166THE ROSE OF ENGLAND

‘The Rose of Englande,’ Percy MS., p. 423; Hales and Furnivall, III, 187.

The title of this ballad, as Percy notes in his manuscript, is quoted in Fletcher’s Monsieur Thomas (printed in 1639), act third, scene third, Dyce, VII, 364. The subject is the winning of the crown of England from Richard III by Henry VII, and the parties on both sides, though some of them are sometimes called by their proper names, are mostly indicated by their badges or cognizances,[203]which were perfectly familiar, so that though there is a “perpetual allegory,” it is not a “dark conceit.”

The red rose of Lancaster was rooted up by a boar, Richard, who was generally believed to have murdered Henry VI and his son Edward, the Prince of Wales; but the seed of the rose, the Earl of Richmond, afterwards wore the crown. The sixth stanza gives us to understand that the young Earl of Richmond was under the protection of Lord Stanley at Lathom before his uncle, the Earl of Pembroke, fled with him to Brittany, in 1471; but this does not appear in the histories. The Earl of Richmond came back to claim his right (in 1485), and brought with him the blue boar, the Earl of Oxford, to encounter, with Richard, the white boar. Richmond sends a messenger to the old eagle, Lord Stanley, his stepfather, to announce his arrival; Stanley thanks God, and hopes that the rose shall flourish again. The Welshmen rise in a mass under Rice ap Thomas and shog on to Shrewsbury. Master Mitton, bailiff of Shrewsbury, refuses at first to let Richmond enter, but, upon receiving letters from Sir William Stanley of Holt Castle, opens the gates. The Earl of Oxford is about to smite off the bailiff’s head; Richmond interferes, and asks Mitton why he was kept out. The bailiff knows no king but him that wears the crown; if Richmond shall put down Richard, he will, when sworn, be as true to Richmond as to Richard now. Richmond recognizes this as genuine loyalty, and will not have the bailiff harmed. The earl moves on to Newport, and then has a private meeting at Atherstone with Lord Stanley, who makes great moan because the young eagle, Lord Strange, his eldest son, is a hostage in the hands of the white boar. At the battle Oxford has the van; Lord Stanley follows ‘fast’! The Talbot-dog (Sir Gilbert Talbot) bites sore; the unicorn (Sir John Savage) quits himself well; then comes in the hart’s head (Sir William Stanley), the field is fought, the white boar slain, and the young eagle saved as by fire.[204]

How the Earl of Richmond compassed the crown of England is told at more length in two histories in the ballad-stanza, ‘Bosworth Field’ and ‘Lady Bessy.’ The first of these (656 verses) occurs only in the Percy MS., Hales and Furnivall, III, 235. It is on the whole a tame performance. Richmond is kept quite subordinate to the Stanleys, kneeling to Sir William, v. 371, and “desiring” the van of Lord Stanley, who grants his request, 449–51. The second exists in two versions: (1) Harleian MS. 367, printed by Mr Halliwell-Phillipps, Percy Society, vol. xx, 1847, p. 43, and Palatine Anthology, 1850, p. 60; Percy MS., Hales and Furnivall, III, 321 (each of about 1100 verses); (2) Percy Society andPalatine Anthology again, p. 1, p. 6, and previously by Thomas Heywood, 1829 (about 1250 vv). In this second poem the love, ambition, and energy of Elizabeth of York sets all the instruments at work, and the Stanleys are not so extravagantly prominent. It is a remarkably lively narrative, with many curious details, and in its original form (which we cannot suppose we have) must have been nearly contemporary. ‘Bosworth Field’ borrows some verses from it.

172, 224. This affirmation of the trustworthiness of the chronicle occurs in ‘The Battle of Otterburn,’ No 161, 352, and again in ‘Flodden Field,’ No 178, appendix, 1214.

