"Thou must tell me," Lord Howard said,
"Now who thou art, and what's thy name;
And shewe me where thy dwelling is,75
And whither bound, and whence thou came."
"My name is Henry Hunt," quoth hee,
With a heavye heart, and a carefull mind;
"I and my shipp doe both belong
To the Newcastle that stands upon Tyne."80
"Hast thou not heard, nowe, Henrye Hunt,
As thou hast sayled by daye and by night,
Of a Scottish robber on the seas;
Men call him Sir Andrew Barton, knight?"
Then ever he sighed, and sayd "Alas!"85
With a grieved mind, and well-away,
"But over-well I knowe that wight;
I was his prisoner yesterday.
"As I was sayling uppon the sea,
A Burdeaux voyage for to fare,90
To his [hach-borde] he clasped me,
And robd me of all my merchant ware.
And mickle debts, God wot, I owe,
And every man will have his owne,
And I am nowe to London bounde,95
Of our gracious king to beg a boone."
"That shall not need," Lord Howard sais;
"Lett me but once that robber see,
For every penny tane thee froe
It shall be doubled shillings three."100
"Nowe Gode forefend," the merchant said,
"That you shold seek soe far amisse!
God keepe you out of that traitors hands!
Full litle ye wott what a man hee is.
"Hee is brasse within, and steele without,105
With beames on his topcastle stronge;
And eighteen pieces of ordinance
He carries on each side along.
And he hath a pinnace deerlye dight,
St. Andrewes crosse, that is his guide;110
His pinnace beareth ninescore men,
And fifteen canons on each side.
"Were ye twentye shippes, and he but one,
I sweare by kirke, and bower, and hall,
[He wold overcome them everye one,]115
If once his beames they doe downe fall."
"This is cold comfort," sais my lord,
"To wellcome a stranger thus to the sea:
Yet Ile bring him and his shipp to shore,
Or to Scotland hee shall carrye mee."120
"Then a noble gunner you must have,
And he must aim well with his ee,
And sinke his pinnace into the sea,
Or else hee never orecome will bee.
And if you chance his shipp to borde,125
This counsel I must give withall,
Let no man to his topcastle goe
To strive to let his beams downe fall.