[381] Weekly Journal, August 4, 1722.
“Though Samson by his strength could overcome the lion,
Defeat the Philistines and master the foxes,
Yet a woman deprived him of his sight;
Never, therefore, believe a woman unless she has no head.”
This alludes to the Good Woman, described [elsewhere] in this work.
Samson’s history was not only painted on the signboard, but also sung in ballads, “to the tune of the Spanish Pavin.” Amongst the Roxburgh ballads (vol. i. fol. 366) there is one entitled “A most excellent and famous ditty of Sampson, judge of Israel, how hee wedded a Philistyne’s daughter, who at length forsooke him; also how hee slew a lyon and propounded a riddle, and after how hee was falsely betrayed by Dalila, and of his death.”
[383] See Bibliographia Britannica, voce Golias, and Wright’s History of Caricature.
“Like to the hart which comes to the water brook to refresh himself,
So you enter my house to quench your thirst.”
[385] The first six words are literally the beginning of the psalm in the Dutch version,—
“Like a hart the hunt escaped, wishes for the limpid water brooks,
So there is here tobacco, beer, and brandy for sale to strengthen the stomach.”