W. T. How now, Jack Straw, doth anybody abuse thee?
J. S. Alas, Wat! I have killed the king's officer in striking rashly.
T. M. A small matter to recover a man that is slain:
Blow wind in his tail, and fetch him again?
Par. Content thee, 'tis no matter, and Jack Straw, God-a-mercy,
Herein thou hast done good service to thy country:
Were all inhuman slaves so served as he,
England would be civil, and from all such dealings free.
Nobs. By Gog's blood, my master, we will not put up this so quietly;
We owe God a death, and we can but die:
And though the fairest end of a rebel is the gallows,
Yet, if you will be ruled by me,
We'll so deal of ourselves as we'll revenge this villainy.
J. S. The king, God wot, knows not what's done by[436] such poor men as we,
But we'll make him know it, if you will be ruled by me.
Here's Parson Ball, an honest priest, and tells us that in charity
We may stick together in such quarrels honestly.
T. M. What, is he an honest man? The devil he is! he is the parson of the town;
You think there's no knavery hid under a black gown?
Find him in a pulpit but twice in the year,
And I'll find him forty times in the ale-house tasting strong beer.
Par. Neighbours, neighbours! the weakest now-a-days goes to the wall;
But mark my words, and follow the counsel of John Ball.
England is grown to such a pass of late,
That rich men triumph to see the poor beg at their gate.
But I am able, by good Scripture, before you to prove
That God doth not this dealing allow nor love.
But when Adam delved, and Eve span,
Who was then a gentleman?
Brethren, brethren, it were better to have this community,
Than to have this difference in degrees:
The landlord his rent, the lawyer his fees.
So quickly the poor man's substance is spent,
But merrily with the world it went,
When men ate berries of the hawthorn-tree:
And thou help me, I'll help thee:
There was no place for surgery,
And old men knew not usury.
Now 'tis come to a woful pass,
The widow, that hath but a pan of brass,
And scarce a house to hide her head;
Sometimes no penny to buy her bread,
Must pay her landlord many a groat,
Or 'twill be pulled out of her throat.
Brethren mine, so might I thrive,
As I wish not to be alive,
To see such dealings with extremity,
The rich have all, the poor live in misery:
But follow the counsel of John Ball.
I promise you, I love ye all;
And make division equally
Of each man's goods indifferently,
And rightly may you follow arms
To rid you from these civil harms.
J. S. Well said, parson, so may it be,
As we purpose to prefer thee:
We will have all the rich men displaced,
And all the bravery of them defaced;
And as rightly as I am Jack Straw,
In spite of all the men of law,
Make thee Archbishop of Canterbury
And Chancellor of England, or I'll die.
How sayest thou, Wat, shall it be so?
W. T. Ay, Jack Straw, or else I'll bide many a foul blow.
It shall be no other but he,
That thus favours the commonalty.
Stay we no longer prating here,
But let us roundly to this gear.
'Tis more than time that we were gone,
We'll be lords, my masters, every one.