24
I give thee eighteen pence a day,
And my bow shall thou bere,
And over all the north countrie,
I make thee chief ridere.
And I thirteen pence a day, said the Queen,
By God, and by my fay;
Come fetch thy payment when thou wilt,
No man shall say the nay.
William I make thee a gentleman,
Of elothing and of fee;
And thy two brethren, yeomen of my Chamber
For they are seemly to see.
Your son, for he is of tender age,
Of my wine eellar shall be,
And when he cometh to man’s estate,
He better advanced shall be.
And William, bring me your wife, said the Queen,
Me longeth her sore to see:
She shall be my chief gentlewoman,
To govern my nurserie.
The yeoman thanked them all curteously,
To some Bishop we will wend,
Of all the sins that we have done,
To be assoyld at his hand.
So forth be gone these good yeomen,
As fast as they might hie;
And after came and dwelld with the King,
And died good men all three.
Thus ended the lives of these good yeomen;
God send them eternal blysse;
And all that with a hand-bow shooteth,
That of heaven they never misse.
Finis
