ng both saved shall be.

20.
'And first, when thou seest me here in this stead,
With my crown of golde so fair on my head,
Among all my liege-men so noble of birthe,
Tell me to one penny what I am worth.'

21.
'For thirty pence our Saviour was sold
Amonge the false Jewes, as I have bin told;
And twenty nine is the worth of thee,
For I thinke, thou art one penny worser than he.'

22.
The king he laughed, and swore by St. Bittel,
'I did not think I had been worth so littel!
--Now secondly tell me, without any doubt,
How soone I may ride this whole world about.'

23.
'You must rise with the sun, and ride with the same,
Until the next morning he riseth againe;
And then your grace need not make any doubt,
But in twenty-four hours you'll ride it about.'

24.
The king he laughed, and swore by St. Jone,
'I did not think it could be gone so soone!
--Now from the third question thou must not shrinke,
But tell me here truly what I do thinke.'

25.
'Yea, that I shall do, and make your grace merry:
You thinke I'm the abbot of Canterburye;
But I'm his poor shepheard, as plain you may see,
That am come to beg pardon for him and for me.'

26.
The king he laughed, and swore by the masse,
'Ile make thee lord abbot this day in his place!'
'Now naye, my liege, be not in such speede,
For alacke I can neither write, ne reade.'

27.
'Four nobles a weeke, then I will give thee,
For this merry jest thou hast showne unto mee;
And tell the old abbot when thou comest home,
Thou hast brought him a pardon from good king John.'

[Annotations:
5.3: 'deere,' harm.
5.3: 'deere,' harm.
22.1: 'Meaning probably St. Botolph.' --_Percy's note._ But the
Folio gives St. Andrew, so that it is Percy's own emendation.]

THE FAUSE KNIGHT UPON THE ROAD

+The Text+ is taken from the Introduction to Motherwell's _Minstrelsy_,
p. lxxiv.

+The Story+ appears to be a conversation between a wee boy and the
devil, the latter under the guise of a knight. The boy will be carried
off unless he can 'have the last word,' a charm of great power against
all evil spirits.

A very similar ballad, of repartees between an old crone and a wee boy,
was found at the Lappfiord, Finland.

THE FAUSE KNIGHT UPON THE ROAD

1.
'O whare are ye gaun?'
_Quo the fause knicht upon the road:_
'I'm gaun to the scule,'
_Quo' the w