The “Sir Samuel” of this Ballad is the same person—Sir Samuel Luke of Bedfordshire—who is supposed to have been the unconscious model of the portrait which is drawn so much more fully in the inimitable Hudibras. Ralph is also the well-known Squire in the same poem. The Ballad, though published in Butler’s “Posthumous Works,” 1724, was rejected by Thyer in the edition of 1784, and is not included in the “Genuine Remains,” published from the original manuscripts, formerly in the possession of William Longueville, Esq. If not by Butler, it is a successful imitation of his style, and abounds in phrases of sturdy colloquial English, and is of a date long anterior to the popular song, “The Vicar of Bray.”
In Bedfordshire there dwelt a knight,
Sir Samuel by name,
Who by his feats in civil broils
Obtain’d a mighty fame.
Nor was he much less wise and stout,
But fit in both respects
To humble sturdy Cavaliers,
And to support the sects.
This worthy knight was one that swore
He would not cut his beard
Till this ungodly nation was
From kings and bishops clear’d:
Which holy vow he firmly kept,
And most devoutly wore
A grizly meteor on his face
Till they were both no more.
His worship was, in short, a man
Of such exceeding worth,
No pen or pencil can describe,
Or rhyming bard set forth.
Many and mighty things he did
Both sober and in liquor,—
Witness the mortal fray between
The Cobbler and the Vicar;
Which by his wisdom and his power
He wisely did prevent,
And both the combatants at once
In wooden durance pent.
The manner how these two fell out
And quarrell’d in their ale,
I shall attempt at large to show
In the succeeding tale.
A strolling cobbler, who was wont
To trudge from town to town,
Happen’d upon his walk to meet
A vicar in his gown.