belly
provision, abounding in the neighbourhood, serves their turne. As wountes
or moles hunt after wormes, the ground being dewable, so these idelers
live intolerablie by other meanes, and neglect their painfull labours by
oppressing the neighbourhood. August, September, and October, with that
permission which the Lord hath allowed the poorer sorte to gather the
eares of corne, they do much harme. I have seen three hundred leazers or
gleaners in one gentleman's corn-field at once; his servants gathering
and stouking the bound sheaves, the sheaves lying on the ground like dead
carcases in an overthrown battell, they following the spoyle, not like
souldiers (which scorne to rifle) but like theeves desirous to steale; so
this army holdes pillaging, wheate, rye, barly, pease, and oates; oates,
a graine which never grew in Canaan, nor AEgypt, and altogether out of
the allowance of leazing.

Under colour of the last graine, oates, it being the latest harvest,
they doe (without mercy in hotte bloud) steale, robbe orchards, gardens,
hop-yards, and crab trees; so what with leazing and stealing, they doe
poorly maintaine themselves November, December, and almost all January,
with some healpes from the neighbourhood.

The last three moneths, February, March, and Aprill, little labour serves
their turne, they hope by the heat of the sunne, (seasoning themselves,
like snakes, under headges,) to recover the month of May with much
poverty, long fasting, and little praying; and so make an end of their
yeares travel in the Easter holy days.

* * * * *

BEGGARS.

In the earlier periods of their history, both in England and Scotland,
beggars were generally of such a description as to entitle them to the
epithet of _sturdy_; accordingly they appear to have been regarded often
as impostors and always as nuisances and pests. "Sornares," so violently
denounced in those acts, were what are here called "masterful beggars,"
who, when they could not obtain what they asked for by fair means, seldom
hesitated to take it by violence. The term is said to be Gaelic, and to
import a soldier. The life of such a beggar is well described in the
"Belman of London," printed in 1608--"The life of a beggar is the life of
a souldier. He suffers hunger and cold in winter, and heate and thirste
in summer; he goes lowsie, he goes lame; he is not regarded; he is not
rewarded; here only shines his glorie. The whole kingdome