1609.] HUNTIXG MATCHES. 151 



kiss the king's hand before his departure, but could obtain 

 no relief from him ; and implores his lordship to assist his 

 wife, whom he left in England, with three children, in so 

 wretched a situation that he was forced to divide with her 

 the small sum of twelve pounds which the Earl of Pembroke 

 had given him to purchase necessaries for his voyage. At 

 his first going abroad he enlisted under Sir Edward Cecil, 

 at Utrecht, with a stipend of nine shillings per week ; and 

 after the peace, was recommended by Anne of Denmark to 

 the Duke of Brunswick, in whose service he probably con- 

 tinued for the remainder of his life. His lineal descendants 

 were hereafter Earls of Harewood. 



The kine ajrain arrived, on the ist of October, at 

 Nev^^market, where he remained, on and off, until the 

 end of December. On his arrival, great 

 preparations were made for the sports 

 peculiar to the locality ; but owing to the severe 

 frost and snow which prevailed, the fun had to be 

 relinquished until a change in the weather took place. 

 The king spent the interval in writing poetry, and 

 issuing orders on public transactions. This is a 

 specimen of the former : — 



The earth ore-covered with a sheet of snow. 

 Refuses food to fowl, or bird, or beast : 



The chilhng cold lets * every thing to grow, 

 And surfeits cattle with a starving feast. 



Curs't be that love and mought t continue short 



Which kills all creatures and doth spoil our sport. 



In November, a change in the weather permitted 

 some " hunting matches " to take place ; and during 

 December several similar events are mentioned in 

 which the king and the princes participated. On the 



* Hinders. • \ I.e. may it. 



