the latter begs to be allowed to
refuse, saying,

--Let me live and die a yeoman still;
So was my father, so must live his son.
For 'tis more credit to men of base degree
To do great deeds, than men of dignity.

Closing the play the king pays high honour to the worshipful guild of
shoemakers.

And for the ancient custom of _Vail staff_,
Keep it still, claim privilege from me:
If any ask a reason why or how,
Say, English Edward vail'd his staff to you.

An amount of careless irregularity unusual with Greene is displayed in
the verse, pointing to hasty production. But the whole play is humorous,
vigorous and healthy. George's man, Jenkin, a dull-witted, faint-hearted
fellow, is the clown. There is an abundance of incident, though not the
complexity of _Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay_. We have noticed the
historical atmosphere repeated from that play and from _James the
Fourth_. With regard to the love-plot, Bettris has only a small part,
but in her preference for George above a nobleman who comes wooing her,
and in her simple rank, she is quite like Margaret. Thus, when her
titled admirer offers himself, she sings,

I care not for earl, nor yet for knight,
Nor baron that is so bold;
For George-a-Greene, the merry Pinner,
He hath my heart in hold.

We select our main extract from the scene in which George, the loyal
yeoman, defies Sir Nicholas Mannering, the traitorous noble, and flouts
his commission. Those present include the local Justice and an assembly
of the citizens. George has just pushed his way to the front.

_Mannering (to Justice)_. See you these seals? before you pass
the town
I will have all things my lord doth want,
In spite of you.

_George._ Proud dapper Jack, vail bonnet to the bench
That represents the person of the king,
Or, sirrah, I'll lay thy head before thy feet.

_Mannering._ Why, who art thou?

_George._ Why, I am George-a-Greene,
True liegeman to my king,
Who scorns that men of such esteem as these
Should brook the braves of any traitorous squire.
You of the bench, and you, my fellow-friends,
Neighbours, we subjects all unto the king,
We are English born, and therefore Edward's friends,
Vow'd unto him even in our mothers' womb,
Our minds to God, our hearts unto our king;
Our wealth, our homage, and our carcasses
Be all King Edward's. Then