1Throughout a garden greene and gay,A seemlye sight itt was to seeHow fflowers did flourish fresh and gay,And birds doe sing melodiouslye.2In the midst of a garden there sprange a tree,Which tree was of a mickle price,And there vppon sprang the rose soe redd,The goodlyestthat euer sprange on rise.3This rose was ffaire, ffresh to behold,Springing with many a royall lance;A crowned king, with a crowne of gold,Ouer England, Ireland, and of Ffrance.4Then came in a beast men call a bore,And he rooted this garden vpp and downe;By the seede of the rose he sett noe store,But afterwards itt wore the crowne.5Hee tooke the branches of this rose away,And all in sunder did them teare,And he buryed them vnder a clodd of clay,Swore they shold neuerbloome nor beare.6Then came in an egle gleaming gay,Of all ffaire birds well worth the best;He took the branche of the rose away,And bore itt to Latham to his nest.7But now is this rose out of England exiled,This certaine truth I will not laine;But if itt please you to sitt a while,I’le tell you how the rose came in againe.8Att Milford Hauen he entered in;To claime his right, was his delight;He brought the blew bore in with him,To encounter with the bore soe white.9The[n] a messenger the rose did sendTo the egles nest, and bidd him hye:‘To my ffather, the old egle, I doe [me] commend,His aide and helpe I craue speedylye.’10Saies, I desire my father att my comingeOf men and mony att my need,And alsoe my mother of her deer blessing;The better then I hope to speede.11And when the messenger came before thold egle,He kneeled him downe vpon his knee;Saith, Well greeteth you my lordthe rose,He hath sent you greetings here by me.12Safe ffrom the seas Christ hath him sent,Now he is entered England within:‘Let vs thanke God,’ the old egle did say,‘He shall be the fflower of all his kine.13‘Wend away, messenger, with might and maine;Itt’s hard to know who a man may trust;I hope the rose shall fflourish againe,And haue all things att his owne lust.’14Then Sir Rice ap Thomas drawes Wales with him;A worthy sight itt was to see,How the Welchmen rose wholy with him,And shogged them to Shrewsburye.15Attthat time was baylye in ShrewsburyeOne MasterMitton, in the towne;The gates were strong, and he mad them ffast,And the portcullis he lett downe.16And throug a garrett of the walls,Ouer Severne these words said hee;‘Att these gates no man enter shall;’But he kept him out a night and a day.17These words Mitton did Erle Richmond tell(I am sure the chronicles of this will not lye);But when lettres came from Sir William Stanley of the Holt castle,Then the gates were opened presentlye.18Then entred this towne the noble lord,The Erle Richmond, the rose soe redd;The Erle of Oxford, with a sword,Wold haue smitt of the bailiffes head.19‘But hold your hand,’ saies Erle Richmond,‘Ffor his louethat dyed vpon a tree!Ffor if wee begin to head so soone,In England wee shall beare no degree.’20‘What offence haue I made thee,’ sayd Erle Richmonde,‘That thou kept me out of my towne?’‘I know no king,’ sayd Mitton then,‘But Richardnow,that weares the crowne.’21‘Why, what wilt thousay,’ said Erle Richmonde,‘When I haue put KingRichard downe?’‘Why, then Ile be as true to you, my lord,After the timethat I am sworne.’22‘Were itt not great pitty,’ sayd Erle Richmond,‘That such a man as this shold dye,Such loyall service by him done?(The cronickles of this will not lye.)23‘Thou shalt not be harmed in any case;’He pardone[d] him presentlye;They stayd not past a night and a day,But towards Newport did they hye.24But [at] Attherston these lords did meete;A worthy sight itt was to see,How Erle Richmond tooke his hatt in his hand,And said, Cheshire and Lancashire, welcome to me!25But now is a bird of the egle taken;Ffrom the white bore he cannot fflee;Therfore the old egle makes great moane,And prayes to God most certainly.26‘O stedfast God, verament,’ he did say,‘Thre persons in one god in Trinytye,Saue my sonne, the young egle, this dayFfrom all ffalse craft and trecherye!’27Then the blew bore the vanward had;He was both warry and wise of witt;The right hand of them he tooke,The sunn and wind of them to gett.28Then the egle ffollowed fast vpon his pray,With sore dints he did them smyte;The talbott he bitt wonderous sore,Soe well the vnicorne did him quite.29And then came in the harts head;A worthy sight itt was to see,The iackettsthat were of white and redd,How they laid about them lustilye.30But now is the ffeirce ffeeld foughten and ended,And the white bore there lyeth slaine,And the young egle is preserued,And come to his nest againe.31But now this garden fflourishes ffreshly and gay,With ffragrant fflowers comely of hew,And gardners itt doth maintaine;I hope they will proue iust and true.32Our king, he is the rose soe redd,That now does fflourish ffresh and gay:Confound his ffoes, Lord, wee beseeche,And loue His Grace both night and day!

1Throughout a garden greene and gay,A seemlye sight itt was to seeHow fflowers did flourish fresh and gay,And birds doe sing melodiouslye.

Throughout a garden greene and gay,

A seemlye sight itt was to see

How fflowers did flourish fresh and gay,

And birds doe sing melodiouslye.

2In the midst of a garden there sprange a tree,Which tree was of a mickle price,And there vppon sprang the rose soe redd,The goodlyestthat euer sprange on rise.

In the midst of a garden there sprange a tree,

Which tree was of a mickle price,

And there vppon sprang the rose soe redd,

The goodlyestthat euer sprange on rise.

3This rose was ffaire, ffresh to behold,Springing with many a royall lance;A crowned king, with a crowne of gold,Ouer England, Ireland, and of Ffrance.

