To all beneath her infolently high,
Walk'd like a duck, and chatter'd like a pye:
Proud of her breeding, froward, full of fcorn,
As if he were of noble parents born.
With other virtues of the fame degree,
All learn'd in that choice fchool, the nunnery.
Their daughter was juft twenty, courfe and bold:
A boy too in a cradle, fix months old.
Thick, fhort, and brawny, this plump damfel was,
Her nose was flat, her eyes were grey as glass.
Her haunches broad, with breafts up to her chin,
Fair was her hair, but tawny was her skin..
A mighty trade this lufty miller drove,
All for convenience came, not one for love.
Much grift from Cambridge to his lot did fall,
And all the corn they us'd at Scholars-hall.
Their manciple fell dangerously ill;
Bread must be had, their grift went to the mill.
This Simkin moderately ftole before,
Their fteward fick, he robb'd 'em ten times more.
Their bread fell fhort; the warden ftorm'd; with fkill,
Examin'd those who brought it from the mill..
The miller to a ftrict account they call,
He impudently fwears he gave 'em all,
Two poor young scholars, hungry, much diftrefs'd, (Who thought themfelves more wife than all the reft) Intreat the warden, the next corn he fent,
To truft it to their prudent management:
Both would attend him with fuch care, and art,
Defie him then to steal the smallest part.
At last the warden grants what they desire,
All is got ready as these two require.
Bold men, tho' difappointed, ne'er are fham'd;
One was call'd Allen, t'other John was nam'd:
Both nothern men, both in one town were born,
They mount, and lead the horse that bears the corn.
Be careful, Allen cries, and do not ftray:
Fear nothing, he replies, I know the way.
Thus they jog on, and on rhe road contrive,
To catch the thief; till at the mill they 'rive.
Ho Sim, fays John, what ho, the miller there? Who calls, cries Simkin, tell me who you are? How fares your comely daughter and your wife? What, John and Allen? welcome by my life!
The miller faid, what wind has brought you hither?
That which makes old wives trudge, brought us to
Who keeps no man, muft his own fervant be,
Our manciple is very fick, and we
Are with the corn from our good warden come,
To fee it grown'd, and bring it fafely home:
Dispatch it, Sim, with all the hafte you may.
It fhall be done (he fays) without delay.
What will you do while I have this in hand?:
Says John juft at the hopper will I stand,
(In my whole life I never faw grift grown'd,)
And mark the clack, how juftly it will found.
A ha, chum John (fays Allen) will you fo?
Then will I watch how it fteals out below.
Sim, at their plot, maliciously did smile;...
None cou'd, they thought, fuch learned clarks beguile.. He meant to caft a mift before their eye,
(In fpight of all their fine philofophy,)
Neither should find where he convey'd the meal;
The narrower they watch'd, the more he'd steal.
These scholars for their flower, fhall have the bran
The learned'ft clark, is not the wifeft man:
Then out he steals, and finds, where, by the head,
Their horfe hung faften'd underneath a shed;
He flips the bridle o'er his neck; the feed
Makes to the fenns, where mares and fillies feed.
Unmifs'd comes Sim, finds John fix'd at his post,
And Allen diligent, no meal was loft:
Now do me juftice friends, he fays, you can
Convince your warden I'm an honest man.
Now the great work is done, their corn is grown'd,
The grift is fack'd, and ev'ry fack well bound:
John runs to fetch the horse; aloud he cries.
Come hither Allen; Allen to him flies.
-What mean you, John?
Look, there's the bridle, but our horfe is gone!
Gone! whither? fays he Nay heav'n knows, not I
Out bolts Sim's wife, and (with a ready lie)
She cries, I faw him tofs his head and play,
Then flip the loosen'd reins, and trot away.
Which way? they both demand-With wanton
bounds,
1 faw him fcamp'ring tow'rd yon fenny grounds:
Wild mares and colts in those low marshes feed..
Away the fcholars run with utmost speed,
Forget their former cautious husbandry;
Their fack does at the miller's mercy lie.
He half a bufhel of their flour does take
Then bids his wife fecure it in a cake.
I'll fend these empty boys again to school,
To plot and ftudy who's the greater fool:
Look where the learned blockheads make their way,
Let us be merry, while thofe children play.
Thefe filly fcholars ran from place to place;
Now here, now there, unequal was the chace.
They call him by his name, whistle and cry
Ho Balk; but Ball is pleas'd with liberty.
At night into a narrow place they brought him,
Drove him into a ditch, and there they caught him.
Weary and wet, as cattle in the rain,
Allen, and fimple John, come back again.
Alas, cries John, would I had ne'er been born!
When we return we fhall be laught to fcorn.
Call'd by the fellows, and our warden, fools:
Our grift is stoln, and we the miller's tools.
Thus John complains; Allen without remorfe
Goes to the barn, and in he turns the horse.
Both cold and hungry, wet and dawb'd with mire;
They find the miller fitting at his fire.
We can't return, they fay, before 'tis light;
So beg for lodging in your mill to night.
Simkin replies, Welcome with all my heart,
I'll find you out the most convenient part.
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