{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_58463/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_58463","id":"gutenberg_58463","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/58463","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Adventure","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Giants -- Folklore","Thomas Hickathrift"],"text":"Produced by hekula03, David E. Brown, and the Online\nDistributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This\nfile was produced from images generously made available\nby The Internet Archive)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  _Chap-Books\n  and\n  Folk-Lore Tracts._\n\n  _Edited by\n  G. L. Gomme, F.S.A.\n  and\n  H. B. Wheatley, F.S.A._\n\n  _First Series._\n\n  I.\n\n\n\n\n  THE HISTORY\n  OF\n  THOMAS HICKATHRIFT.\n\n\n  PRINTED FROM\n  THE EARLIEST EXTANT COPIES,\n\n  AND EDITED, WITH AN INTRODUCTION,\n  BY\n  GEORGE LAURENCE GOMME, F.S.A.\n\n\n  LONDON:\n  PRINTED FOR THE VILLON SOCIETY.\n\n  1885.\n\n\n\n\nIntroduction.\n\n\nThere seems to be some considerable reason for believing that the hero\nof this story was a reality. The story tells us that he lived in the\nmarsh of the Isle of Ely, and that he became \u201ca brewer\u2019s man\u201d at Lyn,\nand traded to Wisbeach. This little piece of geographical evidence\nenables us to fix the story as belonging to the great Fen District,\nwhich occupied the north of Cambridgeshire and Norfolk.\n\nThe antiquary Thomas Hearne has gone so far as to identify the hero\nof tradition with a doughty knight of the Crusaders. Writing in the\n_Quarterly Review_ (vol. xxi. p. 102), Sir Francis Palgrave says:--\n\n\u201cMr. Thomas Hickathrift, afterwards Sir Thomas Hickathrift, Knight,\nis praised by Mr. Thomas Hearne as a \u2018famous champion.\u2019 The honest\nantiquary has identified this well-known knight with the far less\ncelebrated Sir Frederick de Tylney, Baron of Tylney in Norfolk, the\nancestor of the Tylney family, who was killed at Acon, in Syria, in\nthe reign of Richard Coeur de Lion. Hycophric, or Hycothrift, as the\nmister-wight observes, being probably a corruption of Frederick. This\nhappy exertion of etymological acumen is not wholly due to Hearne, who\nonly adopted a hint given by Mr. Philip le Neve, whilome of the College\nof Arms.\u201d\n\nThere does not seem to be the slightest evidence for Hearne\u2019s\nidentification any more than there is for his philological conclusions,\nand we may pass over this for other and more reliable information.\n\nWe must first of all turn to the story itself, as it has come down\nto us in its chapbook form. It is divided into two parts. The first\npart of the story is the earliest; the second part being evidently a\nprinter\u2019s or a chapman\u2019s addition. Our reprint of the former is taken\nfrom the copy in the Pepysian Library at Magdalene College, Cambridge,\nand which was printed probably about 1660-1690; the latter is taken\nfrom the British Museum copy, the date of which, according to the\nMuseum authorities, is 1780.\n\nIn trying to ascertain something as to the date of the story apart from\nthat of its printed version, it will therefore be necessary to put out\nof consideration the second portion. This has been written by some\none well acquainted with the original first part, and with the spirit\nof the story; but in spite of this there is undoubted evidence of its\nliterary origin at a date later than the first part. But turning to the\nfirst part there are two expressions in this early Pepysian version\nwhich have not been repeated in the later editions--those of the\neighteenth century; and these two expressions appear to me to indicate\na date _after which_ the story could not have been originated. On\npage 1 we read that Tom Hickathrift dwelt \u201cin the _marsh_ of the Isle\nof Ely.\u201d In the earliest British Museum copy this appears as \u201cin the\n_parish_ of the Isle of Ely.\u201d Again, on page 11 Tom is described as\nlaying out the giant\u2019s estate, \u201csome of which he gave to the poor\nfor their common, and the rest he made pastures of and divided the\nmost part into _good ground_, to maintain him and his old mother Jane\nHickathrift.\u201d In the earliest British Museum copy the expression\n\u201cgood ground\u201d is displaced by \u201ctillage.\u201d Now it is clear from these\ncurious transposition of words in the earliest and latest editions that\nsomething had been going on to change the nature of the country. The\neighteenth-century people did not know the \u201cmarsh\u201d of Ely, so they read\n\u201cparish\u201d: they did not know the meaning of \u201cgood ground\u201d so they read\n\u201ctillage.\u201d And hence it is clear that at the printing of this earliest\nversion the fen lands of Cambridge and Norfolk had not yet been\ndrained; there was still \u201cmarsh land\u201d which was being made into \u201cgood\nland.\u201d\n\nBut I think there is evidence in this printed chap-book version of the\nstory which tells us that it was taken from a traditional version. Let\nany one take the trouble to read aloud the first part, and he will at\nonce perceive that there is a ring and a cadence given to the voice by\nthe wording of the story, and particularly by the curious punctuation,\nwhich at once reminds us of a narrative from word of mouth. And besides\nthis there is some little evidence of phonetic spelling, just such as\nmight have been expected from the first printer taking the story from\nthe lips of one of the Fen-country peasantry.