1.
Of a worthy London prentice
My purpose is to speak,
And tell his brave adventures
Done for his country sake;
‖: Seek all the world about,
And you shall hardly find
A man in valour to exceed
A prentice gallant mind. :‖
2.
He was born in Cheshire,
The chief of men was he;
From thence brought up to London
A prentice for to be;
‖: A merchant on the bridge
Did like his service, so
That for three years his factor
To Turkey he should go. :‖
3.
And in that famous country
One year he had not been,
E’er he by tilt maintainèd
The honour of his queen;
‖: Elizabeth the princess
He nobly did make known
To be the phoenix of the world,
And none but she alone. :‖
4.
In armour richly guilded,
Well mounted on a steed,
One score of knights most hardy
One day he made to bleed;
‖: And brought them all to ground
Who proudly did deny
Elizabeth to be the pearl
Of princely majesty. :‖
5.
The king of that same country
Thereat began to frown,
And willed his son there present
To pull this youngster down;
‖: Who at his father’s words
These boasting speeches said:
‘Thou art a traitor, English boy,
And hast the traitor plaid.’ :‖
6.
‘I am no boy nor traitor,
Thy speeches I defy,
For which I’ll be revengèd
Upon thee by and by;
‖: A London prentice still
Shall prove as good a man
As any of your Turkish knights:
Do all the best you can.’ :‖
7.
And there withal he gave him
A box upon the ear,
Which broke his neck asunder,
As plainly doth appear;
‖: ‘Now know, proud Turk,’ quoth he,
‘I am no English boy
That can with one small box o’th ear
The prince of Turks destroy.’ :‖
8.
When as the king perceived
His son so strangely slain,
His soul was sore afflicted
With more than mortal pain,
‖: And in revenge thereof,
He swore that he should die
The cruelest death that ever man
Beheld with mortal eye. :‖
9.
Two lions were preparèd
This prentice to devour;
Near famished up with hunger,
Ten days within the tower
‖: To make them more fierce,
And eager of their prey
To glut themselves with human gore
Upon this dreadful day. :‖
10.
The appointed time of torment
At length grew near at hand,
Where all the noble ladies
And barons of the land
‖: Attended on the king
To see this prentice slain,
And buried in the hungry maws
Of these fierce lions twain. :‖
11.
Then in his shirt of cambric
With silk most richly wrought,
This worthy London prentice
Was from the prison brought,
‖: And to the lions given
To stanch their hunger great,
Which had not eat in ten days space
Not one small bit of meat. :‖
12.
But God that knows all secrets
The matter so contrived
That by this young man’s valour
They were of life deprived;
‖: For being faint for food,
They scarcely could withstand
The noble force and fortitude
And courage of his hand. :‖
13.
For when the hungry lions
Had cast on him their eyes,
The elements did thunder
With the echo of their cries;
‖: And running all amain
His body to devour,
Into their throats he thrust his arms
With all his might and power. :‖
14.
From thence by manly valour,
Their hearts he tore in sunder,
And at the king he threw them,
To all the peoples wonder.
‖: ‘This have I done’, quoth he,
‘For lovely England’s sake,
And for my country’s maiden queen
Much more will undertake.’ :‖
15.
But when the king perceived
His wrathful lions hearts
Afflicted with great terror,
His rigor soon reverts;
‖: And turned all his hate
Into remorse and love,
And said, ‘It is some angel
Sent down from heaven above.’ :‖
16.
‘No, no, I am no angel,’
The courteous young man said,
‘But born in famous England,
Where God’s word is obeyed;
‖: Assisted by the heavens,
Who did me thus befriend,
Or else they had most cruelly
Brought here my life to end.’ :‖
17.
The king in heart amazèd
Lift up his eyes to heaven,
And for his foul offences
Did crave to be forgiven,
‖: Believing that no land
Like England may be seen;
No people better governed
By virtue of a queen. :‖
18.
So taking up this young man,
He pardoned him his life,
And gave his daughter to him
To be his wedded wife;
‖: Where then they did remain,
And live in quiet peace
In spending of their happy days
In joy and love’s increase. :‖