This anonymous ballad written in 1620 tells the story of a well-intentioned and eager young man and the misery he suffers by quickly marrying a woman who proves to cause him a lot of trouble and worry throughout his life. The text seems to characterize marriage in a negative way in that a young wife uses her husband to fulfill her every need and desire and he does so only to maintain a “quiet life.” I found this text to be not only humorous but also extremely intriguing in how it gives the woman the power in the marriage instead of having her be the ideal submissive wife to her husband. An important correlation that this text has with another is the 1662 publication of “Any thing for a quiet life: A Comedy” written by Thomas Middleton and published by Francis Kirkman. To my understanding, the play is an extended version of the ballad, dealing with the same issues of a high maintenance wife and a miserable husband.
In my translation of the text, I decided to keep the original spelling for pronunciation and rhyming purposes to retain as much authenticity as I could. I glossed any word that I found to possibly be confusing for the reader, obsolete, or which meaning might have changed. I footnoted, however, words that needed further explanation for a variety of reasons, such as multiple meanings, no clear definition, or unclear purposes of devices within the text. A couple of words in the primary text were indistinguishable and were left blank in the translation, but hypothesized in a footnote since I could not find a second copy of the text. In my translation, I used the Oxford English Dictionary to define obsolete words and to create educated guesses about parts of the text that were unclear. Overall, the given translation is a good representation of the original text, and hopefully, the glosses and footnotes provide the necessary supplemental information for readers to fully appreciate the text.
Any thing for a quiet life; Or the Married mans
bondage to a curst Wife. To the tune of Oh no, no, no, not yet;
or Ile never love thee more.
A fly* thing for a quiet life desirable
To serve his Master out his time,
and please his Mistris* too: Mistress
His bondage wisht for liberty,
That he might have a wife
At his alone will, for to doe* still do
any thing for a quiet life.
In haste he chose himselfe then one,
and quickly was he wed:
But crooked cares of household charge
molested* much his head. troubled
His wedding shooes* no sooner off, shoes
but his commanding wife
Did make him pray, and often lay,
Any thing for a quiet life.
within a day or two:
And long’d, she knew not well for what,
as many women doe.
The daintiest things that could be got,
he gave unto his wife,
And for her sake, did undertake
any thing for a quiet life.
With Plums and Peares, & Cheeries ripe,
of twenty shillings a pound,
With [][iii] newly from the bloome,
if any might be found.
All which he must goe seeke forthwith,
to please his longing wife:
Thus married men doe now and then,
to have a quiet life.
***
Seven Holydayes in one weeke,
she still desired to make,
And every day to lye till noone,
for feare her head should ake*. ache
For want of sleepe would trouble lose
this yong teeming* wife pregnant
That would have dyed if he denyed
any thing for a quiet life.
For breakefast in her bed she had
And then with Woodcocks[vi] and with
she must rise up and dine:
Where be kind-hearted married man,
gives welcome to his wife:
For doe but crave, quoth he, and have,
any thing for a quiet life.
At last her Child-bed time drew on,
where money must be spent:
In dainty Lawnes* & Cambricks* fine fine white linens
or else no way content.
Her house must be as well let out,
as any Citie wife:
Thus filled with care, be must not spare,
any thing for a quiet life.
Her Nurses weekely charge likewise,
with many a Gossips feast: (light,
He well perceiv’d, when purse grew
and emptied was his Chest.
The Sugar Plums, & Sweet Conserves
to please his Child-bed Wife:
Both night and day, griev’d him to lay,
any thing for a quiet life.
***
The second part. To the same tune.
These Christning charges over-past,
the Churching day came on:
Against which time, her Taylor must
her garded* Gowne bring home. ornamented as with lace, embroidery, etc.
Her Petti-coat of Stammell* red, coarse woolen cloth undergarment
new given unto his wife: (said,
Which charges paid, this yong-man
any thing for a quiet life.
Thus after many a brave Carowse[vii],
upon her Churching bay,
Her tattling Gossips her perswade,
in this her rich array,
To take the comforts of the ayre*, gravelly beach or sandbank
and pleasures of a wife:
While he at home, saves like a mome[viii],
any thing for a quiet life.
Unto her Nurse-child then must she
Some ten miles distance for to see,
the ol age of her Boy.
Well mounted on an ambling Nagge*, steady paced horse
with some kinde neighbours wife,
Whilst hee poore soule must sing in dole*, grief or sorrow
any thing for a quiet life.
Not any meeting seven miles,
where Gallants doe repayre*: make one’s way
But she will brave it with the best
and for no charges spare.
If fault her husband finde therewith,
she proves a frowning wife,
And tyres* him so, till he bestow tires or exhausts
any thing for a quiet life.
***
His old acquaintance must he not
at any time goe see:
Creept she grant, and give him leave,
or there in presense be.
And then his purse he must peeld[x] up
to his commanding wife:
While he must say Good women pay
any thing for a quiet life.
Thus peere by peere, he spent his dayes,
in troubles and in cares:
A warning fit for him which thus,
himself to marriage snares.
The onely* hell upon this earth, only
to have an angry wife:
To make us say both night and day,
any thing for a quiet life.
Let yong-men all take heed by this,
how they doe match and marry:
He leads a life of libertie[xi],
that doth the longest tarry.
It is the formost* step to woe, foremost
to wed unto a wife,
That will have still, at her owne will,
any thing for a quiet life.
FINIS.
At London Printed by G. P.
[i] I could not find the definition or any information about this word through resources; however, given the context, it can probably be determined to be used to mean that a sane young man would aim to achieve a quiet life.
[ii] Again, I could not find any information on this word. It could mean a specific type of illness or a qualitative description, such as “very,” to describe the severity of the sickness.
[iii] The word is indistinguishable; however, some letters of the word are recognizable. It seems that it is something like “Pel**ds,” and given its capitalization and context, might be the name of some sort of rare fruit or flower.
[iv] I could not find what this meant anywhere. It is assumed that it is a type of food since it mentions breakfast in the previous line.
[v] A beginning parenthesis with a single word and comma at the end of the line appears three times throughout the piece. This occurs also in similar works, but it does not seem to make sense in the surrounding contexts.
[vi] According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a woodcock is a migratory bird, related to the snipe, common in Europe and the British Isles. It is highly regarded as food.
[vii] This word was also difficult to identify. Many sources acknowledge “carouse” as pertaining to reveling in drinking. However, given the context, I am not sure if this adequately serves as a definition for the word provided in the text.
[viii] This word seems to have multiple meanings, a few of which fit the context here. However, I believe that the most useful meaning of this word would be an “affectionate term for an older lady,” according to the Oxford English Dictionary.
[ix] This word is indistinguishable. It appears to be perhaps “tollity,” which does not appear in any of the research that I have done. However, “tolling” during this time refers to the sounding of a large bell by slow strokes. This might have some relation to the word in the text.
[x] No direct definition from the Oxford English Dictionary properly matched the word in its context. However, given the definitions that were provided, I assume that the word means that the husband’s use of money was accountable to his demanding wife.
[xi] Here “libertie” appears with different spelling than it does in the first part of the text; however, given the context, one can assume that it still has the same denotation of the first.
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