nd ten;
Good Peter Simon was his name.
Peter, says he, I must to the sea,
To bring home a traitor live or dead;
Before all others I have chosen thee,
Of a hundred gunners to be the head.

If you, my lord, have chosen me
Of a hundred gunners to be the head,
Then hang me up on your main-mast tree,
If I miss my mark one shilling bread.[114]
My lord then chose a bowman rare,
Whose active hands had gained fame;
In Yorkshire was this gentleman born,
And William Horseley was his name.

Horseley, said he, I must with speed
Go seek a traitor on the sea,
And now of a hundred bowmen brave
To be the head I have chosen thee.
If you, quoth he, have chosen me
Of a hundred bowmen to be the head,
On your main-mast I'll hanged be,
If I miss, twelvescore,[115] one penny bread.

With pikes and guns, and bowmen bold,
This noble Howard is gone to the sea;
With a valiant heart and a pleasant cheer,
Out at Thames mouth sailed he.
And days he scant had sailed three
Upon the voyage he took in hand,
But there he met with a noble ship,
And stoutly made it stay and stand.

Thou must tell me, lord Howard said,
Now who thou art and what's thy name,
And show me where thy dwelling is,
And whither bound, and whence thou came.
My name is Henry Hunt, quoth he
With a heavy heart, and a careful mind;
I and my ship do both belong
To the Newcastle that stands upon Tyne.

Hast thou not heard, now, Henry Hunt,
As thou hast sailed by day and by night,
Of a Scottish rover on the seas;
Men call him sir Andrew Barton, knight?
Then ever he sighed, and said alas!
With a grieved mind, and well away!
But over-well I know that wight,
I was his prisoner yesterday.

As I was sailing upon the sea,
A Bordeaux voyage for to fare;
To his hatchboard[116] he clasped me,
And robbed me of all my merchant ware:
And mickle debts, God wot, I owe,
And every man will have his own,
And I am now to London bound,
Of our gracious king to beg a boon.

Thou shalt not need, lord Howard says;
Let me but once that robber see,
For every penny ta'en thee fro'
It shall be doubled shillings three.
Now God forefend, the merchant said,
That you should seek so far amiss!
God k