e indefatigable Lydgate, can possibly be assigned to its proper
date; and they are therefore arranged in the following order.

1. _A Balade sent by a Poursyant to the Shirreves of London,
acompanyed with theire Bretherne upon Mayes Daye, at Busshopes Wod, at
an honurable Dyner, ech of them bringginge his Dysshe._

This Ballad, which occurs in Ashmole's Collection of Manuscripts, is
introduced from its having been addressed to the Sheriffs of London;
but it contains little that is worthy of attention.

2. _London Lickpenny._

Of the numerous Ballads composed by 'The Monk of Bury,' this is
perhaps the most curious and the best known; and, from its presenting
a great deal of information relative to the Metropolis in the
fifteenth century, it is of considerable interest. Two copies exist in
MS. in the British Museum; one in the Harleian MS. 367, which is
printed in Noorthouck's and Dr. Pugh's History of London, as well as
in several other works; the other, in Stow's hand-writing, in the
Harleian MS. 542: and as they differ very materially from each other,
a copy of each is inserted. To this Ballad, it has been thought right
to add another, by the same writer, which has never been before
printed, on a very similar subject; namely,

3. _Upon the Emptiness of his Purse,--_

In which he treats this, perhaps the greatest of all human
misfortunes, since it prevents the alleviation of almost all others,
with singular address. The subject seems to have been a favourite one
with our early poets; for there is a Ballad with nearly the same title
by Chaucer; and another is printed in 'The Boke of St. Albans.'

4. _On Forked Head Dresses._

The head-dresses of females in the reign of Henry the Sixth closely
resembled the _cauchoises_ still worn by those of Normandy; and which
excited the displeasure of Dan John in so great a degree as to have
induced him to invoke the aid of his Muse in effecting their
abolition. It seems no subject escaped that eternal scribbler's
attention; and if his abilities had equalled his disposition, he would
probably have become the Juvenal of his age. Upon this occasion,
however, he appears to have soared on rather a higher wing than usual;
and the moral of his lay is the truism which has since been so
beautifully expressed, that loveliness

"Is when unadorn'd, adorn'd the most."

5. _On Fraudulent Millers and Bakers._

This short Ballad would appear, from the following passage in Fabian's