WISE MEN of GOTHAM. 17 the, for if you live till the next year ye will be a fool.. in od (illegible text) TALE XVII.
THERE was a man of Gotham who
would be married, and when the day of marriage was come, they went to church. The prieſt ſaid. Do you fay after me. The man ſaid. Do you ſay after me. The prieſt ſaid, Say nobrati ter me ſuch words, but fay what I tell you ; thou doſt play the fool to mock the holy Scripture concerning matri- mony. Then the fellow ſaid, thou doſt play the foot to mock the holy ſerip- ture concerning matrimony. The prieſt could not tell what to fay, but anſwer ed, What ſhall I do with this foot? And the man ſaid, What ſhall I do with this fool? So the prieſt tool his leave and would not marry them. But he was inſtructed by others how to do, and was afterwards married. And thus the breed of the Gothamites has been perpetuated even unto this day.. now TALE XVII.
THERE was a Scotſman who dwelt
at Gotham, and he took a houſe a lit. tle diſtance from London, and turn ed it into an inn; and for his ſign he
