ught
to him on New-yeares day in the morning, 1626 [O. S.], by his Queenes
Chambermaids". In 1635 there was published a little book of a dozen
leaves, most kindly transcribed for this edition by Mr. E. Gordon Duff,
from the unique copy at the Bodleian Library. It is entitled:--

"A | Description | of the King and Queene of | Fayries, their habit,
fare, their | abode pompe and state. | Beeing very delightfull to
the sense, and | full of mirth. | [Wood-cut.] London. | _Printed
for Richard Harper, and are to be sold | at his shop, at the
Hospitall gate._ 1635."

Fol. 1 is blank; fol. 2 occupied by the title-page; ff. 3, 4 (verso
blank) by a letter "To the Reader," signed: "Yours hereafter, If now
approved on, R. S.," beginning: "Courteous Reader, I present thee here
with the Description of the King of the Fayries, of his Attendants,
Apparel, Gesture, and Victuals, which though comprehended in the brevity
of so short a volume, yet as the Proverbe truely averres, it hath as
mellifluous and pleasing discourse, as that whose amplitude contains the
fulnesse of a bigger composition"; on fol. 5 (verso blank) occurs the
following poem [spelling here modernised]:--

"Deep-skilled Geographers, whose art and skill
Do traverse all the world, and with their quill
Declare the strangeness of each several clime,
The nature, situation, and the time
Of being inhabited, yet all their art
And deep informed skill could not impart
In what set climate of this Orb or Isle,
The King of Fairies kept, whose honoured style
Is here inclosed, with the sincere description
Of his abode, his nature, and the region
In which he rules: read, and thou shalt find
Delightful mirth, fit to content thy mind.
May the contents thereof thy palate suit,
With its mellifluous and pleasing fruit:
For nought can more be sweetened to my mind
Than that this Pamphlet thy contentment find;
Which if it shall, my labour is sufficed,
In being by your liking highly prized.
"Yours to his power,
"R. S."

This is followed (pp. 1-3) by: "A Description of the Kings [sic] of
Fayries Clothes, brought to him on New-Yeares day in the morning, 1626,
by his Queenes Chambermaids:--

"First a cobweb shirt, more thin
Than ever spider since could spin.
Changed to the whiteness of the snow,
By the stormy winds that b