March'd to the market-place,
There he did stand;110
There many prisoners
Of good account were took;
Many crav'd mercy,
And mercy they found.
Dub a-dub, &c.
When as our general115
Saw they delayèd time,
And would not ransom
The town as they said,
With their fair wainscots,
Their presses and bedsteads,120
Their joint-stools and tables,
A fire we made:
And when the town burnt in a flame,
With tan-ta-ra, tan-ta-ra-ra,
From thence we came.125
SIR JOHN SUCKLING'S CAMPAIGN.
"When the Scottish Covenanters rose up in arms, and advanced to the English borders in 1639, many of the courtiers complimented the king by raising forces at their own expense. Among these none were more distinguished than the gallant Sir John Suck
ling, who raised a troop of horse, so richly accoutred, that it cost him 12,000l. The like expensive equipment of other parts of the army made the king remark, that "the Scots would fight stoutly, if it were but for the Englishmen's fine cloaths." When they came to action, the rugged Scots proved more than a match for the fine showy English: many of whom behaved remarkably ill, and among the rest this splendid troop of Sir John Suckling's." Percy.
This scoffing ballad, sometimes attributed to Suckling himself, is taken from the Musarum Deliciæ of Sir John Mennis and Dr. James Smith (p. 81 of the reprint, Upon Sir John Sucklings most warlike preparations for the Scotish warre). The former is said by Wood to have been the author. Percy's copy (Reliques, ii. 341) has one or two different readings.—The first stanza is a parody on John Dory.
Sir John got him an ambling nag,
To Scotland for to ride-a,
With a hundred horse more, all his own he swore,
To guard him on every side-a.
No errant-knight ever went to fight5
With halfe so gay a bravado,
Had you seen but his look, you'ld have sworn on a book,
Hee'ld have conquer'd a whole armado.
The ladies ran all to the windowes to see