Page:Fairy tales, now first collected by Joseph Ritson.djvu/58

And 'yexen'^[1] in their mirth, and neeze, and swearA merrier hour was never wasted there."

His usual exclamation in this play, is Ho, ho, ho!

"Ho, ho, ho! Coward why com'st thou not."^[2]

So in Grim the collier of Croydon:

"Ho, ho, ho, my masters! No good fellowship!Is Robin Good-fellow a bug-bear grown,That he is not worthy to be bid sit down?"

In the song printed by Peck, he concludes every stanza with Ho, ho, ho!

 

"If that the bowle of curds and creame were not duly set out for Robin Good-fellow, the frier,^[3] and Sisse the dairy-maid, why then either the pottage was burnt-to next day in the pot, or the cheeses would not curdle, or the butter would not come, or the ale in the fat never would have good head. But if a Peter-penny, or an housle-egge were behind, or a patch of tythe unpaid,—then 'ware of bull-beggars, spirits, &c."

1. Yexen is to hiccup; a much better reading than waxen. It was originally suggested by doctor Farmer, but never adopted.
2. It is officiously altered, in the last edition, to Ho, ho! ho, ho!
3. Frier Rush.