A
Percy MS., p. 346; Hales and Furnivall, II, 502.
1 Childe Maurice hunted ithe siluer wood,
He hunted itt round about,
And noebodye that he ffound therin,
Nor none there was with-out.
2 . . . . . . .
. . . . . . .
And he tooke his siluer combe in his hand,
To kembe his yellow lockes.
3 He sayes, Come hither, thou litle ffoot-page,
That runneth lowlye by my knee,
Ffor thou shalt goe to Iohn Stewards wiffe
And pray her speake with mee.
4 ' . . . . . . .
. . . . . . .
I, and greete thou doe that ladye well,
Euer soe well ffroe mee.
5 'And, as itt ffalls, as many times
As knotts beene knitt on a kell,
Or marchant men gone to leeue London,
Either to buy ware or sell.
6 'And, as itt ffalles, as many times
As any hart can thinke,
Or schoole-masters are in any schoole-house,
Writting with pen and inke:
Ffor if I might, as well as shee may,
This night I wold with her speake.
7 'And heere I send her a mantle of greene,
As greene as any grasse,
And bidd her come to the siluer wood,
To hunt with Child Maurice.
8 'And there I send her a ring of gold,
A ring of precyous stone,
And bidd her come to the siluer wood,
Let ffor no kind of man.'