NEW-YEAR'S-GIFT, in a blue coat, serving-man like, with an orange, and a sprig of rosemary gilt on his head, his hat full of brooches, with a collar of ginger-bread, his torch-bearer carrying a marchpane with a bottle of wine on either arm.

MUMMING, in a masquing pied suit, with a vizard, his torch-bearer carrying the box, and ringing it. WASSEL, like a neat sempster, and songster; her page bearing a brown bowl, drest with ribands, and rosemary before her.

OFFERING, in a short gown, with a porter's staff in his hand, a wyth born before him, and a bason, by his torch-bearer.

BABY-CAKE, drest like a boy, in a fine long coat, biggin, bib, muckender, and a little dagger; his usher bearing a great cake, with a bean and a pease.

They enter singing.

Now God preserve, as you well do deserve,
Your majesties all, two there;

Your highness small, with my good lords all,
And ladies, how do you do there?

Give me leave to ask, for I bring you a masque
From little, little, little London;

Which say the king likes, I have passed the pikes,
If not, old Christmas is undone. [Noise without.

Chris. Ha, peace! what's the matter there? Gam. Here's one o' Friday-street would come in. Chris. By no means, nor out of neither of the Fishstreets, admit not a man; they are not Christmas creatures fish and fasting days, foh! Sons, said I well? look to't.

Gam. No body out o' Friday-street, nor the two Fish-streets there, do you hear?

Car. Shall John Butter o' Milk-street come in? ask him?

Gam. Yes, he may slip in for a torch bearer, so he melt not too fast, that he will last till the masque be done.

Chris. Right, son.

Our dance's freight is a matter of eight,

And two, the which are wenches:
In all they be ten, four cocks to a hen,

And will swim to the tune like tenches.

Each hath his knight for to carry his light,
Which some would say are torches;
To bring them here, and to lead them there,
And home again to their own porches.

Now their intent

Enter VENUS, a deaf tire-woman.3

Ven. Now, all the lords bless me! where am I, trow ? where is Cupid? "Serve the king!" they may serve the cobler well enough, some of 'em, for any courtesy they have, I wisse; they have need o' mending unrude people they are, your courtiers; here was thrust upon thrust indeed! was it ever so hard to get in before, trow?

Chris. How now? what's the matter?

Ven. A place, forsooth, I do want a place: I would have a good place, to see my child act in before the king and queen's majesties, God bless 'em! to-night.

Chris. Why, here is no place for you.

Ven. Right, forsooth, I am Cupid's mother, Cupid's own mother, forsooth; yes, forsooth: I dwell in

3 This tire-woman is the prototype of the Deaf Lover. The author, however, must be acquitted of any depredations on Jonson, of whose works he probably never heard.

Pudding-lane :-ay, forsooth, he is prentice in Lovelane, with a bugle-maker, that makes of your bobs, and bird-bolts for ladies.

Chris. Good lady Venus of Pudding-lane, you must go out, for all this.

Ven. Yes, forsooth, I can sit any where, so I may see Cupid act he is a pretty child, though I say it, that perhaps should not, you will say. I had him by my first husband; he was a smith, forsooth, we dwelt in Do-little-lane then he came a month before his time, and that may make him somewhat imperfect; but I was a fishmonger's daughter.*

Chris. No matter for your pedigree, your house : good Venus, will you depart?

Ven. Ay, forsooth, he'll say his part, I warrant him, as well as e'er a play-boy of 'em all I could have had money enough for him, an I would have been tempted, and have let him out by the week to the king's players. Master Burbage has been about and about with me, and so has old master Hemings too, they have need of him: where is he, trow, ha! I would fain see him-pray God they have given him some drink since he came.

Chris. Are you ready, boys! Strike up, nothing will drown this noise but a drum: a' peace, yet! I have not done. Sing

Now their intent, is above to present

Car. Why, here be half of the properties forgotten, father.

Offer. Post and Pair wants his pur-chops, and his pur-dogs."

But I was a fishmonger's daughter.] This alludes to the prolific nature of fish. The jest, which, such as it is, is not unfrequent in our old dramatists, needs no farther illustration.

5 Post and Pair wants his pur-chops and his pur-dogs.] Here I am fairly at fault. None of the prose descriptions of this game

Car. Have you ne'er a son at the groom porter's, to beg or borrow a pair of cards quickly?"

Gamb. It shall not need, here's your son Cheater without, has cards in his pocket.

which I have perused make any mention of either of these terms; and Mr. Douce, on whose assistance I mainly relied in this difficulty, fails me altogether. He has never encountered the words; and all chance of explaining them must, therefore, I fear, be looked upon as desperate.

The Rev. Mr. Todd transmitted the following extract to me from a scarce volume of poetry, by John Davies, called Wittes Pilgrimage.

"Mortall Life compared to Post and Pare.

"Some being Cock, like Crauens give it ore,

To them that haue the worst Cards in the stock:
For, if the one be ritch, the other poore,

The Cock proues Crauen, and the Crauen Cock!

Some, having lost the double Pare and Post,

Make their advantage on the Purrs they haue; ' On indirect

Whereby the Winners winnings all are lost,

Although, at best, the other's but a knaue.

PUR Ceit deceaues the expectation

Of him, perhaps, that tooke the stakes away;
Then to PUR Tant hee's in subiection :

For Winners on the Losers oft do play."

[helpes.'

This only involves the matter in greater difficulty, by adding other terms as unintelligible to me as those in the text. Pur Ceit, is probably what the Compleat Gamester calls the Seat at which you must stake, when two cards have been dealt about; but this does not much advance the explanation;-all that the reader can gain from this long note, is a confirmation of what was suggested on a former occasion, (vol. i. p. 74,) that the "simple games of our ancestors," as the commentators call them, were complicated in a very extraordinary degree.

A pair of cards,] i. e. a pack of cards. This term is common to all the writers of our author's time. Thus Heywood:

A pair of cards, Nicolas, and a carpet to cover the table." Woman Killed with Kindness. But they seem to have used pair in a very loose sense, for an aggregate of any kind, and as synonymous with set; thus we read of "a payre of chesmen," a pair of beads," &c.

Offer. Ods so! speak to the guards to let him in, under the name of a property.

Gamb. And here's New-year's-gift has an orange and rosemary, but not a clove to stick in't.

New-year. Why, let one go to the spicery.

Chris. Fy, fy, fy! it's naught, it's naught, boys! Ven. Why, I have cloves, if it be cloves you want, I have cloves in my purse, I never go without one in my mouth.

Car. And Mumming has not his vizard neither.

Chris. No matter! his own face shall serve, for a punishment, and 'tis bad enough; has Wassel her bowl, and Minced-pie her spoons?

Offer. Ay, ay: but Misrule doth not like his suit: he says, the players have lent him one too little, on purpose to disgrace him.

Chris. Let him hold his peace, and his disgrace will be the less: what! shall we proclaim where we were furnish'd? Mum! mum! a' peace! be ready, good boys.

Now their intent, is above to present,
With all the appurtenances,
A right Christmas, as of old it was,
To be gathered out of the dances.

Which they do bring, and afore the king,
The queen, and prince, as it were now
Drawn here by love; who over and above,
Doth draw himself in the geer too.

Here the drum, and fife sounds, and they march about once. In the second coming up, CHRISTMAS proceeds in his SONG.

Hum drum, sauce for a coney;

No more of your martial music;
Even for the sake o' the next new stake,
For there I do mean to use it.