by
Richard Corbet (1582-1635)
Farewell, rewards and fairies, Good housewives now may say, For now foul sluts in dairies Do fare as well as they; And though they sweep their hearths no less Than maids were wont to do, Yet who of late for cleanliness Finds sixpence in her shoe? Lament, lament, old abbeys, The fairies' lost command, They did but change priests' babies, But some have changed your land; And all your children stol'n from thence Are now grown puritanes Who live as changelings ever since For love of your domains. At morning and at evening both You merry were and glad; So little care of sleep and sloth These pretty ladies had; When Tom came home from labor, Or Ciss to milking rose, Then merrily went their tabor And nimbly went their toes. Witness those rings and roundelays Of theirs which yet remain Were footed in Queen Mary's days On many a grassy plain. But since of late Elizabeth And later James came in, They never dance on any heath As when the time had been. By which we note the fairies Were of the old profession, Their songs were Ave Maries, Their dances were procession; But now alas, they all are dead Or gone beyond the seas, Or further from religion fled, Or else they take their ease. A tell-tale in their company They never could endure; And who kept not secretly Their mirth, was punish'd sure. It was a just and Christian deed To pinch such black and blue; O how the common wealth doth need Such justices as you! Now they have left our quarters A register they have, Who looketh to their charters, A man both wise and grave; An hundred of their merry pranks By one that I could name Are kept in store, conn twenty thanks To William for the same. I marvel who his cloak would turn When Puck had led him round, Or where those walking fires would burn, Where Cureton would be found; How Broker would appear to be, For whom this age doth mourn; But that their spirits live in thee, In thee, old William Chourne. To William Chourne of Strafford shire Give laud and praises due, Who ever meal can mend your cheer With tales both old and true: To William all give audience, And pray ye for his noddle, For all the fairies' evidence Were lost, if that were addle.