This rose was ffaire, ffresh to behold,

Springing with many a royall lance;

A crowned king, with a crowne of gold,

Ouer England, Ireland, and of Ffrance.

4Then came in a beast men call a bore,And he rooted this garden vpp and downe;By the seede of the rose he sett noe store,But afterwards itt wore the crowne.

Then came in a beast men call a bore,

And he rooted this garden vpp and downe;

By the seede of the rose he sett noe store,

But afterwards itt wore the crowne.

5Hee tooke the branches of this rose away,And all in sunder did them teare,And he buryed them vnder a clodd of clay,Swore they shold neuerbloome nor beare.

Hee tooke the branches of this rose away,

And all in sunder did them teare,

And he buryed them vnder a clodd of clay,

Swore they shold neuerbloome nor beare.

6Then came in an egle gleaming gay,Of all ffaire birds well worth the best;He took the branche of the rose away,And bore itt to Latham to his nest.

Then came in an egle gleaming gay,

Of all ffaire birds well worth the best;

He took the branche of the rose away,

And bore itt to Latham to his nest.

7But now is this rose out of England exiled,This certaine truth I will not laine;But if itt please you to sitt a while,I’le tell you how the rose came in againe.

But now is this rose out of England exiled,

This certaine truth I will not laine;

But if itt please you to sitt a while,

I’le tell you how the rose came in againe.

8Att Milford Hauen he entered in;To claime his right, was his delight;He brought the blew bore in with him,To encounter with the bore soe white.

Att Milford Hauen he entered in;

To claime his right, was his delight;

He brought the blew bore in with him,

To encounter with the bore soe white.

9The[n] a messenger the rose did sendTo the egles nest, and bidd him hye:‘To my ffather, the old egle, I doe [me] commend,His aide and helpe I craue speedylye.’

The[n] a messenger the rose did send

To the egles nest, and bidd him hye:

‘To my ffather, the old egle, I doe [me] commend,

His aide and helpe I craue speedylye.’

10Saies, I desire my father att my comingeOf men and mony att my need,And alsoe my mother of her deer blessing;The better then I hope to speede.

Saies, I desire my father att my cominge

Of men and mony att my need,

And alsoe my mother of her deer blessing;

The better then I hope to speede.

11And when the messenger came before thold egle,He kneeled him downe vpon his knee;Saith, Well greeteth you my lordthe rose,He hath sent you greetings here by me.

And when the messenger came before thold egle,

He kneeled him downe vpon his knee;

Saith, Well greeteth you my lordthe rose,

He hath sent you greetings here by me.

12Safe ffrom the seas Christ hath him sent,Now he is entered England within:‘Let vs thanke God,’ the old egle did say,‘He shall be the fflower of all his kine.

Safe ffrom the seas Christ hath him sent,

Now he is entered England within:

‘Let vs thanke God,’ the old egle did say,

‘He shall be the fflower of all his kine.

13‘Wend away, messenger, with might and maine;Itt’s hard to know who a man may trust;I hope the rose shall fflourish againe,And haue all things att his owne lust.’

‘Wend away, messenger, with might and maine;

Itt’s hard to know who a man may trust;

I hope the rose shall fflourish againe,

And haue all things att his owne lust.’

14Then Sir Rice ap Thomas drawes Wales with him;A worthy sight itt was to see,How the Welchmen rose wholy with him,And shogged them to Shrewsburye.

Then Sir Rice ap Thomas drawes Wales with him;

A worthy sight itt was to see,

How the Welchmen rose wholy with him,

And shogged them to Shrewsburye.

15Attthat time was baylye in ShrewsburyeOne MasterMitton, in the towne;The gates were strong, and he mad them ffast,And the portcullis he lett downe.

Attthat time was baylye in Shrewsburye

One MasterMitton, in the towne;

The gates were strong, and he mad them ffast,

And the portcullis he lett downe.

16And throug a garrett of the walls,Ouer Severne these words said hee;‘Att these gates no man enter shall;’But he kept him out a night and a day.

And throug a garrett of the walls,

Ouer Severne these words said hee;

‘Att these gates no man enter shall;’

But he kept him out a night and a day.

17These words Mitton did Erle Richmond tell(I am sure the chronicles of this will not lye);But when lettres came from Sir William Stanley of the Holt castle,Then the gates were opened presentlye.

These words Mitton did Erle Richmond tell

(I am sure the chronicles of this will not lye);

But when lettres came from Sir William Stanley of the Holt castle,

Then the gates were opened presentlye.

18Then entred this towne the noble lord,The Erle Richmond, the rose soe redd;The Erle of Oxford, with a sword,Wold haue smitt of the bailiffes head.

Then entred this towne the noble lord,

The Erle Richmond, the rose soe redd;

The Erle of Oxford, with a sword,

Wold haue smitt of the bailiffes head.