\n\nNow this internal evidence of the once _viva-voce_ existence of\nthe printed legend of Tom Hickathrift has a direct bearing upon\nthe question as to the date of the earliest printed version. The\ncolloquialisms are so few, and the rhythm, though marked and definite,\nis occasionally so halting and approaches so nearly a literary form,\nthat we are forced to observe that the earliest printed edition now\nknown is certainly not the earliest version printed. There are too\nfew phoneticisms and dialect words to make it probable that the print\nin the Pepysian collection is the one directly derived from popular\ntradition. As the various printers in the eighteenth century altered\nwords and sentences here and there, as different editions were issued,\nso did the seventeenth-century printers; and therefore it is necessary\nto push the date of the printed version farther back than we can hope\nto ascertain by direct evidence. There is no reason why there should\nnot have been a sixteenth-century printed version, and to this period I\nam inclined to allocate the earliest appearance of the story in print.\n\nAnd then prior to the printed version was the popular version with\nits almost endless life, perhaps reaching back to that vague period\nindicated in the opening words of the story, \u201cin the reign before\nWilliam the Conqueror.\u201d Already internal evidence has, it is suggested,\npointed to a popular unwritten tradition of Tom Hickathrift\u2019s life\nand exploits. But we must ask now, Is there, or was there, any\ntradition among the peasantry of Lyn and its neighbourhood about Thomas\nHickathrift? And, if so, how far does this popular tradition reach\nback, and how far does it tally with the chap-book version? Again,\nis this popular tradition independent of the chap-book story, or has\nit been generated from the printed book? To answer these questions\nproperly we must closely examine all the evidence available as to the\nexistence and form of this popular tradition.\n\nTurning first of all to the historian of Norfolk, Blomefield,[A]\nwriting in 1808, gives us the following account:--\n\n\u201cThe town of Tilney gives name to a famous common called Tilney Smeeth,\nwhereon 30,000 or more large Marshland sheep and the great cattle of\nseven towns to which it belongs are constantly said to feed. Of this\nplain of Smeeth there is a tradition, _which the common people retain_,\nthat in old time the inhabitants of these towns [Tilney, Terrington,\nClenchwarton, Islington, Walpole, West Walton, Walsoken, and Emneth]\nhad a contest with the lords of the manors about the bounds and limits\nof it, when one _Hickifric_, a person of great stature and courage,\nassisting the said inhabitants in their rights of common, took an\naxle-tree from a cart-wheel, instead of a sword, and the wheel for a\nshield or buckler, and thus armed soon repelled the invaders. And for\nproof of this notable exploit they to this day show, says Sir William\nDugdale [Dugd. _Hist. of Imbanking_, &c. p. 244; Weever\u2019s _Fun. Mon._\np. 866], a large grave-stone near the east end of the chancel in\nTilney churchyard, whereon the form of a cross is so cut or carved as\nthat the upper part thereof (wherewith the carver hath adorned it)\nbeing circular, they will therefore needs have it to be the gravestone\nof _Hickifric_, and to be as a memorial of his gallantry. The stone\ncoffin, which stands now out of the ground in Tilney churchyard, on\nthe north side of the church, will not receive a person above six\nfeet in length, and this is shown as belonging formerly to the giant\n_Hickifric_. The cross said to be a representation of the cart-wheel\nis a cross patt\u00e9e, on the summit of a staff, which staff is styled an\naxle-tree. Such crosses patt\u00e9e on the head of a staff were emblems or\ntokens that some Knight Templar was therein interred, and many such are\nto be seen at this day in old churches.\u201d\n\nNow the reference to Sir William Dugdale is misleading, because, as\nwill be seen by the following quotation, the position of the hero is\naltered in Dugdale\u2019s version of the legend from that of a popular\nleader to the tyrant lord himself:--\u201cOf this plain I may not omit\na tradition which the common people thereabouts have, viz., that in\nold time the inhabitants of the neighbouring villages had a fierce\ncontest with one Hickifric (the then owner of it) touching the bounds\nthereof, which grew so hot that at length it came to blows; and that\nHickifric, being a person of extraordinary stature and courage, took an\naxletree from a cart instead of a sword, and the wheel for his buckler,\nand, being so armed, most stoutly repelled those bold invaders: for\nfurther testimony of which notable exploit they to this day show a\nlarge gravestone near the east end of the chancel in Tilney churchyard,\nwhereupon the form of a cross is so cut as that the upper part thereof\nby reason of the flourishes (wherewith the carver hath adorned it)\nsheweth to be somewhat circular, which they will, therefore, needs have\nto be the wheel and the shaft the axletree.\u201d This version, taken from\nDugdale\u2019s _History of Imbanking_, 1772, p. 244, though differing in\nform, at all events serves to carry us back to 1662, the date when Sir\nWilliam Dugdale\u2019s _History_ was first published.\n\nBut the local tradition can be carried further back than 1662,\nbecause the learned Sir Henry Spelman, in his _Icenia sive Norfolciae\nDescriptio Topographica_, p. 138, and written about 1640, says, when\nspeaking of Tilney, in Marshland Hundred: \u201cHic se expandit insignis\narea qu\u00e6 \u00e0 planicie nuncupatur Tylney-smelth, pinguis adeo et luxurians\nut Paduana pascua videatur superasse.... Tuentur eam indigen\u00e6 velut\nAras et Focos, fabellamque recitant longa petitam vetustate de\nHikifrico (nescio quo) Haii illius instar in Scotorum Chronicis, qui\nCivium suorum dedignatus fuga, Aratrum quod agebat, solvit; arreptoque\nTemone furibundus insiliit in hostes victoriamque ademit exultantibus.\nSic cum de agri istius finibus acriter olim dimicatum esset inter fundi\nDominun et Villarum Incolas, nec valerent hi ad versus eum consistere;\nredeuntibus occurrit Hikifricus, axemque excutiens a curru quem agebat,\neo vice Gladii usus; Rot\u00e2, Clypei; invasores repulit ad ipsos quibus\nnunc funguntur terminos. Ostendunt in c\u00e6meterio Tilniensi, Sepulcrum\nsui pugilis, Axem cum Rota insculptum exhibens.