Merrie England in the olden time / by George Daniel.

  • George Daniel
Date:
1881
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Merrie England in the olden time / by George Daniel. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    129/472 page 117
    117 Why, that mysterious budget of thine contains every black- letter rarity that Captain Cox* of Coventry rejoiced in, and bibliomaniacs sighed for. Who and what art thou ?” “ Suppose, signors, I should be some eccentric nobleman in disguise—or odd fish of an amateur collecting musical tribute to win a wager—or suppose ” “ Have done with thy supposes !” cried the impatient and satirical-nosed gentleman. “ Or suppose—Uncle Timothy !” Here, with the adroit- ness of a practised mimic, the voice was changed in an instant, the coal-black wiry wig thrown off, the bushy imperial sent to look after the stray mustachios, the thread- bare camlet cloak and rusty beaver cast aside, and the Laneham, in his Account of the Queen’s Entertainment at Killing- worth Castle, 157s, represents this military mason and bibliomaniac as “marching on valiantly before, clean trust, and gartered above the knee, all fresh m a velvet cap, flourishing with his ton sword and describing a procession of the Coventry men in celebration of Hock Tuesday, he introduces “ Fyrst, Captain Cox, an od man I promiz yoo ; by profession a m^on, and that right skiliull; very cunning in fens, and hardy az Gavin ; for hiz ton-sword hangs at hiz tabbz eend ; great oversight hath he in matters of storie : for az for King Arthurz book, Huon of Bur- deaus, the foour sons of Aymon, Bevys of Hampton, the Squyre of lo degree, the Knight of Courtesy, the Wido Edyth, the King and the Tanner, Robmhood, Adam Bel, Clim of the Clough and William of Cloudsley, the Wife lapt in a Morels Skin, the Sak full of Nuez, Elynor Rumming, and the Nutbrown Maid. * “What should I rehearz heer, what a bunch of Ballets and Songs, ^1 auncient; and Broom broom on Hill, So Wo iz me begon, troly lo. Over a Whinny Meg, Hey ding a ding. Bony lass upon a green. My hony on gave me a bek. By a bank as I lay: and a hundred more he hath fair wrapt up in parchment, and bound with a whipcord. To stay ye no longer heerin, I dare say he hath as fair a library for theez sciencez, and az many goodly monuments both in prose and poetry, and at after noonz can talk az much without book, az ony inholder betwixt Brainford and Bagshot, what degree soever he be.”
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