And Derby Hills that are so free;
No marry'd man, or widow's son,
For no widow's curse shall go with me."
Fal, lal, &c.
They recruited Cheshire and Lancashire,
And Derby Hills that are so free;
No marry'd man, nor no widow's son,
Yet there was a jovial bold company.
Fal, lal, &c.
O then we march'd into the French land,
With drums and trumpets so merrily;
And then bespoke the King of France,
"Lo! yonder comes proud King Henry."
Fal, lal, &c.
The first shot that the Frenchmen gave,
They kill'd our Englishmen so free;
We kill'd ten thousand of the French,
And the rest of them they run away.
Fal, lal, &c.
And then we marched to Paris gates,
With drums and trumpets so merrily,
O then bespoke the King of France,
"The Lord have mercy on my men and me!
Fal, lal, &c.
"O I will send him his tribute home,
Ten ton of gold that is due to he,
And the finest flower that is in all France,
To the Rose of England I will give free."
Fal, lal, &c.
A Ballad of Darbyshire. BY SIR ASTON COKAIN.
Sir Aston Cokain, the most illustrious member of the famous family of Cokain, of Ashborne, was the son of Thomas Cokain, of Ashborne and of Pooley, by his wife Ann, daughter of Sir John Stanhope,[2] of Elvaston, by Derby. He was born at Elvaston, in 1608, was educated at Cambridge, and received the honour of knighthood in 1641. He was one of the most eminent poets of the day, and was the intimate friend of Donne, Suckling, Randolph, Drayton, Massinger, Habbington, Sandys, May, Jonson, and other wits of the age. He was cousin to Charles Cotton, to whom he addressed many of his writings. Sir Aston married Mary, daughter of Sir Gilbert Kniveton, of Mercaston, near Derby. In 1671 he, with his son, Thomas Cokain, sold his estates in the neighbourhood of Ashborne to Sir William Boothby; and he also sold his estate of Pooley. In 1683 Sir Aston Cokain died at Derby, and was buried at Polesworth. His son Thomas, who married Mary, co-heiress of Carey Sherry, was the last male heir of the family, and died without issue.
In 1658 Sir Aston Cokain published his volume, Small Poems of Divers Sorts, a volume of 508 pages, which is now of great rarity. Some few copies have a portrait—a laureated bust—of Cokain, with the verse—
"Come, Reader, draw thy purse, and be a guest
To our Parnassus; 'Tis the Muses feast.
The entertainment needs must be divine—
Appollo's th' Host where Cockains heads ye Sign."
This portrait is of excessive rarity. Curiously enough, the copper-plate was used as the portrait of Ovid in North's translation of Plutarch's Lives, and it has also more than once been re-engraved. The volume contains also two dramatic pieces, "The Obstinate Lady, a Comedy written by Aston Cokain," which was first published in 1657, and "Trappolin suppos'd a Prince, an Italian Trage-Comedy." Cokain also wrote the "Tragedy of Ovid," and other things, and several editions of his works, under different titles, were issued.
1.
Dear Polyhymnie, be Auspicious unto me, That I may spread abroad Our Shire's worth in an ode, Merrily chanting. They that our Hills do blame, Have no cause for the same; Seeing the Muses lye Upon Parnassus high, Where no joy's wanting.
2.
Upon Olympus Hill Hebe Heaven's cup doth fill: And Iove of Candy Isle Doth the Gods reconcile, When they do wrangle. In France at Agincourt (Where we fought in such sort) Behind an hill we did Make our Archers lye hid, Foes to entangle.
3.
The long commanding Rome, And old Byzantium, Lisbon in Portugal, Are situated all Upon Hills strongly: All therefore that protest Hilly ground's not the best, Are of their wits bereav'd, And all of them deceiv'd, And censure wrongly.
4.
The Peer of England known Darby's Earldom to own, Is honoured by the style Of King of Mona's Isle Hereditary. Why hath Orantus found A Channel under ground Where t'lye hid, but for shame When it hears Darwin's[3] name, Which Fame doth carry?
5.
Why do the Nymphs (believe)
Of Nile, it down Rocks drive; Unless it be for fear Trent's glory should go near To overgo them? The Spaw Luick Land hath, And Sommerset the Bath: Buxtons (dear County) be As famous unto thee As they unto them.
6.
For King Mausolus Tomb, Lango's known by each Groom; And the Campanian Lake Doth very famous make Italies confines; The walls of burned stone Eternise Babylon: And the large Devil's vault Doth Darbyshire exalt, Wherein no sun shines.
7.
The Pike to Tennariff An high repute doth give; And the Coloss of brass, Where under ships did pass, Made Rhodes aspire. Tunbridge makes Kent renown'd And Epsome Surryes Ground: Pools-hole, and St. Anne's Well Makes Darbyshire excell Many a shire.
8.
Here on an Hill's side steep
Is Elden hole, so deep, That no man living knowes How far it hollow goes; Worthy the knowing. Here also is a Well Whose Waters do excell All waters thereabout; Both being in and out Ebbing and flowing.
9.
Here's Lead, whereof is made
Bullets for to invade
Them whose pride doth prevail
So far, as to assail
Our Brittish borders.
Our Lead so much may do,
That it may win Peru; And (if we chance to meet A Spanish silver Fleet) Commit great murthers.
10.
Diana's Fane to us Extolleth Ephesus: The Sand-hil, and deaf stone, Do Darbyshire renown, Worth Admiration. Windsor Berks doth commend, And Essex Audley-end; We of our Chatsworth boast, A glory to our coast, And the whole Nation.
11.
Spain doth vaunt of its sack, And France of Claret crack; Of Rhenish Germany; And of thy Ale speak free, My gallant County. Now I have made an end, I wish you to commend Either the author's wit, Or me for singing it, Out of your bounty.
THE MOST PLEASANT
Song of Lady Bessy, The Eldest Daughter of King Edward the Fourth, and how she married King Henry the Seventh, of the House of Lancaster.
This fine old ballad concerning the