\u201d\n\nA still earlier version is to be found recorded by Weever in 1631. The\nfull quotation is as follows: \u201cTylney Smeeth, so called of a smooth\nplaine or common thereunto adioyning.... In the Churchyard is a ridg\u2019d\nAltar, Tombe, or sepulchre of a wondrous antique fashion, vpon which\nan axell-tree and a cart wheele are insculped. Vnder this Funerall\nMonument the Towne dwellers say that one Hikifricke lies interred; of\nwhom (_as it hath gone by tradition from father to the sonne_) they\nthus likewise report: How that vpon a time (no man knowes how long\nsince) there happened a great quarrell betwixt the Lord of this land or\nground and the inhabitants of the foresaid seuen villages, about the\nmeere-marks, limits, or bondaries of this fruitfull feeding place; the\nmatter came to a battell or skirmish, in which the said Inhabitants\nbeing not able to resist the landlord and his forces began to giue\nbacke; Hikifricke, driuing his cart along and perceiuing that his\nneighbours were fainthearted, and ready to take flight, he shooke the\nAxell tree from the cart which he vsed instead of a sword, and tooke\none of the cart-wheeles which he held as a buckler; with these weapons\nhe set vpon the Common aduersaries or aduersaries of the Common,\nencouraged his neighbours to go forward, and fight valiantly in defence\nof their liberties; who being animated by his manly prowesse, they\ntooke heart to grasse, as the prouerbe is, insomuch that they chased\nthe Landlord and his companie to the vtmost verge of the said Common;\nwhich from that time they haue quietly enioyed to this very day. The\nAxell-tree and cart-wheele are cut and figured in diuers places of\nthe Church and Church windowes, which makes the story, you must needs\nsay, more probable. This relation doth in many parts parallell with\nthat of one Hay, a strong braue spirited Scottish Plowman, who vpon\na set battell of Scots against the Danes, being working at the same\ntime in the next field, and seeing some of his countreymen to flie\nfrom that hote encounter, caught vp an oxe yoke (Bo\u00ebthius saith, a\nPlough-beame), with which (after some exhortation that they should\nnot bee faint-hearted) he beate the said straglers backe againe to\nthe maine Army, where he with his two sonnes (who tooke likewise such\nweapons as came next to their hands) renewed the charge so furiously\nthat they quite discomfited the enemy, obtaining the glory of the day\nand victory for their drad Lord and Soueraigne Kenneth the third,\nKing of Scotland; and this happened in the yeare 942, the second of\nthe King\u2019s raigne. This you may reade at large in the _History of\nScotland_, thus abridged by Camden as followeth.\u201d--Weever\u2019s _Funerall\nMonuments_, 1631, pp. 866-867.\n\nAnd Sir Francis Palgrave, quoting the legend from Spelman,\nobserves,--\u201cFrom the most remote antiquity the fables and achievements\nof Hickifric have been obstinately credited by the inhabitants of the\ntownship of Tylney. Hickifric is venerated by them as the assertor of\nthe rights and liberties of their ancestors. The \u2018monstrous giant\u2019\nwho guarded the marsh was in truth no other than the tyrannical lord\nof the manor who attempted to keep his copyholders out of the common\nfield, Tylney Smeeth; but who was driven away with his retainers by the\nprowess of Tom armed only with his axletree and cart-wheel.\u201d[B] This\ndoes not appear to me to put the case too strongly. A tradition told\nso readily and believed so generally in the middle of the seventeenth\ncentury must have had a strong vitality in it only to be obtained by\nage.\n\nLet us now turn to the other side, namely, the existence of a\ntraditional version in modern days, because it is important to note\nthat the printing of a chapbook version need not have disturbed the\nfull current of traditional thought. In a note Sir Francis Palgrave\nseems to imply that the story was still extant without the aid of\nprinted literature. He writes:\n\n\u201cA Norfolk antiquary has had the goodness to procure for us an\nauthentic report of the present state of Tom\u2019s sepulchre. It is a\nstone soros, of the usual shape and dimensions; the sculptured lid or\ncover no longer exists. It must have been entire about fifty years ago,\nfor when we were good _Gaffer Crane would rehearse Tom\u2019s achievements_,\nand tell us that he had cut out the moss which filled up the\ninscription with his penknife, but he could not read the letters.\u201d[C]\n\nAnd Clare, in his _Village Minstrel_, tells us that:--\n\n  \u201cHere Lubin listen\u2019d with awestruck surprise,\n  When Hickathrift\u2019s great strength has met his ear;\n  How he kill\u2019d giants as they were but flies,\n  And lifted trees as one would a spear,\n  Though not much bigger than his fellows were;\n  He knew no troubles waggoners have known,\n  Of getting stall\u2019d and such disasters drear;\n  Up he\u2019d chuck sacks as we would hurl a stone,\n  And draw whole loads of grain unaided and alone.\u201d\n\nAnd this view as to the existence still of a traditional form of the\nstory is almost borne out by what the country people only recently\nhad to say relative to a monument in that part of the country over\nwhich Sir William Dugdale travelled, and of which he has left us such\na valuable memorial in his _History of Imbanking_. A writer in the\nJournal of the Archaeological Association (vol. xxv. p. 11) says:--\u201cA\nmound close to the Smeeth Road Station, between Lynn and Wisbech, is\ncalled the Giant\u2019s Grave, and the inhabitants relate that there lie the\nremains of the great giant slain by Hickathrift with the cart wheel\nand axletree. A cross was erected upon it, and is to be seen in the\nneighbouring churchyard of Torrington St. John\u2019s, bearing the singular\nname of Hickathrift\u2019s Candlestick.