May 13. 1854.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



439 



london, saturday, may 13, 1854. 

 "shakspeare's rime which he made at the 



MYTBE." 



In the third volume of Mr. Collier's valuable 

 History of Dramatic Poetry (p. 275.) is the fol- 

 lowing passage, which forms part of a note : 



" Mr. Thorpe, the enterprising bookseller of Bed- 

 ford Street, is in possession of a MS. full of songs and 

 poems, in the handwriting of a person of the name of 

 Richard Jackson, all copied prior to the year 1631, 

 and including many unpublished pieces, by a variety 

 of celebrated poets. One of the most curious is a song 

 in five seven-line stanzas, thus headed : ' Shakspeare's 

 rime, which he made at the Mytre in Fleete Streete.' 

 It begins ' From the rich Lavinian shore;' and some 

 few of the lines were published by Playford, and set as 

 a catch." 



In Mr. Thorns' Anecdotes and Traditions (pub- 

 lished by the Camden Society) is a story of the 

 celebrated Dr. John Wilson, to which the editor 

 has appended an interesting note, adding : 



" Wilson was the composer of a glee for three voices, 

 published in Playford's Musical Companion, where the 

 words are attributed to Shakspeare ; and the supposi- 

 tion that they were really written by him having been 

 converted into a certainty, by their appearing with 

 Shakspeare's name to them in the MS. Collection of 

 Poetry, copied prior to 1631 by Richard Jackson," &c. 



Mr. Thorns then prints the " rime," not inap- 

 propriately calling it " A Song for Autolycus," 

 with this remark : 



" My late respected friend Mr. Douce once told me, 

 that some musical friend at Chichester, I think the 

 organist, possessed a copy of this song, with an addi- 

 tional verse." 



Mr. Thorns' version of " Shakspeare's Rime" 

 was inserted (probably by our worthy Editor him- 

 self?) in the first volume of " N. & Q." (p. 23.) 

 with a view of obtaining the additional stanza ; 

 a desideratum which I am now enabled to supply. 

 The following copy has two additional stanzas, 

 and is transcribed from a MS. Collection of Songs, 

 with the music, written in the early part of the 

 reign of James I. The MS. was formerly in the 

 possession of Mr. J. S. Smith, the learned editor 

 of Musica Antiqua. 



i. 

 " From the fair Lavinian shore, 

 I your markets come to store ; 

 Marvel not, I thus far dwell, 

 And hither bring my wares to sell ; 

 Such is the sacred hunger of gold. 

 Then come to my pack, 



While I cry, 

 What d'ye lack, 

 What d'ye buy? 

 For here it is to be sold. 



* I have beauty, honour, grace, 

 Virtue, favour, time and space, 

 And what else thou wouldst request, 

 E'en the thing thou likest best ; 

 First, let me have but a touch of thy gold. 

 Then come too lad, 

 Thou shalt have 

 What thy dad 

 Never gave ; 

 For here it is to be sold, 

 in. 

 " Though thy gentry be but young, 

 As the flow'r that this day sprung, 

 And thy father thee before, 

 Never arms nor scutcheon bore ; 

 First let me have but a catch of thy gold, 

 Then, though thou be an ass, 



By this light 

 Thou shalt pass 

 For a knight ; 

 For here it is to be sold. 



IV. 



" Thou whose obscure birth so base, 

 Ranks among the ignoble race, 

 And desireth that thy name, 

 Unto honour should obtain ; 

 First let me have but a catch of thy gold, 

 Then, though thou be an ass, 



By this light, 

 Thou shalt pass 

 For a knight ; 

 For here it is to be sold. 



v. 

 " Madam, come see what you lack ? 

 Here's complexion in my pack ; 

 White and red you may have in this place, 

 To hide an old ill -wrinkled face : 

 First, let me have but a catch of thy gold, 

 Then thou shalt seem, 

 Like a wench of fifteen, 

 Although you be threescore and ten years old." 



That this song enjoyed extensive popularity in 

 the latter half of the seventeenth century, is 

 evinced by the number of printed copies. It is 

 found in Playford's Select Ayres and Dialogues, 

 1659 ; in Dr. Wilson's Cheerfull Ayres and Ballads, 

 1660; in Playford's Catch that Catch Can, 1667; 

 and in many subsequent collections of a similar 

 kind. But in none of these works is the name of 

 the writer of the words given ; and all the copies 

 are deficient of the third and fourth stanzas. The 

 point of the satire conveyed in these stanzas was 

 lost after the reign of James I., which may ac- 

 count for their omission. 



"Shakspeare's rime," being associated with 

 Wilson's music, is of some importance towards 

 settling the point of authorship. In 1846 I 

 printed a little pamphlet with the following title : 



" Who was Jack Wilson, the Singer of Shakspeare's 

 Stage? An Attempt to prove the Identity of this 



