A Metrical History of England Or, Recollections, in Rhyme, Of some of the most prominent Features in our National Chronology, from the Landing of Julius Caesar to the Commencement of the Regency, in 1812. In Two Volumes ... By Thomas Dibdin |
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 | A Metrical History of England |  |
“Threw dust and rubbish on King Richard's head.”
“The banished Bolingbroke repeal'd himself;
“Mounted upon a hot and fiery steed,
“Which his aspiring rider seem'd to know,
“With slow but stately pace kept on his course,
“While all tongues cried, God save thee, Bolingbroke,
“Jesu preserve thee, welcome Bolingbroke;
“Whilst he from the one side to the other turning,
“Bareheaded, lower than his proud steed's neck.”
“I dress'd myself in such humility
“That I did pluck allegiance from men's hearts,
“Loud shouts and salutations from their mouths,
“Even as the presence of the crowned king.”
“—Heaven knows
“By what paths and crooked ways
“I met this crown; and I myself know well
“How troublesome it sat upon my head.
“And I had many living to upbraid
“My gain of it, by their assistance,
“And by whose power I well might lodge or fear
“To be again displaced: which to avoid,
“I cut them off.”
Shakespeare.
HENRY THE FOURTH.
SURNAMED OF BOLINGBROKE.
Q.Under what colour, or pretended claim,
Did Bolingbroke aspire to Richard's Throne?
A.
Edward the third's fourth son, who bore the name
Of John of Gaunt, as Henry's sire was known.
Q.
What claimant else look'd upward to the crown?
A.
One whose more just pretensions were put down
By Henry's friends,—young Mortimer the heir
Of Clarence, Edward's second son,—more fair
His title: but in Henry's hand was power,
Which brow beats Justice to this very hour.
Q.
What troubles shaded Henry's prosp'rous star?
A.
A scene of foreign and of civil war;
And tho' he conquered each domestic foe,
'Twas Henry's lot to find new troubles grow;
From these o'ercome, as poets sing of yore,
That Hydra Heads, when crop'd, encreas'd the more.
Whose tyranny but grew with his success.
Religion too excites mistaken ire,
And martyr'd Lollards feed the bigots fire;
“Henry the Cruel” was the name obtain'd
From blood of subjects almost daily drain'd.
Q.
What foreign powers join with mighty foes,
The right and reign of Henry to oppose?
A.
The Scotch; bold Douglas leads a hardy band,
To aid young Percy of Northumberland
In Mortimer's behalf,—their efforts meet
In frequent fields, succession of defeat.
The Douglas yields , the Percy breathless lies:
And Scotland's Prince becomes the Victor's prize.
What nations else co-operation bring,
To join with those who hate the reigning king?
A.
The French assist the fiery chiefs of Wales,
Whose enterprize, like that related, fails;
Glen dower's fortune seems at first to soar,
Aided by stormy blasts, and thunder's roar,
So strangely that the lustre of his arms
Is dimm'd by a belief that magic charms
Enabled him to lull his foes to sleep,
And “conjure spirits from the vasty deep.”
Q.
Against the King what else attempted France?
A.
In Guienne with some success their arms advance,
At Calais too the chance of war they tried;
But Henry's arts the gallic chiefs divide,
Distract their councils, keep their force at bay,
'Till “Divide and Imp'ra” wins the day.
Was he not with paternal cares opprest?
A.
The conduct of his son disturbed his rest;
The Prince forgetful of his rank and worth,
Associates with men of slightest worth,
Unblushing leads their vulgar sports by day,
And, rendered by their nightly revels gay,
“Hot with the Tuscan grape and high in blood,”
'Tis said with robbers leagued he rashly stood,
And here might we “in jocund strains recite,
The prurient “humours of the braggart knight; ”
But one Will Shakespeare having told the tale,
We should but make a shrimp of Billy's whale.
The Prince who thus his dignity could stain,
Had power lost reputation to regain;
And “revocare gradus” firmly tried,
'Till, from its scorn, he shone a nation's pride;
“Redeeming time” he'd let too long stand still.
Q
Or did the Monarch feel, or seem to feel,
Against the infidels “most christian” zeal?
A.
Yes, and no more of foes at home afraid,
He meant to undertake a grand crusade;
For some false prophet ventured to divine,
He should expire in holy Palestine,
And expiating sins and folly's past,
Jerusalem should see him breathe his last.
Q.
And did it?
A.
Yes; and yet the prophet err'd,
For this Jerusalem, as we have heard,
Was but a room so called, where Henry's breath,
Cut short by leprosy, was closed in death.
Q.
What men of eminence his reign adorn?
A.
With English science 'twas but early morn;
William of Wickham, Chaucer, Master Gower,
Sir Robert Knolles, of valiant knights the flower;
The famed Sir Richard Whittington, Lord Mayor,
Of whom each 'prentice has the story pat,
Of London bells, cross cook maids, and a cat.
Q.
Did not the King, who ow'd it most protection,
Oft' violate the freedom of election?
A.
Most shamefully, and Sheriffs were required
But to return what men the Court desired;
Who, acquiescing with obsequious bow,
Projected taxes, high as they are now.
The rich the taxes wou'd'nt pay,
The poor the taxes cou'd'nt pay;
And middle ranks might rightly say,
(As sang a poet of that day):
“Est igitur notum, Cater-tray solvere totum.”
We add James Petit Andrew's imitation:
“Says Size Cinque I sha'n't:
“So poor Cater-tray
“The whole sum must pay.”
Thomas Badby, a Worcestershire tailor, burnt in Smithfield for denying the corporeal presence in the sacramental bread, was one of the first English martyrs. The young Prince Henry twice ordered him to be taken from the stake, and a pardon and a pension were offered him; but he persisted, and died in the maintenance of his opinion.
Earl Douglas had before been taken prisoner, at the battle of Holmedon, where, enraged at the havoc made by the English archers, (according to Walsingham) he rushed forward, accompanied by eighty men of rank, to disperse that formidable corps; but was wounded in five places, and made prisoner. After his liberation, he again led the Scots at the battle of Worcester, where he broke through the English ranks, and slew three persons dress'd like Henry. At length he fled, and having fallen down and wounded himself in a strange manner, was taken. The Prince of Wales, hitherto not an estimable character, fought bravely, and though wounded in the face, would not quit the field: the King, too, is said to have performed prodigies of valour, and to have slain thirty-six rebels with his own hand.
The Prince had the imprudence to appear in Court, to countenance one of his offending associates, and actually struck the Judge on the Bench: but, as instantly ashamed of his conduct, submitted to go to prison. The King was equally pleased with the firmness of the Judge, (Gascoigne) and the obedience of his Son; who afterwards hearing his Father suspected him of measures to disturb the public peace, went to Court to acquit himself, in a kind of allegorical habit, which has never been accounted for.—“He was apparelled in a gown of blue satin, full of oilet holes; at every hole, the needle hanging by a silk thread with which it was sewed.”
Gower; a specimen from whom is given under Richard II. died in 1402.
Chaucer addresses him, “O! moral Gower! &c, &c.”
James I. of Scotland thus speaks of him and Chaucer;
“Unto Impnis of my maisteris dere“Gower and Chaucer, on the steps they sate
“Of rhetorike, whyle they were lyvande here,
“Superlative as Poets-Laureatte.
“In moralitie and eloquence ornate.”
| A Metrical History of England | |