John Gilpin was a citizen / Of credit and renown, / A train-band Captain eke was he / Of famous London town.

By this means they lost their time and truanted on the fundamental grounds of saving knowledge.

So, ye miserable people; you must go to God in anguishes, and make your prayer to him.

But, secondly, a great many of these tales were borrowed from the narratives of the trouveurs or minstrels who wandered through the north of France, relating stories or reciting poems for the amusement of their entertainers.