Bluff King Hal, however, must needs reward his humble friend, so he gave him a pension of forty marks yearly, with the freedom of his cellar, and made him "one of the courtiers"—a position which he must have graced, judging by his deportment as depicted in the illustrations.
[*] This illustration is from another edition.
The earliest book on this subject I can find, is the "Cobler turned Courtier, being a Pleasant Humour between K. Henry 8th and a Cobler," 1680, quarto.
The First Part of the
FRYAR AND BOY.
OR THE
Young PIPER'S pleasant Pastime
CONTAINING
The witty Adventures betwixt the Fryar and Boy in relation to his Step Mother, whom he fairly fitted for her unmerciful cruelty.