\u201d\n\nIt appears, then, that the following may be considered the chief\nevidence which we have obtained about the existence of the story:--\n\n  That a chapbook or literary form of the story has existed from the\n  sixteenth century;\n\n  That a traditional story existed quite independently of the literary\n  story in the seventeenth century;\n\n  That a traditional story exists at the present time, or until very\n  recently;\n\nAnd knowing what folk-lore has to say about the long life of\ntraditions, about their constant repetition age after age, it is not, I\nventure to think, too much to conclude that a story which can be shown\nby evidence to have lived on from mouth to mouth for two centuries\nis capable of going back to an almost endless antiquity for its true\noriginal.\n\nLet us now consider what may be the origin of this story. There is\none theory as to this which has gained the authority of Sir Francis\nPalgrave. The pranks which Tom performed \u201cmust be noticed,\u201d says Sir\nFrancis, \u201cas being correctly Scandinavian.\u201d He then goes on to say,\n\u201cSimilar were the achievements of the great Northern champion Grettir,\nwhen he kept geese upon the common, as told in his Saga. Tom\u2019s youth\nretraces the tales of the prowess of the youthful Siegfried detailed\nin the Niblunga Saga and in the book of Heroes. It appears from Hearne\nthat the supposed axle-tree, with the superincumbent wheel, was\nrepresented on \u2018Hycothrift\u2019s\u2019 grave-stone in Tylney churchyard in the\nshape of a cross. This is the form in which all the Runic monuments\nrepresent the celebrated hammer or thunderbolt of the son of Odin,\nwhich shattered the skulls and scattered the brains of so many luckless\ngiants. How far this surmise may be supported by Tom\u2019s skill and\nstrength in throwing the hammer we will not pretend to decide.\u201d[D]\n\nNow this takes the story entirely out of the simple category of local\nEnglish tradition, and places it at once among those grand mythic tales\nwhich belong to the study of comparative mythology and which take us\nback to the earliest of man\u2019s thought and belief. In order to test this\ntheory let us have before us the passages in Tom Hickathrift\u2019s history\nwhich might be said to bear it out, and then let us compare them with\nthe stories of Grettir.\n\nThe analysis of the story based upon the plan laid down by the\nFolk-Lore Society is as follows:--\n\n  (1.) Tom\u2019s parents are nobodies, \u201ca poor man and day labourer\u201d being\n  his father.\n\n  (2.) Tom was obstinate as a boy.\n\n  (3.) Loses his father, and at first does not help his mother, but\n  sits in the chimney corner.\n\n  (4.) Is of great height and size.\n\n  (5.) Strength is unknown until he shows it.\n\n  (6.) Commits many pranks, among which is the throwing \u201ca hammer five\n  or six furlongs off into a river.\u201d\n\n  (7.) Kills a giant with a club, Tom using axletree and wheel for his\n  shield and buckler.\n\n  (8.) Takes possession of the giant\u2019s territory and lives there.\n\n  (9.) Commits more pranks, \u201ckicks a football right away.\u201d\n\n  (10.) Escapes from four thieves and despoils them.\n\n  (11.) Is defeated by a tinker.\n\nIt will not be necessary to analyse the whole of the stories to which\nwe are referred for the mythic parallels of Tom Hickathrift; but I will\ntake out the items corresponding to those tabulated above. In the story\nof \u201cGrettir the Strong\u201d we have the following incidents:--\n\n  (1.) Grettir\u2019s father \u201chad his homestead and farm land.\u201d\n\n  (2.) Grettir was obstinate as a boy (does nothing on board ship.)\n\n  (3.) Plays pranks upon his father, and returns from attending the\n  horses to the fire-side (Iceland).\n\n  (4.) Is short, though strong, and big of body.\n\n  (5.) He had not skill to turn his great strength to account.\n\n  (6.) He wrestles with other lads, and commits many pranks, flings a\n  rock from its place.\n\n  (7.) Wrestles with Karr, the barrow dweller; and\n\n  (8.) Takes possession of Karr\u2019s weapons and wealth.\n\n  (9.) Fights with and conquers robbers.\n\nNow it cannot be denied that there is a great similarity in the thread\nof these two stories. Norfolk, the colony of the Northmen of old, may\nwell have retained its ancient tradition until the moving incidents\nof English economic history brought about the weaving of it into the\nactual life that was pressing round men\u2019s thoughts. It would thus leave\nout the great mass of detail in the old northern tradition, and retain\njust sufficient to fit in with the new requirements; and in this way it\nappears to me we have the present form of the story of Tom Hickathrift,\nits ancient Scandinavian outline, its more modern English application.\nNow it is curious to note that the cart-wheel plays a not unimportant\npart in English folk-lore as a representative of old runic faith. Sir\nHenry Ellis, in his edition of Brand\u2019s _Popular Antiquities_ (vol. i.\np. 298), has collected together some instances of this; and whatever\ncauses may have led to this survival there is nothing to prevent us\nfrom looking upon the wheel and axle in the story of Tom Hickathrift as\na part and parcel of the same survival.\n\nThere now remains to notice one or two points of interest outside the\nnarrative of the story itself. Of curious expressions we have--\n\n  fitted (p. 3), to pay any one out, to revenge one\u2019s self;\n\n  buttle of straw (p. 3);\n\n  shift (p. 3), to support, to make shift. See Davies\u2019s _Supplementary\n  Glossary_, _sub voce_ \u201cmake-shift,\u201d \u201cshiftful\u201d;\n\n  bone-fires (p. 11). See Ellis\u2019s _Brand\u2019s Popular Antiquities_, vol.\n  i. p. 300, note;\n\n  cocksure (p. 14), quite sure.\n\nOf proverbs there are--\n\n  to win the horse or lose the saddle (p. 8);\n\n  to make hay while the sun did shine (p. 10).\n\nOf games there are mentioned--\n\n  cudgells (p. 4);\n\n  wrestling (p. 4);\n\n  throwing the hammer (p. 4);\n\n  football (p. 13);\n\n  bear-baiting (p. 13).