S. Smith, the learned editor of _Musica Antiqua_.

I.

"From the fair Lavinian shore,
I your markets come to store;
Marvel not, I thus far dwell,
And hither bring my wares to sell;
Such is the sacred hunger of gold.
Then come to my pack,
While I cry,
What d'ye lack,
What d'ye buy?
For here it is to be sold.

II.

"I have beauty, honour, grace,
Virtue, favour, time and space,
And what else thou wouldst request,
E'en the thing thou likest best;
First, let me have but a touch of thy gold,
Then come too lad,
Thou shalt have
What thy dad
Never gave;
For here it is to be sold.

III.

"Though thy gentry be but young,
As the flow'r that this day sprung,
And thy father thee before,
Never arms nor scutcheon bore;
First let me have but a catch of thy gold,
Then, though thou be an ass,
By this light
Thou shalt pass
For a knight;
For here it is to be sold.

IV.

"Thou whose obscure birth so base,
Ranks among the ignoble race,
And desireth that thy name,
Unto honour should obtain;
First let me have but a catch of thy gold,
Then, though thou be an ass,
By this light,
Thou shalt pass
For a knight;
For here it is to be sold.

V.

"Madam, come see what you lack?
Here's complexion in my pack;
White and red you may have in this place,
To hide an old ill-wrinkled face:
First, let me have but a catch of thy gold,
Then thou shalt seem,
Like a wench of fifteen,
Although you be threescore and ten years old."

That this song enjoyed extensive popularity in the latter half of the
seventeenth century, is evinced by the number of printed copies. It is
found in Playford's _Select Ayres and Dialogues_, 1659; in Dr. Wilson's
_Cheerfull Ayres and Ballads_, 1660; in Playford's _Catch that Catch Can_,
1667; and in many subsequent collections of a similar kind. But in none of
these works is the name of the writer of the words given; and all the
copies are deficient of the _third_ and _fourth_ stanzas. The point of the
satire conveyed in these stanzas was lost after the reign of James I.,
which may account for their omission.

"Shakspeare's rime," being associated with Wilson's music, is of some
importance towards settling the point of authorship. In 1846 I printed a
little pamphlet with the following title: