THE HIGH PAD'S BOAST
[_b_. 1625]

[Attributed to JOHN FLETCHER--a song from a collection of black-letter
broadside ballads. Also in _New Canting Dict_. 1725.]

I

I keep my Horse; I keep my whore;
I take no rents; yet am not poor;
I travel all the land about,
And yet was born to ne'er a foot.

II

With partridge plump, and woodcock fine,
At midnight, I do often dine:
And if my whore be not in Case, [1]
My hostess' daughter has her place.

III

The maids sit up, and watch their turns;
If I stay long, the tapster mourns;
Nor has the cookmaid mind to sin,
Tho' tempted by the chamberlain.

IV

But when I knock, O how they bustle;