incess's pride.

Other parallels of incident and phraseology may be noted:--

4.1 'well good steed'; 'well good,' a commonplace = very good; for 'well
good steed,' cf. _John o' the Side_, 34.3 (p. 162 of this volume).

7.1 'Four-and-twenty knights.' The number is a commonplace in ballads;
especially cf. _The Beggar Laddie_ (as above), Child's text A, st. 13:

'Four an' tuenty gentelmen
They conved the beager ben,
An' as mony gay lades
Conved the beager's lassie.'

12.4 For the proper mediaeval horror of 'churl's blood,' see
_Glasgerion_, stt. 12, 19 (First Series, pp. 4, 5).

13.3 'meal-pock.' The meal-bag was part of the professional beggar's
outfit; see _Will Stewart and John_, 78.3 (Child, No. 107, ii. 437). For
blinding with meal-dust, see _Robin Hood and the Beggar_, ii. 77, 78
(Child, No. 134, iii. 163). The meal-pock also occurs in _The Jolly
Beggar_, as cited above.

THE JOLLY JUGGLER

Draw me near, draw me near,
Draw me near, ye jolly jugglere!

1.
Here beside dwelleth
A rich baron's daughter;
She would have no man
That for her love had sought her.
_So nice she was!_

2.
She would have no man
That was made of mould,
But if he had a mouth of gold
To kiss her when she would.
_So dangerous she was!_

3.
Thereof heard a jolly juggler
That laid was on the green;
And at this lady's words
I wis he had great teen.
_An-ang'red he was!_

4.
He juggled to him a well good steed
Of an old horse-bone,
A saddle and a bridle both,
And set himself thereon.
_A juggler he was!_

5.
He pricked and pranced both
Before that lady's gate;
She wend he [had] been an angel
Was come for her sake.
_A pricker he was!_

6.
He pricked and pranced
Before that lady's bower;
She wend he had been an angel
Come from heaven tower.
_A prancer he was!_

7.
Four-and-twenty knights
Led him into the hall,
And as many squires
His horse to the stall,
_And gave him meat_.

8.
They gave him oats
And also hay;
He was an old shrew
And held his head away.
_He would not eat._

9.
The day began to pass,
The night began to come,
To bed was brought
The fair gentlewoman,
_And the juggler also_.

10.
The night began to pass,
The day began to spring;
All the birds of her bower,
They began to sing,