78 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [rARn. 



the cool shade, whilst others sported themselves in the cheerful 

 sun ; and saw others craving comfort from the swollen udders 

 of their bleating dams. As I thus sat, these and other sights 

 had so fully possest my soul with content, that I thought, as the 

 poet has happily exprest it, 



I was for that time lifted above earth ;_ 

 And possest joys not promis'd in my birth. 



As I left this place, and entered into the next field, a second 



(pleasure entertained me ; 'twas a handsome milkmaid, that had ' 



I not yet attained so much age and wisdom as to load her mind 



I with any fears of many things that will never be, as too many 



I men too often do ; but she cast away all care, and sung like a 



nightingale. Her voice was good, and the ditty fitted for it ; it 



was that smooth song which was made by Kit Marlow,* now at 



least fifty years ago ; and the milkmaid's mother sung an answer 



to it, which was made by Sir Walter Raleigh, in his younger 



days. They were old-fashioned poetry, but choicely good ; I 



think much better than the strong lines that are now in fashion * 



in this critical age. Look yonder ! on my word, yonder they 



both be a-milking again. I will give her the Chub, and persuade 



them to sing those two songs to us. 



God speed you, good woman ! I have been a-fishing ; and am 

 going to Bleak Hallf to my bed ; and having caught more fish 

 than will sup myself and my friend, I will bestow this upon you 

 and your daughter, for I use to sell none. 



MiLKWOMAN. Marry ! God requite you. Sir, and we'll eat it 

 cheerfully.' And if you come this way a-fishing two months 

 hence, a grace of God ! I'll give you a syllabub of new verjuice, 



VARIATIONS. 



7 that had cast away all care, and sung, &c. — ist, id, 3(f, and ^ik edit. 



8 better than that now in fashion, — ist, 2d, ^d, and ^th edit. 

 " cheerfully. Will you drink a draught of red cow's milk ? 

 Piscator. No, I thank you, &c. — i.st edit. 



* Christopher Marlow was a poet of some eminence, as may be inferred from the 

 frequent mention of him in the writings of his contemporaries. He was sometime a 

 student at Cambridge, and, after that, an actor on, and writer for, the stage. There are 

 extant, of his writing, five tragedies ; and a poem that bears his name, entitled Nero and 

 Leander (possibly a translation from MusEeus), which, he not living to complete it, was 

 finished by Chapman. Some remarks will be found in a subsequent page on the song 

 mentioned by Walton. Of Marlow it is said that he was the author of divers atheistical 

 and blasphemous discourses ; and that m a quarrel with a s6rving-man, his rival in a 

 connection with a lewd woman, he received a stab with a dagger, and shortly after died 

 of the stroke. Wood, Aihe?t. Oxon. vol. i. 338. — H. Marlowe's Dramatic and other 

 Poetical Works have been collected, with some Account of his Life, by George Robinson, 

 Esq., 3 vols. cr. 8vo, Lond. 1826. 



t A fishing-house on the banks of the Lea, about one mile from Edmonton, was called 

 Bleak Hall, and is presumed to be the place alluded to. 



