In summer time, when leaves grow green,
And blossoms bedeck the tree,
King Edward would a hunting ride,
Some pastime for to see.
With hawk and hound he made him boun,
With horn, and eke with bow;
To Drayton Basset he took his way,
With all his lords arow.
And he had ridden o'er dale and down
By eight of clock in the day,
When he was ware of a bold tann-er,
Come riding along the way.
A fair russet coat the tanner had on,
Fast buttoned under his chin,
And under him a good cow-hide,
And a mare of four shill-ing.
"Now stand you still, my good lords all
Under the green wood spray;
And I will wend to yonder fell-ow,
To weet what he will say."—
"God speed, God speed thee," said our king.—
"Thou art welcome, sir," said he.—
"The readiest way to Drayton Basset
I pray thee to show to me."—
"To Drayton Basset wouldst thou go,
Fro the place where thou dost stand?
The next pair of gallows thou comest unto
Turn in upon thy right hand."—
"That is an unready way," said our king,
"Thou doest but jest, I see;
Now show me out the nearest way,
And I pray thee wend with me."—
"Away with a vengeance!" quoth the tanner:
"I hold thee out of thy wit:
All day have I ridden on Brock my mare,
And I am fasting yet."—
"Go with me down to Drayton Basset,
No dainties we will spare;
All day shalt thou eat and drink of the best,
And I will pay thy fare."—
"Gram-ercy for nothing," the tanner replied,
"Thou payest no fare of mine:
I trow I've more nobles in my purse,
Than thou hast pence in thine."—
"God give thee joy of them," said the king,
"And send them well to prief."—
The tanner would fain have been away,
For he weened he had been a thief.
"What art thou," he said, "thou fine fell-ow?
Of thee I am in great fear,
For the clothes thou wearest upon thy back
Might beseem a lord to wear."—
"I never stole them," quoth our king,
"I tell you, sir, by the rood."—
"Then thou playest, as many an unthrift doth,
And standest in midst of thy good."—
"What tidings hear you," said the king.
"As you ride far and near?"—
"I hear no tidings, sir, by the mass,
But that cow-hides are dear."—
"Cow-hides! cow-hides! what things are those?
I marvel what they be!"—
"What, art thou a fool?" the tanner replied;
"I carry one under me."—
"What craftsman art thou?" said the king,
"I pray thee tell me trow."—
"I am a barker, sir, by my trade.
Now tell me what art thou?"—
"I am a poor courtier, sir," quoth he,
"That am forth of service worn;
And fain I would thy 'prentice be,
Thy cunning for to learn."—
"Marry, heaven forfend," the tanner replied,
"That thou my 'prentice were!
Thou'dst spend more good than I should win,
By forty shilling a year."—
"Yet one thing would I," said our king,
"If thou wilt not seem strange:
Though my horse be better than thy mare,
Yet with thee I fain would change."—
"Why, if with me thou fain wilt change,
As change full well may we,
By the faith of my body, thou proud fell-ow
I will have some boot of thee."—
"That were against reason," said the king,
"I swear, so mote I thee:
My horse is better than thy mare,
And that thou well may'st see."—
"Yea, sir, but Brock is gentle and mild,
And softly she will fare;
Thy horse is unruly and wild, i-wis;
Aye skipping here and there."—
"What boot wilt thou have?" our king replied;
"Now tell me in this stound."—
"No pence, nor halfpence, by my fay,
But a noble in gold so round."—
"Here's twenty groats of white mon-ey,
Sith thou wilt have it of me."—
"I would have sworn now," quoth the tanner,
"Thou hadst not had one penni-e.
"But since we two have made a change,
A change we must abide;
Although thou hast gotten Brock my mare,
Thou gettest not my cow-hide."—
"I will not have it," said the king,
"I swear, so mote I thee;
Thy foul cow-hide I would not bear,
If thou wouldst give it to me."
The tanner he took his good cow-hide
That of the cow was hilt;
And threw it upon the king's sad-elle,
That was so fairly gilt.
"Now help me up, thou fine fell-ow,
'Tis time that I were gone:
When I come home to Gyllian my wife,
She'll say I am a gentilmon."
When the tanner he was in the king's sad-elle,
And his foot in the stirrup was;
He marvelled greatly in his mind,
Whether it were gold or brass.
But when his steed saw the cow's tail wag,
And eke the black cow-horn;
He stamped, and stared, and away he ran,
As the devil had him borne.
The tanner he pulled, the tanner he sweat,
And held by the pummel fast:
At length the tanner came tumbling down;
His neck he had well-nigh brast.
"Take thy horse again with a vengeance!" he said,
"With me he shall not bide!"—
"My horse would have borne thee well enough,
But he knew not of thy cow-hide.
"Yet if again thou fain wouldst change,
As change full well may we,
By the faith of my body, thou jolly tann-er,
I will have some boot of thee."—
"What boot wilt thou have?" the tanner replied,
"Now tell me in this stound."—
"No pence nor halfpence, sir, by my fay,
But I will have twenty pound."—
"Here's twenty groats out of my purse;
And twenty I have of thine:
And I have one more, which we will spend
Together at the wine."
The king set a bugle horn to his mouth,
And blew both loud and shrill:
And soon came lords, and soon came knights,
Fast riding over the hill.
"Now, out alas!" the tanner he cried,
"That ever I saw this day!
Thou art a strong thief, yon come thy fell-ows
Will bear my cow-hide away!"—
"They are no thieves," the king replied,
"I swear, so mote I thee:
But they are the lords of the north countr-y,
Here come to hunt with me."
And soon before our king they came,
And knelt down on the ground:
Then might the tanner have been away,
He had liever than twenty pound.
"A collar, a collar, here!" said the king,
"A collar!" he loud gan cry;
Then would he liever than twenty pound,
He had not been so nigh.
"A collar, a collar," the tanner he said,
"I trow it will breed sorrow;
After a collar cometh a halter,
I trow I'll be hanged to-morrow."—
"Be not afraid, tanner," said our king;
"I tell thee, so mote I thee,
Lo here I make thee the best esquire
That is in the north countrie.
"For Plumpton Park I will give thee,
With tenements fair beside:
'Tis worth three hundred marks by the year,
To maintain thy good cow-hide."—
"Gram-ercy, my liege," the tanner replied
"For the favour thou hast me shown;
If ever thou comest to merry Tam-worth,
Neat's leather shall clout thy shoon."
All books are sourced from Project Gutenberg