Scan 494
The violin: its famous makers and their imitators, 1909
36 lines. Read by computer on 27 September 2026. Printed page 416. See the scan on archive.org.
1Crowdero only kept the field,
2Not stirring from the place he held;
3Though beaten down and wounded sore,
4I' th' Fiddle, and a leg that bore
5One side of him—not that of bone,
6But much its better, th' wooden one.
7He spying Hudibras lie strew'd
8Upon the ground, like log of wood,
10In haste he snatch'd the wooden limb
11That, hurt in th' ankle, lay by him,
12And, fitting it for sudden fight,
13Straight drew it up, t' attack the Knight;
15Vowing to be reveng'd, for breach
16Of Crowd and skin, upon the wretch,¹
17Sole author of all detriment
18He and his Fiddle underwent.
20When Ralpho thrust himself between,
21He took the blow upon his arm,
22To shield the Knight from further harm,
23And, joining wrath with force, bestow'd
24On th' wooden member such a load,
25That down it fell and with it bore
26Crowdero, whom it propp'd before.
27To him the Squire right nimbly run,
28And setting his bold foot upon
29His trunk, thus spoke: 'What desp'rate frenzy
30Made thee, thou whelp of sin, to fancy
31Thyself, and all that coward rabble,
32To encounter us in battle able?
33How durst th', I say, oppose thy curship
35¹ Crowd, a Fiddle, and therefore for injury done by "breach," or cracks, to Crowdero's instrument.
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