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Page 136:-
Yet she did bid him hold his peace, and swore it was his
best;
He them bethought him of a way which made him more at
rest.
He went unto a friend of his, and told him all his mind,
Who went with him into his house, and after they had
din'd,
Dear wife, quoth he! this friend of mine is come here for
thy good,
There is a vein under thy tongue must needs be lett'n
blood.
Then she began to use her tongue, and rail'd full sore and
fast:
Yet she was bound, for all her strength, unto a post at
last;
And letten blood under her tongue, which bled full fast and
sore,
Yet she did scold and brawl as much as she had done
before.
Now now, quoth he, the fault I see, she has it from her
mother;
It is her teeth infects the tongue, I'm sure it can be no
other:
And since, quoth he, the fault I see, what'er doth me
befall,
I'll pull her teeth quite from her head, perhaps her tongue
and all.
He took a pair of pincers strong, and a large tooth pull'd
out,
And for to pull another he did quickly set about;
She then did hold up both her hands, and did for mercy
pray,
Protesting that against his will she'd neither do nor
say.
With that the husband was well pleas'd that she had so
comply'd,
And quickly loos'd her from the post to which he had her
ty'd,
And from that day until her death she prov'd a loving
wife;
Kind, humble, and obedient still, and so did end their
strife.
Now I have shewn you all, my friends, the way to tame a
shrew,
If any here has such a wife, he now knows what to do;
But if, like me, he dare not take such rigorous methods with
her,
His days in misery he may spend, and be henpeck'd for
ever.
He frequently made sarcastical songs on his neighbours, (if
they had stray's or trip'd a little in crim. con.)
and sung them in the presence of the party, for which he
often received a broken pate, and indeed had one eye knocked
out by a blow with a stick from one of them; this made him
cautious not to sing afterwards when the parties were
present, except he had a good Esquire at his back.
At this Troutbeck was also born the present truly learned,
and pious judge, Sir John Wilson, who by merit alone hath
risen to the dignities he now bears.
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There lived at this Troutbeck a man of amazing strength,
whose name was Gilpin, commonly called the Cork Lad of
Kentmere: I cannot tell much more about him, than what I
picked out of the church register, and some memoirs of one
William Birket of Troutbeck. He lived in the time of Edward
VI. his mother was a poor woman, (some say a nun,) and
begged from house to house to support herself and son, and
drew to a house upon an estate called Troutbeck Park, which
had been forfeited to the Crown, and of so little value that
no notice was taken of it for some time. At last being
granted, the grantee went to take possession, but was
prevented by this Cork lad, who was then just come to man's
estate, quite uncivilized, and knew no law but strength: He
was thereupon sent for to London, and by fair speeches and
wiles got thither: During his stay, the King held a day as
he did many, for gymnastic amusements; this Cork lad
observed the several combatants, but particularly the
wrestlers; at last he mounted the stage (in his undyed
dress, which his mother had spun him,) and threw
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