques of Ancient English Poetry.
Undone! undone! the lawyers are,
They wander about the towne,
Nor can find the way to Westminster
Now Charing-Cross is downe:
At the end of the Strand they make a stand,
Swearing they are at a loss,
And chaffing say, that’s not the way,
They must go by Charing-Cross.
The Parliament to vote it down
Conceived it very fitting,
For fear it should fall, and kill them all
In the House as they were sitting.
They were told god-wot, it had a plot,
Which made them so hard-hearted,
To give command it should not stand,
But be taken down and carted.
Men talk of plots, this might have been worse,
For anything I know,
Than that Tomkins and Chaloner Were hang’d for long agoe. Our Parliament did that prevent, And wisely them defended, For plots they will discover still Before they were intended.
But neither man, woman, nor child
Will say, I’m confident,
They ever heard it speak one word
Against the Parliament.
An informer swore it letters bore,
Or else it had been freed;
In troth I’ll take my Bible oath
It could neither write nor read.
The Committee said that verify
To Popery it was bent:
For ought I know, it might be so,
For to church it never went.
What with excise, and such device,
The kingdom doth begin
To think you’ll leave them ne’er a cross
Without doors nor within.
Methinks the Common-council should
Of it have taken pity,
’Cause, good old cross, it always stood
So firmly to the city.
Since crosses you so much disdain,
Faith, if I were as you,
For fear the King should rule again
I’d pull down Tiburn too.
Whitlocke says, “May 3rd, 1643, Cheapside Cross and other crosses were voted down,” &c. When this vote was put in execution does not appear; probably not till many mouths after Tomkins and Chaloner had suffered.
We had a very curious account of the pulling down of Cheapside Cross lately published in one of the Numbers of the Gentlemen’s Magazine, 1766.—Percy’s Reliques.
THE LONG PARLIAMENT.
By John Cleveland.
Most gracious and omnipotent,
And everlasting Parliament,
Whose power and majesty
Are greater than all kings by odds;
And to account you less than gods
Must needs be blasphemy.
Mosses and Aaron ne’er did do
More wonder than is wrought by you
For England’s Israel;
But though the Red Sea we have past,
If you to Canaan bring’s at last,
Is’t not a miracle—?
In six years’ space you have done more
Than all the parliaments before;
You have quite done the work.
The King, the Cavalier, and Pope,
You have o’erthrown, and next we hope
You will confound the Turk.
By you we have deliverance
From the