19‘But hold your hand,’ saies Erle Richmond,‘Ffor his louethat dyed vpon a tree!Ffor if wee begin to head so soone,In England wee shall beare no degree.’

‘But hold your hand,’ saies Erle Richmond,

‘Ffor his louethat dyed vpon a tree!

Ffor if wee begin to head so soone,

In England wee shall beare no degree.’

20‘What offence haue I made thee,’ sayd Erle Richmonde,‘That thou kept me out of my towne?’‘I know no king,’ sayd Mitton then,‘But Richardnow,that weares the crowne.’

‘What offence haue I made thee,’ sayd Erle Richmonde,

‘That thou kept me out of my towne?’

‘I know no king,’ sayd Mitton then,

‘But Richardnow,that weares the crowne.’

21‘Why, what wilt thousay,’ said Erle Richmonde,‘When I haue put KingRichard downe?’‘Why, then Ile be as true to you, my lord,After the timethat I am sworne.’

‘Why, what wilt thousay,’ said Erle Richmonde,

‘When I haue put KingRichard downe?’

‘Why, then Ile be as true to you, my lord,

After the timethat I am sworne.’

22‘Were itt not great pitty,’ sayd Erle Richmond,‘That such a man as this shold dye,Such loyall service by him done?(The cronickles of this will not lye.)

‘Were itt not great pitty,’ sayd Erle Richmond,

‘That such a man as this shold dye,

Such loyall service by him done?

(The cronickles of this will not lye.)

23‘Thou shalt not be harmed in any case;’He pardone[d] him presentlye;They stayd not past a night and a day,But towards Newport did they hye.

‘Thou shalt not be harmed in any case;’

He pardone[d] him presentlye;

They stayd not past a night and a day,

But towards Newport did they hye.

24But [at] Attherston these lords did meete;A worthy sight itt was to see,How Erle Richmond tooke his hatt in his hand,And said, Cheshire and Lancashire, welcome to me!

But [at] Attherston these lords did meete;

A worthy sight itt was to see,

How Erle Richmond tooke his hatt in his hand,

And said, Cheshire and Lancashire, welcome to me!

25But now is a bird of the egle taken;Ffrom the white bore he cannot fflee;Therfore the old egle makes great moane,And prayes to God most certainly.

But now is a bird of the egle taken;

Ffrom the white bore he cannot fflee;

Therfore the old egle makes great moane,

And prayes to God most certainly.

26‘O stedfast God, verament,’ he did say,‘Thre persons in one god in Trinytye,Saue my sonne, the young egle, this dayFfrom all ffalse craft and trecherye!’

‘O stedfast God, verament,’ he did say,

‘Thre persons in one god in Trinytye,

Saue my sonne, the young egle, this day

Ffrom all ffalse craft and trecherye!’

27Then the blew bore the vanward had;He was both warry and wise of witt;The right hand of them he tooke,The sunn and wind of them to gett.

Then the blew bore the vanward had;

He was both warry and wise of witt;

The right hand of them he tooke,

The sunn and wind of them to gett.

28Then the egle ffollowed fast vpon his pray,With sore dints he did them smyte;The talbott he bitt wonderous sore,Soe well the vnicorne did him quite.

Then the egle ffollowed fast vpon his pray,

With sore dints he did them smyte;

The talbott he bitt wonderous sore,

Soe well the vnicorne did him quite.

29And then came in the harts head;A worthy sight itt was to see,The iackettsthat were of white and redd,How they laid about them lustilye.

And then came in the harts head;

A worthy sight itt was to see,

The iackettsthat were of white and redd,

How they laid about them lustilye.

30But now is the ffeirce ffeeld foughten and ended,And the white bore there lyeth slaine,And the young egle is preserued,And come to his nest againe.

But now is the ffeirce ffeeld foughten and ended,

And the white bore there lyeth slaine,

And the young egle is preserued,

And come to his nest againe.

31But now this garden fflourishes ffreshly and gay,With ffragrant fflowers comely of hew,And gardners itt doth maintaine;I hope they will proue iust and true.

But now this garden fflourishes ffreshly and gay,

With ffragrant fflowers comely of hew,

And gardners itt doth maintaine;

I hope they will proue iust and true.

32Our king, he is the rose soe redd,That now does fflourish ffresh and gay:Confound his ffoes, Lord, wee beseeche,And loue His Grace both night and day!

Our king, he is the rose soe redd,

That now does fflourish ffresh and gay:

Confound his ffoes, Lord, wee beseeche,

And loue His Grace both night and day!

104. Then better.

121. himis apparently altered frommimin the MS.: Furnivall.

144. shogged him.

173. caneforcame.

262. 3.

293. They.

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