\n\nIt will be observed that the spelling of the name in the Pepysian copy\nis specially divided thus--Hic-ka-thrift; and though it seems probable\nthat some good reason must be assigned to this, I cannot find out\npoints of importance. But about the dubbing him Mr. (p. 7) or Master,\nas it would be in full, there is something of great interest to point\nout. This was formerly a distinct title. In Harrison\u2019s _Description\nof England_ we read, \u201cWho soeuer studieth the lawes of the realme,\nwho so abideth in the vniuersitie, or prefesseth physicke and the\nliberall sciences, or beside his seruice in the roome of a capteine\nin the warres can liue without manuell labour, and thereto is able\nand will beare the post, charge, and countenance of a gentleman, he\nshall be called master, which is the title that men giue to esquiers\nand gentlemen and reputed for gentlemen.\u201d--Harrison\u2019s _Description\nof England_, 1577 (edited by F. J. Furnivall for the New Shakspere\nSociety, 1877), p. 129.\n\nOf yeomen he says, \u201cAnd albeit they be not called master as gentlemen\nare, or sir as to knights apperteineth, but onelie John and Thomas,\u201d\n&c. (p. 134): and of \u201cthe third and last sort,\u201d \u201cnamed the yeomanrie,\u201d\nhe adds, \u201cthat they be not called masters and gentlemen, but goodmen,\nas goodman Smith, goodman Coot, goodman Cornell, goodman Mascall,\ngoodman Cockswet,\u201d &c. (p. 137).\n\nMr. Furnivall\u2019s note (p. 123) is as follows:--\u201c_Every Begger almost is\ncalled Maister._--See Lancelot\u2019s \u2018MAISTER Launcelet\u2019 in the _Merchant\nof Venice_, II. ii. 51, and the extract illustrating it from Sir Thomas\nSmith\u2019s _Commonwealth of England_, bk. I. ch. 20 (founded on Harrison,\ni. 133, 137), which I printed in _New Sh. Soc.\u2019s Trans._ 1877-9, p.\n103-4. Also Shakspere getting his \u2018yeoman\u2019 father arms, and making him\na \u2018gentleman\u2019 in 1596.--(Leopold Shakspere, Introduction, p. ciii.).\u201d\nWe thus get still further indication of the early date of the story,\nthe significance of the title \u201cMaster\u201d having died out during the\nseventeenth century.\n\nThe following is a bibliographical list of some of the editions, many\nothers having been printed from the beginning of this century:--\n\n  (1.) The history of Thomas Hickathrift. Printed for the booksellers.\n  London [1790.] 12mo. pp. 24.\n\n  Cap. i. Of his birth, parentage, and education, ii. How Thomas\n  Hickathrift\u2019s strength came to be known, iii. How Tom came to be\n  a Brewer\u2019s man; and how he came to kill a giant, and at last was\n  Mr. Hickathrift. iv. How Tom kept a pack of hounds; his kicking a\n  football quite away; also how he had like to have been robbed by four\n  thieves, and how he escaped.\n\n  (2.) The Pleasant and delightful history of Thomas Hickathrift.\n  Whitehaven: printed by Ann Dunn, Market Place [1780], pp. 24.\n\n  (3.) The History of Thomas Hickathrift. Printed in Aldermary\n  Churchyard, London. [1790.] 12mo. Part the first, pp. 24.\n\n  Similar contents to No. 1, with addition of cap. v. Tom meets with a\n  Tinker, and of the battle they fought.\n\n  (4.) The most pleasant and delightful history of Thomas Hickathrift.\n  J. Terraby, printer, Market Place, Hull. [1825.] 2 parts. 12mo. pp.\n  24; 24.\n\n  Same as No. 1. Second part, cap. i. How Tom Hickathrift and the\n  Tinker conquered ten thousand rebels. ii. How Tom Hickathrift and the\n  Tinker were sent for up to court, and of their kind entertainment.\n  iii. How Tom, after his mother\u2019s death, went a-wooing, and of the\n  trick he served a gallant who affronted him. iv. How Tom served two\n  troopers whom this spark had hired to beset him. v. Tom, going to be\n  married, was set upon by one and twenty ruffians, and the havock he\n  made. vi. Tom made a feast for all the poor widows in the adjacent\n  houses, and how he served an old woman who stole a silver cup at the\n  same time. vii. How Sir Thomas Hickathrift and his lady were sent\n  for up to court, and of what happened at that time. viii. How Tom\n  was made Governor of the East Angles, now called Thanet, and of the\n  wonderful achievement he performed there. ix. How the Tinker, hearing\n  of Tom\u2019s fame, went to be his partner, and how he was unfortunately\n  slain by a lion.\n\n  (5.) The history of Thomas Hickathrift. Printed for the Travelling\n  Stationers. 12mo. pp. 24.\n\n  Same as No. 3.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n  THE\n  PLEASANT HISTORY\n  OF\n  THOMAS HIC-KA-THRIFT.\n\n  [Illustration]\n\n  _Printed by J. M. for W. Thackeray and T. Passinger._\n\n\n\n\n  THE\n  CONTENTS.\n\n\n  What honour Tom came unto.\n\n  How Tom Hic-ka-thrift\u2019s strength came to be known.\n\n  How Tom came to be a Brewers man, and how he came to kill a gyant,\n  and at last was Mr. Hic-ka-thrift.\n\n  How Tom kept a pack of hounds and kickt a foot-ball quite away, and\n  how he had like to have been robbed with four thieves, and how Tom\n  escaped.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n  THE\n  PLEASANT HISTORY\n  OF\n  THOMAS HIC-KA-THRIFT,\n\n\n_His Birth and Parentage, and the true manner of his performing many\nmanly acts, and how he killed a gyant. Young man, here thou mayest\nbehold what honour Tom came unto._\n\n  And if that thou dost buy this Book,\n  Be sure that thou dost in it look,\n  And read it o\u2019re, then thou wilt say,\n  Thy money is not thrown away.\n\nIn the reign before William the conqueror, I have read in ancient\nhistories that there dwelt a man in the marsh of the Isle of Ely, in\nthe county of Cambridge, whose name was Thomas Hic-ka-thrift, a poor\nman and day labourer, yet he was a very stout man, and able to perform\ntwo days works instead of one: He having one son and no more children\nin the world, he called him by his own name, Thomas Hickathrift. This\nold man put his son to good learning, but he would take none, for he\nwas as we call them now in this age, none of the wisest sort, but\nsomething soft, and had no docility at all in him.\n\nGod calling this old man his father out of the world, his mother being\ntender of him, and maintained him by her hand labour as well as she\ncould; he being sloathful and not willing to work to get a penny for\nhis living, but all his delight was to be in the chimney corner, and\nwould eat as much at one time as might very well serve four or five\nordinary men; for he was in length when he was but ten years of age\nabout eight foot, and in thickness five foot, and his hand was like\nunto a shoulder of mutton, and in all parts from top to toe he was like\na monster, and yet his great strength was not known.