Page:Witty and entertaining exploits of George Buchanan (1).pdf/7

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loud f-t, which set the whole house a-laughing: whereat the queen was greatly offended, and said, go take the rogue and and hang him, to which George answered, a fine parliamenter indeed, to hang a man for a sinless infirmity, and that's a ft. The queen being enraged at the affront put on her first appearance in parliament, went off in a passion, and never would countenance them more. But yet to be revenged on George, she would never give the king rest, till he delivered George into her hands, that he might be punished at her pleasure ; which the king accordingly commanded to be done, knowing that George would rescue himself by some intrigue or other. No sooner was he delivered into her hands, but she and her maids of honour pronounced his doom, which was as follows:-As he had affronted the queen among so great an equipage, who ought to be honoured in chief above all women in the nation, that he should be stoned to death by the hands of women. Now the time being come that he had to die, according to ap- pointment, he was taken into a park, where a great number of women were waiting for him, with their aprons full of stones, to fall upon him, and put him to death according to the queen's appointment.

GEORGE'S SPEECH TO HIS EXECUTIONERS.

Hero's a female band with bags of stones To kill a man for rumple groans : I'm clean of rapine, blood, and thefts, Could I convert my f--s to rifts? Since I, the first for f--s do die, Close up the place from whence they fly, To commit my crime, I think ye'll searce, If once you do cork up your a-. And now since women stones do carry, Men need not in the world tarry.