of Friar Bacon's brazen head, and the last of Noah's Ark! It commences thus:

Of all the lords in Scotland town,

And ladies that be so bright of blee,
There is a noble lady among them all,

And report of her you shall hear by me.

I possess a curious edition, printed at Newcastle, about 1760, plentifully embellished with cuts, and containing the Second Part, which was unknown to Ritson. This is entitled, "The Lovers' Loyalty, or the Happy Pair, giving an account of the happy lives of Tommy Potts (now Lord Arundel) and the Fair Rosamond, his charming bride, who loved and lived in peace and unity all their days; the Second Book." It com

mences:

How Tommy Potts did win his bride

By dint of sword, you needs must know;
Giving great Lord Phoenix the foil,

As the first book doth plainly show.

Another edition, in my possession, printed about 1780, is entitled, "The History of Tommy Potts, or the Lovers' Quarrel":

Thus Tommy Potts does here trepan
The lady's heart, tho' a serving man.

16. THE FORCE OF NATURE, OR THE LOves of HIPPOLITO AND DORINDA. Translated from the French original, and never before printed in English. 12mo. Northampton, 1720.

This is a chap-book history on the same tale as the Tempest, and has escaped the notice of all the editors

of Shakespeare. It is evidently made up from that play, and the assertion of its being a translation from the French is most probably erroneous, as some of the original drama is literally quoted.

17. THE WHOLE TRYAL AND INDICTMENT OF SIR JOHN BARLEYCORN, KNIGHT, a person of noble birth and extraction, and well known to be both rich and poor throughout the kingdom of Great Britain being accused for several misdemeanours by him committed against her Majesty's liege people, by killing some, wounding others, and bringing thousands to beggary, to the ruin of many a good family. Here you have the substance of the evidence given in against him on his tryal, with the names of the judges, jury, and witnesses. Also, the comical Defence Sir John makes for himself, and the good character given him by some of his neighbours, namely Hewson the cobler, an honest friend to Sir John, who is entomb'd as a memorandum at the Two Brewers in East Smithfield. Taken in short-hand by Timothy Toss-pot, Foreman of the Jury. Sm. 8vo. London, Printed for J. Dutton, 1709.

A very curious satirical tract, written by Thomas Robins, which continued to be reprinted for a century after this edition appeared. The following list of the jury is curious:

Sir John Barleycorn is tried in regular form, the

jury returning a verdict of Not Guilty. The evidence is singularly curious. We may extract, for example, that of Sir John's uncle, Mr. Mault, who, of course, appears for the defence: "First, I pray consider with yourselves, all trades will live, and altho' I sometimes, with my cousin Sir John's help, make a cup of good liquor, and many men come to taste it, yet the fault is in neither of us, but in them that make the complaint, else let 'em stay till they are sent for. Who can deny but that Mr. Mault can make a cup of good liquor by the help of a good brewer, and when it is made it must be sold; I pray which of you all can live without it? Where else would you sop your toast and nutmeg, and what should asswage the thirst of gammons and red-herrings? Were I to suffer, lords, knights, and esquires would want their March beer and October to treat their tenants and their friends : bottle-ale and stout would be wanted at Islington and Highgate to treat your wives with: old women would want hot-pots of brandy and ale, and the good-wife that lies in could have no caudle." The tract concludes with a song "to the tune of Sir John Barleycorn". An old ballad, from which this tract may perhaps be taken, is printed in Evans, ed. 1810, iv, 214; and Burns was no doubt indebted to the former for his celebrated song on the same subject.

18. THE HISTORY OF THE TWO CHILDREN IN THE WOOD REVIV'D, or Murder REVENG'D, containing the sad and lamentable Story of the Death of two Children of a Gentleman, who, after the Decease

of their Parents, were delivered, by their uncle, to two ruffians, to be murdered for their estates, but in the end they were left in an unfrequented wood, and there starved to Death, and covered over by a Robin Redbreast: Together with the sad relation of the heavy judgements that befel their unnatural uncle, who died miserable in prison, and how it came to be discovered by one of the ruffians upon his being condemned for a notorious robbery. With many other passages and circumstances at large. 12mo. Licensed and entered according to order, n. d.

This tale is founded on the same story which is the subject of the second part of a tragedy by Robert Yarrington, 4to. 1601, entitled, "Two Lamentable Tragedies; the one of the murther of Maister Buch, a chandler in Thames-street, and his boy, done by Thomas Merry; the other of a young childe murthered in a wood by two Ruffins, with the consent of his uncle." In the play, however, one child only is murdered. The chapters are thus entitled:-1. How Pisaurus, seeking a wife, accidentally fell in love with the fair Eugenia. 2. How Pisaurus found means to discover his passion to Eugenia, and how she consented; also the marriage-day appointed. 3. How the happy nuptials were celebrated, and of the ominous presage. 4. How Androgus, brother to Pisaurus, desirous of his estate, laid this unsuccessful project. 5. How Cassandar and Jane being born, Pisaurus and Eugenia fell sick, and by what means. 6. How Androgus returned, visited his brother and sister, and of his dissimulation. 7. How Pisaurus made his will, de

livered his children to Androgus, and died as did his wife. 8. What thought Androgus had about putting to death his brother's children, but had not the heart to put it in practice himself. 9. How Androgus met with Rawbones and Woudkill, and agreed with them to murder his brother's children. 10. How the ruffians fell out about the disposal of the children, and how Rawbones killed his partner, and covered him up in a pit. 11. How Rawbones left the children in an unfrequented wood, where they died. 12. How the murder came to be discovered at the gallows. The ballad on the same story, so highly commended in the Spectator, No. 85, is printed by Percy, ed. 1840, p. 238. It is also alluded to again in the Spectator, No. 179.

19. MOTHER BUNCH'S CLOSET NEWLY BROKE OPEN, containing rare Secrets of Art and Nature, tried and experienced by learned Philosophers, and recommended to all ingenious young Men and Maids, Teaching them in a natural way how to get good wives and husbands. By our loving friend Poor Tom, for the King, a lover of mirth, but a hater of treason. 12mo. With wood-cuts, n. d. In two parts.

This very curious collection of vernacular customs, digested into the form of a narrative, seems to have escaped the notice of our writers on popular antiquities. The present edition was printed about 1770, but it was published very long before, being thus referred to in Wit and Drollery, 1682, p. 42 :

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