They hold the corse at the church style,
And thare it must remain awhile,
Till they get sufficient surety
For the church right and duty.
Then comes the landlord perforce,
And takes to him the fattest horse;
Poor labourers would that law were down,
Which never was founded by reason.
I heard them say, under confession,
That this law was brother to oppression."
As it drew on towards eventide, the mirth increased. The rude legendary
ballads of Sir Lancelot of the Lake, Beavois of Southampton, Robin Hood,
The Pindar of Wakefield, and the Friar of Fountain's Abbey, Clim of the
Clough, Ranulph of Chester, his Exploits in the Holy Land, together with
the wondrous deeds of war and love performed by Sir Roger of Calverly,
had been sung and recited to strange and uncouth music. Carols, too,
were chanted between whiles in a most unreverend fashion. A huge
Christmas pie, made in the shape of a cratch or cradle, was placed on
the board. This being accounted a great test of orthodoxy, every one was
obliged to eat a slice, lest he should be suspected of favouring the
heretical tenets then spreading widely throughout the land.
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