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n_How Tom Hic-ka-thrifts strength came to be known, the which if you\nplease but to read will give you full satisfaction._\n\nThe first time that his strength was known was by his mothers going to\na rich farmer\u2019s house (she being but a poor woman) to desire a buttle\nof straw to shift herself and her son Thomas. The farmer being an\nhonest charitable man, bid her take what she would. She going home to\nher son Tom, said, I pray thee go to such a place and fetch me a buttle\nof straw, I have asked him leave. He swore a great oath he would not\ngo: nay, prithee, Tom go, said his old mother. He swore again he would\nnot go, unless she would borrow him a cart rope. She being willing to\nplease him, because she would have some straw, went and borrowed him a\ncart rope to his desire.\n\nHe taking it went his way; so coming to the farmer\u2019s house, the master\nwas in the barn, and two men a thrashing. Said Tom, I am come for a\nbuttle of straw. Tom, said the master, take as much as thou canst\ncarry. He laid down his cart rope, and began to make his buttle;\nbut said they, Tom, thy rope is to short, and jeer\u2019d poor Tom, but\nhe fitted the man well for it: for he made his buttle, and when he\nhad made it, there was supposed to be a load of straw in it, of two\nthousand weight. But said they, what a great fool art thou, thou canst\nnot carry the tith on\u2019t? but Tom took the buttle and flung it on his\nshoulder, and made no more of it then we do of an hundred weight, to\nthe great admiration of master and men.\n\nTom Hic-ka-thrift\u2019s strength being known in the town, then they would\nnot let him any longer lie basking by the fire in the chimney corner,\nevery one would be hiring him to work; they seeing him to have so much\nstrength, told him that it was a shame for him to live such a lazy\ncourse of life, and to lie idle day after day, as he did. So Tom seeing\nthem bait at him in such a manner as they did, he went first to one\nwork then to another; but at length came a man to Tom and desired him\nto go with him unto the wood, for he had a tree to bring home, and he\nwould content him. So Tom went with him, and he took with him four men\nbeside; but when they came to the wood, they set the cart by the tree\nand began to draw it up with pullies; but Tom seeing them not able to\nlift it up, said, stand away, you fools, and takes the tree and sets it\non one end, and lays it in the cart. Now, says he, see what a man can\ndo. Marry, it is true, said they. So when they had done coming through\nthe wood they met the woodman, Tom asked him for a stick to make his\nmother a fire with. I, said the wood-man, take one what thou canst\ncarry. So Tom espyed a tree bigger then was in the cart, and lays it on\nhis shoulder, and goes home with it as fast as the cart and six horses\ncould draw it. This was the second time that Tom\u2019s strength was known.\n\nSo when Tom began to know that he had more strength then twenty men\nhad, he then began to be merry with men and very tractable, and would\nrun, or go, or jump, and took great delight to be amongst company,\nand to go to fairs and meetings, and to see sports and pastimes. So\ngoing to a feast, the young men were all met, some to cudgels, some\nto wrastling, some throwing the hammer, and the like; so Tom stood\na little to see their sport, and at last goes to them that were a\nthrowing the hammer; and standing a little by to behold their manlike\nsport, at last he takes the hammer in his hand to feel the weight of\nit, and bid them stand out of the way, for he would throw it as far\nas he could. I, said the smith, and jeer\u2019d poor Tom, you\u2019l threw it a\ngreat way I\u2019le warrant you; but Tom took the hammer and flung it; and\nthere was a river about five or six furlungs off, and flung it into\nthat; so when he had done, he bid the smith go fetch his hammer again,\nand laught the smith to scorn; but when Tom had done that, he would go\nto wrastling, though he had no more skill than an ass had, but what he\ndid by strength; yet he flung all that came, for if once he laid hold\nthey were gone. Some he would throw over his head, some he would lay\ndown slyly, and how he pleased; he would not lock nor strike at their\nheels, but flung them two or three yards from him, ready to break their\nnecks asunder; so that none at last durst go into the ring to wrastle\nwith him, for they took him to be some devil that was come amongst\nthem; so Tom\u2019s fame was spread more in the country.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n_How Tom came to be a Brewer\u2019s man; and how he came to kill a Giant,\nand at last was Mr. Hic-ka-thrift._\n\nTom\u2019s fame being spread abroad in the country, there was not a man\ndurst give Tom an angry word for he was something foolhardy, and he did\nnot care what he did at them; so that those that knew him would not in\nthe least displease him. But at length there was a brewer at Lyn, that\nwanted a good lusty man to carry his beer in the marsh and to Wisbech;\nso hearing of Tom went to hire him, but Tom seemed coy and would not\nbe his man, until his mother and friends did perswade him, and his\nmaster intreated him; and likewise promised him a new suit of clothes\nand cloath him from top to toe; and besides he should eat and drink of\nthe best. So Tom at last yielded to be his man, and his master told him\nhow far he should go; for you are to understand there was a monstrous\nGyant, who kept some part of the marsh, and none durst go that way; for\nif they did he would keep them or kill them, or else he would make bond\nslaves of them.