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nutive demons, or middle fpecies between men and Spirits, whom they called DUERGAR or DWARFS, and to whom they attributed many wonderful performances, far exceeding human art. Vid. Hervarer Saga Olaj Verelj. 1675. Hickes Thefaur. &c.

OME, follow, follow mee,

COM

Ye, fairye elves that bee;
Come follow Mab your queene,
And trip it o'er the greene:
Hand in hand, we'll dance around,
Because this place is fairye ground.

When mortals are at reft,
And fnoring in their neft;
Unheard, and un-espy'd,
Through key-holes we do glide;
Over tables, ftooles, and fhelves,
We trip it with our fairye elves.

And, if the house be foull
With platter, difh or bowl
Up ftaires we nimbly creep,
And find the fluts asleep :

Then we pinch their armes and thighes;
None us heares, nor none us fpies.

But if the house be swept,
And from uncleanness kept,
We praise the houshold maid,
And duely fhe is paid

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Is meat that's easily chew'd;
Braines of wormes, and marrow of mice
Do make a difh, that's wonderous nice.

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The grafhopper, gnat, and fly,
Serve for our ministrelfy,

Grace faid, we dance a while,

And fo the time beguile :

And if the moon doth hide her head,

The glow-worm lightes us home to bed.

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Ne'er bends where we do walk:

Yet in the morning may be feene
Where we the night before have becne.

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XXVI. THE

XXVI.

THE FAIRIES FAREWELL.

It is

This humourous old fong fell from the hand of the facetious bishop Corbet (probably in his youth) and is printed from the third edition of his poems, Lond. 1672. 12mo. there called, "A proper new Ballad, intituled, The Fairies "Farewell, or God-a-mercy Will, to be fung or whiftled to "the tune of The Meadowes brown, by the learned: by the "unlearned, to the tune of Fortune.”

The departure of Fairies is here attributed to the abolition of monkery Chaucer has, with equal humour, affigned a cause the very reverse.

:

"In the old dayes of king Artour

"(Of which the Britons fpeken grete honour)
"All was this lond fulfilled of fayry;
"The elf-quene, with her jolly company,

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Daunfed full oft in many a grene mede.
"This was an old opinion as I rede:
"I fpeke of many hundred yere agoe :
"But now can no man fee no elfes moe :
"For now the grete charite, and prayeres
"Of Limitours, and other holy freres,
"That ferchen every lond, and every ftreme,
"As thick as motes in the funne beme,
"Bleffing balles, chambers, kitchins, and bowres,
"Cities, borowes, caftelles, and hie toures,
"Thropes, and bernes, fhepens, and dairies,
"This maketh that there ben now no fairies:
"For there as wont to walken was an elfe,
"There walketh now the Limitour himselfe,
"In undermeles and in morrownynges,
"And faieth his mattins and his holie thinges,
VOL. I.

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"As he goeth in his limitacioune.
Wymen may now go fafely up and doune,
"In every bush, and under every tree,
"There is none other incubus but he :
"And he ne will don hem no dishonour."

Wife of Bath's Tale. Dr. Richard Corbet, having been bishop of Oxford about three years, and afterwards as long Bp. of Norwich, died in 1635, Etat. 52.

Arewell rewards and fairies!

FA

Good housewives now may say;

For now foul fluts in dairies,

Do fare as well as they :

And though they fweep their hearths no less

Than maids were wont to doe,

Yet who of late for cleanliness

Finds fix-pence in her shoe ?

Lament, lament old abbies,

The fairies laft command;
They did but change priefts babies,
But fome have chang'd your land:
And all your children ftoln from thence
Are now grown Puritans,
Who live as changelings ever fince,

For love of your demains.

At morning and at evening both
You merry were and glad,
So little care of fleep and floth,
These pretty ladies had.

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When

When Tom came home from labour,

Or Cifs to milking rose,

Then merrily went their tabour,

And nimbly went their toes.

Witness those rings and round-delayes
Of theirs, which yet remain ;

Were footed in queene Maries dayes
On many a graffy plain.
But fince of late Elizabeth

And later James came in ;

They never danc'd on any heath,
As when the time hath bin.

By which we note the fairies
Were of the old profeffion :

Their fongs were Ave Maries,

Their dances were proceffion. But now, alas! they all are dead,

Or gone beyond the feas,

Or further from religion fled,
Or else they take their ease.

A tell-tale in their company
They never could endure ;
And whofo kept not fecretly
Their mirth, was punish'd fure:

It was a just and christian deed
To pinch fuch black and blue:

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O how the common-wealth doth need

Such juftices, as you!

Now

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