The Parliament Routed, or Here’s a House to Be Let
I hope that England, after many jarres,
Shall be at peace, and give no way to warres:
O Lord, protect the generall, that he
May be the agent of our unitie.
Written upon the dissolution of the Long Parliament by Cromwell, on the 20th April, 1653, and extracted from the King’s Pamphlets, British Museum. June 3rd, 1653.
To the tune of “Lucina, or, Merrily and Cherrily.”
Cheare up, kind countrymen, be not dismay’d,
True news I can tell ye concerning the nation;
Hot spirits are quench’d, the tempest is layd,
(And now we may hope for a good reformation).
The Parliament bold and the counsell of state
Doe wish them beyond sea, or else at Virginie;
For now all their orders are quite out of date,
Twelve Parliament men shall be sold for peny.
Full twelve years and more these rooks they have sat,
To gull and to cozen all true-hearted people;
Our gold and our silver has made them so fat,
That they lookt more big and mighty than Paul’s steeple.
The freedome of subject they much did pretend,
But since they bore sway we never had any;
For every member promoted self-end,
Twelve Parliament men are now sold for one peny.
Their acts and their orders which they have contrived,
Was still in conclusion to multiply riches:
The Common-wealth sweetly by these men have thrived,
As Lancashire did with the juncto of witches. 1
Oh! our freedome was chain’d to the Egyptian yoak,
As it hath been felt and endured by many,
Still making religion their author and cloak,
Twelve Parliament men shall be sold for a peny.
Both citie and countrey are almost undone
By these caterpillars, which swarm’d in the nation;
Their imps and their goblins did up and downe run,
Excise-men, I meane, all knaves of a fashion:
For all the great treasure that dayly came in,
The souldier wants pay, ’tis well knowne by a many;
To cheat and to cozen they held it no sinne,
Twelve Parliament men shall be sold for a peny.
The land and the livings which these men have had,
’Twould make one admire what use they’ve made of it,
With plate and with jewels they have bin well clad,
The souldier fared hard whilst they got the profit.
Our gold and our silver to Holland they sent,
But being found out, this is knowne by a many,
That no one would owne it for feare of a shent,
Twelve Parliament men are sold for a peny.
’Tis judged by most people that they were the cause
Of England and Holland, their warring together, 2
Both friends and dear lovers to break civill lawes,
And in cruell manner to kill one another.
What cared they how many did lose their dear lives,
So they by the bargain did get people’s money,
Sitting secure like bees in their hives?
But twelve Parliament men are now sold for a peny.
THE SECOND PART
To the same tune.
They voted, unvoted, as fancy did guide,
To passe away time, but increasing their treasure
(When Jack is on cock-horse hee’l galloping ride,
But falling at last, hee’l repent it at leisure).
The widow, the fatherlesse, gentry and poore,
The tradesman and citizen, with a great many,
Have suffer’d full dearly to heap up their store;
But twelve Parliament men shall be sold for a peny.
These burdens and grievances England hath felt,
So long and so heavy, our hearts are e’en broken,
Our plate, gold and silver, to themselves they’ve dealt
(All this is too true, in good time be it spoken).
For a man to rise high and at last to fall low,
It is a discredit: this lot fals to many,
But ’tis no great matter these men to serve so,
Twelve Parliament men now are sold for a peny.
The generall 3 perceiving their lustfull desire
To covet more treasure, being puft with ambition,
By their acts and their orders to set all on fire,
Pretending religion to rout superstition:
He bravely commanded the souldiers to goe
In the Parliament-house, in defiance of any;
To which they consented, and now you doe know
That twelve Parliament men may be sold for a peny.
The souldiers undaunted laid hold on the mace,
And out of the chaire they removed the speaker:
The great ones was then in a pittifull case,
And Tavee cryd out, All her cold must forsake her. 4
Thus they were routed, pluckt out by the eares,
The House was soone empty and rid of a many
Usurpers, that sate there this thirteen long yeares;
Twelve Parliament men may be sold for a peny.
To the Tower of London away they were sent,
As they have sent others by them captivated;
Oh what will become of this old Parliament
And all their compeers, that were royally stated.
What they have deserved I wish they may have,
And ’tis the desire I know of a many;
For us to have freedome, oh that will be brave!
But twelve Parliament men may be sold for a peny.
Let’s pray for the generall and all his brave traine,
He may be an instrument for England’s blessing,
Appointed in heaven to free us againe,—
For this is the way of our burdens redressing:
For England to be in glory once more,
It would satisfy, I know, a great many;
But ending I say, as I said before,
Twelve Parliament men now are sold for a peny.
Footnotes
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In the seventeenth century Lancashire enjoyed an unhappy pre-eminence in the annals of superstition, and it was regarded especially as a land of witches. This fame appears to have originated partly in the execution of a number of persons in 1612, who were pretended to have been associated together in the crime of witchcraft, and who held their unearthly meetings at the Malkin Tower, in the forest of Pendle. In 1613 was published an account of the trials, in a thick pamphlet, entitled “The Wonderful Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Lancaster. With the Arraignment and Triall of nineteene notorious Witches, at the Assizes and general Goale Deliverie, holden in the Castle of Lancaster, on Monday, the seventeenth of August last, 1612. Published and set forth by commandment of his Majesties Justices of Assize in the North Parts, by Thomas Potts, Esquier.” “The famous History of the Lancashire Witches” continued to be popular as a chap-book up to the beginning of the nineteenth century.—T. Wright. ↩
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An allusion to the Dutch War of 1651 and 1652. ↩
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Oliver Cromwell. ↩
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The Welsh were frequently the subject of satirical allusions during the civil wars and the Commonwealth. ↩