\n\nBut to come to Tom and his master, that he did more work in one day\nthen all his men would do in three; so that his master, seeing him so\ntractable, and to look so well after his business, made him his head\nman to go into the marsh, to carry beer by himself, for he needed no\nman with him. So Tom went every day to Wisbich, which was a very great\njourney, for it was twenty mile the road way.\n\nTom going so long that wearisome journey, and finding that way which\nthe Gyant kept was nearer by half, and Tom having gotten more strength\nby half then before by being so well kept, and drinking so much strong\nale as he did; one day he was going to Wisbich, and without saying\nanything to his master or to any of his fellow servants, he was\nresolved to make the nearest way to be a road or lose his life, to win\nthe horse, or lose the saddle; to kill or be killed; if he met with\nthe Gyant; and with this resolution he goes the nearest way with his\ncart, flinging open the gates for his cart and horses to go through;\nbut at last the Gyant spying him, and seeing him to be so bold, thought\nto prevent him, and came intending to take his beer for a prize, but\nTom cared not a fart for him, and the Gyant he met Tom like a lyon,\nas though he would have swallowed him. Sirrah, said he, who gave you\nauthority to come this way? Do you not know that I make all stand in\nfear of my sight, and you like a rogue must come and fling my gates\nopen at your pleasure! How dare you presume to do this? Are you so\ncareless of your life? Do you not care what you do? I\u2019le make thee an\nexample for all rogues under the sun; dost thou not see how many heads\nhang upon yonder tree that have offended my law! But thy head shall\nhang higher then all the rest for an example. But Tom made him answer,\nA turd in your teeth for your news, for you shall not find me like one\nof them. No, said the Gyant, why thou art but a fool, dost thou come to\nfight with such a one as I am, and bring no weapon to defend thyself\nwithal? Said Tom, I have a weapon here will make you to know you are a\ntraytorly rogue. I, sirrah, said the Gyant, and took that word in high\ndisdain, that Tom should call him a traytorly rogue, and with that he\nran into his cave to fetch his great club, intending to dash out Tom\u2019s\nbrains at the first blow.\n\nTom knew not what to do for a weapon, for he knew his whip would do but\nlittle good against such a monstrous beast as he was, for he was in\nlength twelve foot, and six foot about the waste; but while the Gyant\nwent for his club, Tom bethought himself of a very good weapon, for he\nmakes no more ado, but takes his cart and turns it upside down, and\ntakes the axletree and the wheel for his shield and buckler, and very\ngood weapons they were in such time of need.\n\nThe Giant coming out again, began to stare at Tom, to see him take the\nwheel in one hand and the axle tree in the other to defend himself\nwith. O! said the Gyant, you are like to do great service with those\nweapons; I have here a twig, said the Gyant, that will beat thee and\nthy wheel and axle tree at once unto the ground; that which the Gyant\ncalled a twig was as thick as some mill posts are, but Tom was not\ndaunted for all that, for he saw there was but one way to kill or be\nkilled; so the Giant made at Tom with such a vehement force that he\nmade Tom\u2019s wheel crack again, and Tom lent the Gyant another as good,\nfor he took him such a weighty blow on the side of the head that he\nmade the Gyant reel again. What, said Tom, are you drunk with my strong\nbeer already.\n\nThe Gyant recovering laid on Tom most sad blows; but still as they came\nTom kept them off with his wheel so that he had no hurt at all. Tom\nplyed his work so well, and laid such huge blows at the Giant, that\nthe sweat and blood together ran down his face, and he being fat and\nfoggy, and fighting so long, was almost tired out, asked Tom to let\nhim drink a little, and then he would fight with him again. No, said\nTom, my mother did not teach me that wit; who\u2019s a fool then? Tom seeing\nthe Gyant begin to be weary, and finding him to fail in his blows, he\nthought best to make hay while the sun did shine, for he laid on so\nfast as though he had been mad, till he had brought the Gyant to the\nground. The Gyant seeing himself down, and Tom laying so hard on him,\nroared in a most sad condition, and prayed him not to take away his\nlife and he would do anything for him, and yield himself to him and be\nhis servant; but Tom having no more mercy on him than a dog of a bear,\nlaid still at the Gyant \u2019till he had laid him for dead, and when he had\ndone he cut off his head and went into his cave, and there he found\ngreat store of silver and gold which made his heart to leap. But when\nhe had done, he loaded his cart and went to Wisbich and delivered his\nbeer; and coming home to his master, he told it to him; but his master\nwas so overjoy\u2019d at the news that he would not believe him till he had\nseen; and getting up the next day he and his master went to see if he\nspoke true or no, and most of the town of Lyn. But when they came to\nthe place and found the Gyant dead, he shewed them where the head was,\nand what silver and gold there was in the cave, all of them leapt for\njoy, for the Gyant was a great enemy to all the country.\n\nThis news was spread all up and down the country how Tom Hic-ka-thrift\nhad kill\u2019d the Gyant, and well was he that could run or go to see the\nGyant and the cave; then all the folks made bonefires for joy; and\nTom was a better man respected than before. And Tom took possession\nof the cave by consent of the country, and everyone said that he did\ndeserve twice as much more. So Tom pulled down the cave and built him\na brave house where the cave stood; all the ground that the Gyant kept\nby force and strength, some he gave to the poor for their common, and\nthe rest he made pastures of and divided the most part into good ground\nto maintain him and his old mother Jane Hic-ka-thrift. And Tom\u2019s fame\nwas spread both far and near throughout the country; and then it was no\nlonger Tom, but Mr. Hickathrift, so that he was now the chiefest man\namongst them, for the people feared Tom\u2019s anger as much as they did the\nGyant before. So Tom kept men and maids, and lived most bravely; and\nhe made him a park to keep deer in; and by his house, which is a town,\nhe built a famous church and gave it the name of St. James\u2019 Church,\nbecause he killed the Gyant on that day, which is so to this hour and\never will be; and many more good deeds he did which is too tedious to\nwrite in this column, but to tell the chief I shall do my endeavour.