Marg. The Dragon, sir! the Dragon! Moore. Say no more,

You soon shall see him weltering in his gore. Marg. Most mighty Moore! do but this Dragon kill,

All that we have is wholly at your will.

Moore. The only bounty I require, is this,
That thou may'st fire me with an ardent kiss;
That thy soft hands may 'noint me over night,
And dress me in the morning ere I fight.

AIR.-MARGERY.
If that's all you ask,
My sweetest,
My featest,
Completest,
And neatest,
I'm proud of the task.
Of love take your fill,
Past measure,

Sole spring of my pleasure,
As long as you will.

Maux. (Overhearing.) A forward lady; she grows fond apace;

But I shall catch her in a proper place.

Moore. Leave her with me; conclude the Dragon dead;

If I don't maul the dog, I'll lose my head. [Exeunt all but Moore and Marg.

DUETT.

Moore. Let my dearest be near me. Marg. I'll ever be near thee. Moore. To warm me, to cheer me.

Marg. To warm thee, to cheer thee.
Moore. To fire me, inspire me.
Marg. To fire thee, inspire thee.
Both. With kisses and ale.

Moore. Your fears I'll abolish.
Marg. This Dragon demolish.
Moore. I'll work him.

Zeno, &c.

Marg, Ay, work him,

Enter GUBBINS, MARGERY, MAUXALINDA, and

others.

CHORUS.

O save us all!

Moore of Moore Hall!

Or else this cursed Dragon

Will plunder our houses,
Our daughters and. spouses,

(Kneeling.)

And leave us the devil a rag on.

AIR. MARGERY.

Gentle knight! all knights exceeding,
Pink of prowess and good breeding,
Let a virgin's tears inspire thee;
Let a maiden's blushes fire thee.
For my father and my mother,
For sister and my brother,
my

For my friends that stand before thee,
Thus I sue thee, thus implore thee;
Thus I kiss thy valiant garment,
Humbly hoping there's no harm in't.

Moore. (Aside.) Her looks shoot through my soul, her eyes strike fire;

I'm all a conflagration of desire.
Fair maid, I grant whatever you can ask,

(To Marg.) The deed is done, when once you name the task.

Moore. I'll jerk him.

Marg. Ay, jerk him.

Both. From nostril to tail.

Moore leads off Margery; MAUXALINDA enters, and pulls him back by the sleeve.

Maux. O villain! monster! devil! basely base!
How can you dare to look me in the face?
Did you not swear last Christmas we should
marry?

Oh! 'tis enough to make a maid miscarry!
Witness this piece of sixpence, certain token
Of my true beart, and your false promise broken.
Moore. The devil's in the woman, what's the

matter?

Tell me, my dear, the cause of this vexation.

Marg. An ugly dream has put me in a fright:
I dreamt the Dragon slew my gentle knight:
If such a thing should happen unto thee,
O miserable, miserable Margery!

Moore. Don't fright thyself with dreams, my girl, ne'er fear him;

I'll work his buff, if ever I come near him.
I've such a suit of spiked armour bought,
Bears, lions, dragons, sets all at nought;
In which, when I'm equipp'd, my Madge shall see
I'll scare the Dragon, not the Dragon me;
But time grows short, I must a while away.
Marg. Make haste, my dear.
Moore. My duck, I will not stay.

Enter MAUXALINDA.

[Exit.

Maux, Oh, how easy is a woman!
How deluding are you men!
Oh, how rare to find a true man,
Not so oft as one in ten!

Moore. Oh! how charming is a woman,
Form'd to captivate us men!

Yet so eager to subdue man,
For each one she covets ten.

Marg. Let's reward them as they treat us;
Women prove sincere as men;

But, if they deceive and cheat us, Let us e'en cheat them again.

All. Let's reward them as they treat us, &c.

[THE OLD

(Dies.) (Margery descends from the tree.) Marg. Oh, my champion! how d'ye do? Moore. Oh, my charmer! how are you? (To Moore.) Marg. Very well, thank you. Moore. I'm so too.

Your eyes were livid, and your cheeks were

pale;

But now you look as brisk as bottled ale. Give me a buss.

Marg.

Ah, twenty, if you please.

Moore. With all my heart, and twenty after these.

DUETT.

My sweet honeysuckle, my joy and delight, I'll kiss thee all day, and hug thee all night. My dearest is made of such excellent stuff, I think I shall never have kissing enough. Enter GUBBINS, MAUXALINDA, and Villagers. Gub. Most mighty Moore, what wonders hast thou done!

Destroy'd the Dragon, and my Margery won.
The loves of this brave knight, and my fair daugh-
ter,

In roratorios shall be sung hereafter.
Begin your songs of joy; begin, begin ;
And rend the welkin with harmonious din.

You son of a whore,

I wish I'd known your tricks before.

All. Huzza! huzza! huzza!

An excellent BALLAD of a most dreadful Combat, fought between Moore, of Moore Hall, and the Dragon of Wantley.-To a pleasant tune much in request.

