And made him glad father of prettye Bessee.

And nowe, lest oure foes our lives sholde betraye
We clothed ourselves in beggars' arraye;
Her jewells shee solde, and hither came wee--
All our comfort and care was our prettye Bessee.

And here have wee lived in fortunes despite,
Thoughe poore, yet contented with humble delighte;
Full forty winters thus have I beene
A silly blind beggar of Bednall-greene.

And here, noble lordes, is ended the song
Of one that once to your owne ranke did belong:
And thus have you learned a secrette from mee,
That ne'er had beene knowne but for prettye Bessee.

[1] Vide Percy's "Reliques," vol. ii. p. 178.

At Bethnal-Green is an old mansion, which, in the survey of 1703, was
called _Bethnal-Green-House_, and which the inhabitants, with their
usual love of traditionary lore, assign as the "Palace of the Blind
Beggar." This house was erected in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, by
John Kirby, citizen of London, and was, says Stow,[1] "lofty like a
castle." It was afterwards the residence of Sir Hugh Platt, Knight,
the author of many ingenious works; from him it came into the
possession of Sir William Ryder, Knight, who died there in 1669; of
late years it has been used as a private madhouse. The tradition of
the beggar is still preserved on the sign-posts of several of the
public-houses in the neighbourhood.