The ballad that I chose to update and edit was printed in 1596 and is titled ‘The cry of the poor for the death of the Right Honourable Earl of Huntington’. The ballad itself is from the voice of the poor and needy that served and lived under Lord Hastings. They lament his death in song form, sharing how he was an honest and respectable man who cared for the people who he lorded over. He cared for the poor rather than turning them away. The Lord Hastings that they speak of is assumed to be Lord Henry Hastings, the third Earl of Huntingdon (now commonly spelled with the d instead of the t but left in its original spelling in the ballad). However, in searching for history references of him online, the most coherent compilation of information on his was found on Wikipedia, which is expected to be an unreliable source. In my editing of this ballad, I modernized spellings of words that ended in ‘ie’ or included a silence ‘e’. I replayed the ‘I’ in words such as ioyfully with the appropriate ‘j’. Several words that were capitalized were made lowercase, e.g. Tennants, Landlordes, and Blesse. The words that remain capitalized in the ballad were chosen that way because of the proper titles or personification of Justice, in one instance. Lastly, I wish to note that the second instance of ‘scar’ was chosen as such to be the same as the first instance ‘scars’.
The cry of the poor for the Right Honourable Earl of Huntington
To the tune of the Earl of Bedford
O God of thy mercy remember the poor,
And grant us thy blessings thy plenty store:[1]
For dead is Lord Hastings[2], the more is our grief,
And now up to heaven we cry for relief.
Then wail we, then weep we, then mourn we [3]
The good Earle of Huntington from us is gone.
Too poor and too needy, too high and too low,
Lord Hastings was friendly, all people doth know:
His gates were still open the stranger˚ to feed, straunger
And comfort the succourless always in need.
Then wail we, &c.˚ etc.
The husbandless widow he ever did cherish,
And fatherless infants he likewise would nourish:
Too weak and too sick. Too lame and too blind,
Our good Earle of Huntington ever was kind.
Then wail we, &c.
The naked he clothed with garments from cold,
And frankly bestowed his silver and gold:
His purse was still open in giving the poor,
That always came flocking to Huntington’s door.
Then wail we, &c.
His tenants that daily repaired to his house,
Was fed with his bacon, his beef and his souse:[4]
Their rents were not raised, their fines were but small
And many poor tenants paid nothing at all.
Then wail we, &c.
Such landlords in England we seldom shall find,
That to their poor tenants will bear the like mind,
Lord Hastings therefore is joyfully crowned,
With Angels in heaven where peace doth abound.
Then wail we, &c.
His wisdom so pleased the Queen of this land,
The sword of true Justice, She put in his hand:
Of York he was President, made by her Grace[5],
Her laws to maintain and rule in her place.
Then wail we, &c.
Such merciful pity remained in his breast,
That all men had justice, and none were oppressed:
His office in virtue, so Godly he spent,
That Prince and his country, his loss may lament.
Then wail we, &c.
Did wear the gold garter of England so bright:
The gift of a Prince, King Edward first gave,
A Gem for a soldier and counselor grave.
Then wail we, &c.
His coin was not horded, to flourish in pride,
His Kings and his Jewels, and chains to provide:
But gave it to soldiers, wounded in wars,
That pike and the bullet, hath lamed with scars.
Then wail we, &c.
He built up no palace, nor purchased no town,
But gave it to scholars to get him renown:
As Oxford and Cambridge can rightly declare,
How many poor scholars maintained are there.
Then wail we, &c.
No groves he enclosed, nor felled no woods,
No pastures he paled[8] to do himself good:
To Commons and Country, he lived a good friend,
And gave to the needy what God did him send.
Then wail we, &c.
He likewise provided in time of great need,
If England were forced with wars to proceed:
Both men and munition, with horses of war,
The proud foes of England, at all times to scar.
Then wail we, &c.
Our Queen and our County, hath cause to complain,
That death in his turn this noble hath deign˚: deine
Yet England rejoice we, rejoice without fear,
Lord Hastings hath left a most Noble heir[9].
Then wail we, &c.
A thousand poor widows for Huntington’s sake,
As many poor children, their prayers will make:
That God may long prosper his heir left behind,
And grant him old Huntington’s true noble mind.
Then wail we, &c.
Then pray we for Country, for Prince and for peers˚, Peares
That God may endue[10] them with˚ most happy years: wich
Lord bless us with virtue, with plenty and peace,
And many more subjects like him to increase.
Then wail we, then weep we, then mourn we [11]
Our good Earl of Huntington from us is gone.
FINIS
Printed at London for William Blackwall,
and are to be sold at his shop near
Guild-Hall gate. 1596.
[1] Symbol printed between ‘plenty’ and ‘store’ that was indistinguishable and omitted
[2] Lord Henry Hastings – the published date of the ballad (1596) suggests that the Lord Hastings being referred to here is the 3rd Earl of Huntington, Henry Hastings, who died in the year 1595(Wikipedia)
[3] Printed to the right of the chorus lines here was (one/ ech. and could not be understood, thusly omitted
[4] Souse – various parts of a pig or other animal, esp. the feet and ears, prepared or preserved for food by means of pickling (OED)
[5] Lord Hastings was indeed granted the city of York, now known as Yorkshire (Wikipedia)
[6] Printed here was an uppercase S with a period. From the line, it could be gathered to be an early attempt at possessive with a proper name and here becomes ‘is’
[7] Lord Hastings received the knighthood of Garter in the year 1570 (François Velde http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sociopolitica/sociopol_garter04a.htm)
[8] Paled – to be fenced in or off (OED)
[9] Lord Hastings did not have a born heir or son, rather the Earldom was passed onto his brother George Hastings, to become the fourth Earl of Huntington (Wikipedia)
[10] Endue – To bring to a certain state or condition (OED), originally printed as indew
[11] Printed here on the last full rendition of the chorus was (one ech, similar to the printing at the beginning, though this one featuring a comma instead of a period. Without understanding the meaning, thusly omitted
It might be useful to see if they are any interesting correlations between the person of the Earl of Bedford (the tune it is set to)and the Earl of Hastings. It might add another element of character to the ballad. Also, it would be interesting to see what other ballads are sung to the same tune.
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