Old stories tell, how Hercules

A dragon slew at Lerna,

With seven heads, and fourteen eyes,

To see and well discern-a:

But he had a club this Dragon to drub,

Or he had ne'er don't, I warrant ye:

But Moore of Moore Hall with nothing at all,
He slew the Dragon of Wantley.

This Dragon had two furious wings,
Each one upon each shoulder;
With a sting in his tail as long as a flail,
Which made him bolder and bolder.

He had long claws, and in his jaws
With a hide as tough as any buff,
Four-and-forty teeth of iron;
Which did him round environ.

Have you not heard of the Trojan horse,
With seventy men in his belly?
This Dragon was not quite so big,
But very near, I'll tell you:
Devoured he poor children three,
That could not with him grapple;
And at one sup he eat them up,
As one would eat an apple.

All sorts of cattle this Dragon did eat,
Some say he eat up trees;

And that the forest sure he would
Devour by degrees:

For houses and churches, were to him geese and turkies;

He eat all, and left none behind,

But some stones, dear Jack, which he could not crack,

Which on the hills you'll find.

In Yorkshire, near fair Rotheram,
The place, I know it well,

Some two or three miles, or thereabouts,
I vow, I cannot tell;

But there is a hedge just on the hill edge,
And Matthew's house hard by it;

0, there and then, was this Dragon's den,
You could not chuse but spy it.

Some say this Dragon was a witch;
Some say he was a devil;
For from his nose a smoke arose,
And with it burning snivel;
Which he cast off, when he did cough,
Into a well that stands by;
Which made it look just like a brook,
Running with burning brandy.

Hard by, a furious knight there dwelt,
Of whom all towns did ring;

For he could wrestle, play at quarter staff, kick, cuff, and huff,

Call son of a w-, do any kind of thing;

By the tail and the main, with his hands twain,
He swung a horse till he was dead;
And what is stranger, he for very anger,
Eat him all up but his head.

These children, as I told, being eat,
Men, women, girls, and boys,

Sighing and sobbing, came to his lodging,
And made a hideous noise:

"O save us all, Moore of Moore Hall,
Thou peerless knight of these woods!

Not to spoil their hose. As soon as he arose,
To make him strong and mighty,
He drank by the tale, six pots of ale,
And a quart of aqua vitæ.

It is not strength that always wins,
For wit does strength excel;
Which made our cunning champion
Creep down into a well;

Where he did think this Dragon would drink,
And so he did in truth;

And as he stoop'd low, he rose up and cry'd "Boh!"

And hit him on the mouth.

Then to it they at it fall,

Like two wild boars so fierce; I may

Compare great things with small.

We'll give thee all our goods."

"Tat, tut!" quoth he, "no goods I want,
But I want, I want in sooth,

A fair maid of sixteen, that's brisk, and clean,
And smiles about the mouth;

Hair black as a sloe, and a skin white as snow,
With blushes her cheeks adorning;
To 'noint me o'ernight, ere I go to fight,
And to dress me in the morning."

This being done, he did engage
To hew this Dragon down;

But first he went, new armour to
Bespeak, at Sheffield town,

With spikes all about, not within, but without,
Of steel, so sharp and strong,

Both behind and before, arms, legs, and all o'er, Some five or six inches long.

Had you seen him in this dress,

How fierce he look'd, and how big,
You would have thought him for to be
Some Egyptian porcupig:
He frighted all, cats, dogs, and all,

Each cow, each horse, and each hog;

For fear they did flee, for they took him to be
Some strange outlandish hedge-hog.

To see the fight, all people then
Got upon trees and houses,

On churches some, and chimneys too;
But they put on their trowsers,

Our champion on the ground;

Tho' their strength it was great, their skill it was

neat,

They never had one wound.

Young W. How long have you left Paris, Papillion?

Pap. Twelve, dirteen year.

Young W. Acquainted with the fashionable figures of both sexes.

Pap. Sans doute.

Young W. Well, then, open your lecture; and d'ye hear, Papillion, as you have the honour to be promoted from the mortifying condition of an humble valet to the important charge of a private tutor, let us discard all distance between us. See me ready to slake my thirst at your fountain of knowledge, my Magnus Apollo.

Pap. Here, then, I disclose my Helicon to my poetical pupil.

Young W. Hey, Papillion!

Pap. Sir?

Young W. What is this? Why you speak English? Pap. Without doubt.

Young W. But like a native!

Pap. To be sure.

[this?

Young W. And what am I to conclude from all Pap. But, to be better understood, I believe it will be necessary to give you a short sketch of the principal incidents of my life.

Young W. Pr'ythee do.

Pap. Why, then, you are to know, sir, that my former situation has been rather above my present condition, having once sustained the dignity of

Pap. The accent is difficile.

Young W. But here you are at home.

Pap. C'est vrai,

Young W. No stranger to fashionable places.

Pap. O, faite!

with which our county of York is so plentifully

stocked.

Young W. Why this disguise? Why renounce your country?

Pap. There, sir, you make a little mistake; it was my country that renounced me.