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Whofe Acts and Fame to foreign

Lands were blown;

The King of Elfs and little Fairy Queen

Gamboll❜d on Heaths, and danc'd on ev'ry Green.

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And where the jolly Troop had led the Round, The Grafs unbidden rofe, and mark'd the Ground:

Nor darkling did they dance, the Silver Light7 Of Phæbe serv'd to guide their Steps aright,[Night. And, with their Tripping pleas'd, prolong'd the Her Beams they follow'd, where at full she plaid, Nor longer than the shed her Horns they staid, From thence with airy Flight to Foreign Lands convey'd.

Above the rest our Britain held they dear, More folemnly they kept their Sabbaths here, And made more fpacious Rings, and revell'd half the Year.

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I speak of ancient Times, for now the Swain, Returning late may pass the Woods in vain, And never hope to fee the nightly Train: In vain the Dairy now with Mints is dress'd, The Dairy-Maid expects no Fairy Guest, To skim the Bowls, and after pay the Feast. She fighs and shakes her empty Shoes in vain, No Silver Penny to reward her Pain:

For Priests with Pray'rs, and other godly Geer,
Have made the merry Goblins disappear;
And where they plaid their merry Pranks before,
Have sprinkled Holy Water on the Floor :
And Fry'rs that through the wealthy Regions run
Thick as the Motes, that twinkle in the Sun;
Refort to Farmers rich, and blefs their Halls,
And exorcife the Beds, and cross the Walls:
This makes the Fairy Quires forfake the Place,
When once 'tis hallow'd with the Rites of Grace:
But in the Walks where wicked Elves have been,
The Learning of the Parifh now is seen,
The Midnight Parfon pofting o'er the Green
WithGown tuck'd up to Wakes; for Sunday next,7
With humming Ale encouraging his Text;
Nor wants the holy Leer toCountry-Girl betwixt.
From Fiends and Imps he fets the Village free,
There haunts not any Incubus, but He.
The Maids and Women need no Danger fear
To walk by Night, and Sanctity so near:
For by fome Haycock, or fome fhady Thorn,
He bids his Beads both Even-fong and Morn.
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It so befel in this King Arthur's Reign,

A lufty Knight was pricking o'er the Plain;

A Batchelor he was, and of the courtly Train..
It happen'd as he rode, a Damfel gay

In Ruffet-Robes to Market took her Way;
Soon on the Girl he caft an amorous Eye,
So ftrait she walk'd, and on her Pasterns high:
If feeing her behind he lik'd her Pace,
Now turning fhort he better lik'd her Face:
He lights in hafte, and, full of youthful Fire,
By Force accomplish'd his obfcene Defire:
This done away he rode, not unefpy'd,
For fwarming at his Back the Country cry'd;
And once in view they never loft the Sight,
But feiz'd, and pinion'd brought toCourt theKnight.
Then Courts of Kings were held in high renown,
Ere made the common Brothels of the Town:
There, Virgins honourable Vows receiv'd,
But chaft as Maids in Monafteries liv'd:
The King himself, to Nuptial Ties a Slave,
No bad Example to his Poets gave:

And they not bad, but in a vicious Age,

Had not to please the Prince debauch'd the Stage.

Now what fhou'd Arthur do? Helov'd theKnight, But Sovereign Monarchs are the Source of Right: Mov'd by the Damfel's Tears and common Cry, He doom'd the brutal Ravisher to die. But fair Geneura rofe in his Defence, And pray'd fo hard for Mercy from the Prince; That to his Queen the King th' Offender gave, And left it in her Pow'r to Kill or Save: This gracious A&t the Ladies all approve, Who thought it much a Man fhou'd die for Love. And with their Mistress join'd in close Debate, (Covering theirKindness with diffembled Hate;) If not to free him, to prolong his Fate. At last agreed they call'd him by confent Before the Queen and Female Parliament. And the fair Speaker rifing from her Chair, Did thus the Judgment of the House declare: Sir Knight, tho' I have ask'd thy Life, yet still Thy Destiny depends upon my Will: Nor haft thou other Surety than the Grace Not due to thee from our offended Race. But as our Kind is of a fofter Mold,

And cannot Blood without a Sigh behold,

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