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LOVE'S WELCOME.

THE KING AND QUEEN'S ENTERTAINMENT

AT BOLSOVER,

AT THE EARL OF NEWCASTLE'S, THE

30TH OF JULY, 1634.

LOVE'S WELCOME.] The King (as was observed before) was so well pleased with the Entertainment at Welbeck, that he sent the earl of Newcastle word, the Queen was resolved to make a progress with him into the north, and he therefore desired him to prepare the same amusement for her which had given him such satisfaction in the preceding year. "Which, (says her Grace,) my lord accordingly did, and endeavoured for it with all possible care and industry, sparing nothing that might add splendour to that feast, which both their Majesties were pleased to honour with their presence. Ben Jonson he employed in fitting such scenes and speeches as he could best devise, and sent for all the gentry of the country to come and wait on their Majesties. This entertainment he made at Bolsover Castle, in Derbyshire, some five miles distant from Welbeck, and resigned Welbeck for their Majesties lodging. It cost him in all between fourteen and fifteen thousand pounds." Life of the Duke of Newcastle. p. 184.

It is probable that the course at the Quintain was repeated; what we have here, was exhibited, not at the dinner, but at the banquet, a kind of dessert, which was usually served up in an open This little piece is wretchedly given in the folio.

room.

LOVE'S WELCOME, ETC.

The King and Queen being set at banquet, this SONG was sung by two tenors and a bass.

Full Cho.

[graphic]

F Love be call'd a lifting of the sense
To knowledge of that pure intelligence,
Wherein the soul hath rest and residence,
I Ten. When weret he senses in such

order placed?

2 Ten. The Sight, the Hearing, Smelling, Touching,

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1 Ten. We wish the same: who set it forth thus? Bas.

Love!

2 Ten. But to what end, or to what object? Bas.

Love!

1 Ten. Doth Love then feast itself? Love will feast Love.

Bas.
2 Ten.

Bas.

You make of Love a riddle, or a chain, A circle, a mere knot; untie't again. Love is a circle, both the first and last Of all our actions, and his knot's, too, fast. 1 Ten. A true love knot will hardly be untied: And if it could, who would this pair divide? God made them such, and Love.

Bas.

2 Ten.

Who is a ring The likest to the year of any thing,

I Ten. And runs into itself.

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Let Welcome fill

And run into one sound.

Our thoughts, hearts, voices, and that one word thrill

Through all our language, Welcome, Welcome still!

1 Ten. Could we put on the beauty of all creatures 2 Ten. Sing in the air, and notes of nightingales, 1 Ten. Exhale the sweets of earth, and all her fea

tures,

2 Ten. And tell you, softer than in silk, these tales; Welcome should season all for taste.

Bas.

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At every real banquet to the sense,

Welcome, true welcome, fill the compliments.

After the Banquet,

The King and Queen being retired, were entertained with a DANCE of Mechanics.

Enter Coronel VITRUVIUS speaking to some without. Vit. Come forth, boldly put forth, in your holiday clothes, every mother's son of you. This is the king and queen's majestical holiday. My lord has it granted from them; I had it granted from my lord; and do give it unto you gratis, that is, bona fide, with the faith of a surveyor, your coronel Vitruvius. Do you know what a surveyor is now? I tell you, a supervisor. A hard word that; but it may be softened, and brought in, to signify something. An overseer! one that overseeth you. A busy man! and yet I must seem busier than I am, as the poet

sings, but which of them I will not now trouble myself to tell you.

Enter captain SMITH, (or VULCAN,) with three Cyclops. O captain Smith! or hammer-armed Vulcan! with your three sledges, you are our music, you come a little too tardy, but we remit that to your polt-foot, we know you are lame. Plant yourselves there, and beat your time out at the anvil. Time and Measure are the father and mother of music, you know, and your coronel Vitruvius knows a little.

Enter CHESIL the carver; MAUL the free-mason; squire SUMMER the carpenter; TWYBIL his man.

O Chesil, our curious carver! and master Maul our free-mason; squire Summer our carpenter; and Twybil his man; stand you four there, in the second rank, work upon that ground.

Enter DRESSER the plumber; QUARREL the glazier; FRET the plaisterer; BEATER mortar-man.

And you, Dresser the plumber; Quarrel the glazier; Fret the plaisterer; and Beater the mortar-man put all you on in the rear; as finishers in true footing, with tune and measure. Measure is the soul of a dance, and tune the tickle-foot thereof. Use holiday legs, and have 'em; spring, leap, caper, and gingle: pumps and ribands shall be your reward, till the soles of your feet swell with the surfeit of your light and nimble motion. [Here they began to dance.

Well done, my musical, arithmetical, geometrical gamesters! or rather my true mathematical boys! it is carried in number, weight, and measure, as if the airs were all harmony, and the figures a well-timed proportion! I cry still, deserve holidays, and have 'em.

I'll have a whole quarter of the year cut out

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