10The vermin, the thief, and the Tory in vain
Of the trap, of the jail, of the quagmire complain.
But well fare poor Pug! for he plays with his clog;
And though he would be rid on 't rather than his life,
Yet he lugs it, and he hugs it, as a man does his wife.
The Bachelor's Song]. In the Firth MS. entitled 'Song', and dated 1670. See Introduction for the rather obvious legend connected with this profane doggerel. As proof of its popularity it may be noted that versions of it appear in the Windsor Drollery, 1672, and the Westminster Drollery, 1691; in the latter there are also The Bachelors Satyr Related and A Reply to The Bachelors Satyr Related. These unauthorized versions have a number of minor variants.
3 Like] Or like 1674-82. 'Tory' in the original, not the transferred sense, which latter Flatman seems himself to have well deserved.
5 Such is the] Even such is a MS. might go] may be MS.
9 his] the 1686.