New. 'Twas thus; the king and all his company,
Being rowed with oars so far as Greenwich town,
It was a world to see what troops of men,
Like bees that swarm about the honeyhive,
'Gan strew the gravel ground and sandy plain,
That filled the air with cries and fearful noise;
And from the water did an echo rise,
That pierced the ears of our renowned king:
Affrighting so his heart with strong conceit
Of some unhappy, grievous stratagem,
That (trust me) with my ears I heard him say,
He thought they would have all, like spaniels,
Ta'en water desp'rately, and boarded him.
So did they all i-fare like frantic men,
That time he thought to speed away apace,
And take the best advantage of the place.
Spen. Indeed I could not greatly blame his majesty,
Myself was not so scared this seven years:
Methought there was sufficient months enough,
At highest tide t' have drawen the Thames dry.
New. Spencer, ere it flow thrice at London bridge,
London, I fear, will hear of worser news.
[Exeunt Ambo.
Enter Jack Straw, Wat Tyler, Hob Carter, Tom Miller, Nobs, Morton, and Southwarkmen.
South. Neighbours, you that keep the gates, let the king's liege people in, or we must be fain to aid them with balls of wildfire, or some other device; for they have spoiled all Southwark, let out all the prisoners, broke up the Marshalsea and the King's Bench, and made great havoc in the borough here.
Therefore, I pray you, let them in.
W. T. Porter, open the gate; if thou lovest thyself, or thine own life, open the gate.
T. M. You have a certain spare goose came in to be roasted:
She is enough by this. [Exeunt all but Morton.
Mor. What means these wretched miscreants,
To make a spoil of their own countrymen?
Unnatural rebels: whatsoe'er
By foreign foes may seem no whit so strange,
As Englishmen to trouble England thus.
Well may I term it incest to the land,
Like that foul lawless force and violence,
Which Cyniras did offer to his child.
O happy time, from all such troubles free,
What now, alas, is like to be the end
Of this attempt, but that so long as they
Are glutted all with blood, they bathe therein.