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n_How Tom kept a pack of Hounds; and kickt a Foot-ball quite away;\nand how he had like to have been robbed by Four Thieves, and how he\nescaped._\n\nTom having so much about him and not used to it could hardly tell how\nfor to dispose of it, but yet he did use a means to do it, for he kept\na pack of hounds, and men to hunt with him; and who but Tom then. So\nhe took such delight in sport that he would go far and near to any\nmeetings, as cudgel-play, bear-baiting, football play, and the like.\nBut as Tom was riding one day, he seeing a company at football play he\nlighted off his horse to see that rare sport, for they were playing\nfor a wager; but Tom was a stranger there and none did know him there;\nbut Tom soon spoiled their sport, for he meeting the football took\nit such a kick that they never found their ball no more; they could\nsee it fly, but whither none could tell, nor to what place; they all\nwondered at it, and began to quarrel with Tom, but some of them got\nnothing by it, for Tom gets a spar which belonged to a house that was\nblown down and all that stood in his way he either killed or knocked\ndown, so that all the country was up in arms to take Tom, but all in\nvain, for he manfully made way wherever he came. So when he was gone\nfrom them, and was going homeward, he chanced to be somewhat late in\nthe evening. On the road there met him four lusty rogues that had\nbeen robbing of passengers that way, and none could escape them, for\nthey robbed all they met, both rich and poor. They thought when they\nmet Tom they should get a good prize, they perceiving he was alone,\nmade them cocksure of his money, but they were mistaken, for he got a\nprize by them. When they met with Tom they straight bid him stand and\ndeliver. What, said Tom, what should I deliver? Your money, sirrah,\nsaid they. But, said Tom, you shall give me better words for it first,\nand be better armed too. Come, come, said they, we do not come hither\nto prate, but we come for money, and money we will have before you stir\nfrom this place. I, said Tom, is it so? Nay then, said he, get it, and\ntake it.\n\nSo one of them made at him, but he presently unarmed him, and took away\nhis sword which was made of good trusty steel, and smote so hard at the\nothers that they began to set spurs to their horses and begone, but\nhe soon stayed their journey, one of them having a portmantle behind\nhim, Tom perceiving it to be money fought with more courage then he\ndid before, till at the last he had killed two of the four, and the\nother two he wounded most grievously that they cryed for quarter. So\nwith much intreating he gave them quarter, but he took all their money\nwhich was two hundred pounds to bear his charges home. So when Tom\ncame home he told them how he had served the football players and the\nfour thieves which caused a laugh from his old mother, and to refresh\nhimself went to see how all things did, and what his men had done since\nhe went from home. And going to the forest he wandred up and down, and\nat last met with a lusty tinker that had a good staff on his shoulder\nand a great dog to carry his bag and tools. So Tom asked the tinker\nfrom whence he came, and whither he was going, for that was no highway.\nBut the tinker being a sturdy fellow bid him go look, and what was that\nto him, but fools must be meddling. No, says Tom, but I\u2019le make you\nto know before you and I part it is to me. I, said the tinker, I have\nbeen these three long years and have not had one combat with any man.\nI have challenged many a man but none durst make me answer; I think,\nsaid he, they be all cowards in this country, but I hear there is a man\nin this country which is called Tom Hickathrift that killed a gyant;\nhim I would fain see, said the tinker, to have one combat with him. I,\nsaid Tom, but methinks, said he, it might be master with you; I am the\nman, said he, what have you to say to me? Why verily, said the tinker,\nI am glad we are so happily met together, that we may have one single\ncombat. Sure, said Tom, you do but jest. Marry, said the tinker, I am\nin earnest. A match, said Tom. \u2019Tis done, said the tinker. But, said\nTom, will you give me leave to get me a twig? I, said the tinker, hang\nhim that will fight with a man unarmed, I scorn that.\n\nSo Tom steps to the gate and takes one of the rails for his staff; so\nto it they fell, the Tinker at Tom, and Tom at the Tinker, like two\ngiants they laid on at each other. The Tinker had a leathern coat on,\nand at every blow Tom gave the Tinker, his coat roar\u2019d again, yet the\nTinker did not give way to Tom an inch. But Tom gave the Tinker a blow\non the side of the head, which felled the Tinker. Now, Tinker, where\nare you? said Tom.\n\nBut the Tinker being a nimble fellow, leapt up again, and gave Tom a\nblow, made him reel again, and followed his blows, and took Tom on the\nother side which made Tom\u2019s neck crack again. So Tom flung down his\nweapon and yielded the Tinker the better on\u2019t, and took him home to his\nhouse, where I shall leave Tom and the Tinker till they be recovered of\ntheir sad wounds and bruises.\n\n\nFINIS.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nTHE PLEASANT HISTORY\n\nOF\n\nTHOMAS HICKATHRIFT.\n\n_THE SECOND PART._\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. I.\n\n\n_Tom Hickathrift and the Tinker conquered and overcame three thousand\nrebellious subjects._\n\nIn and about the Isle of Ely, many disaffected persons, to the number\nof ten thousand and upwards drew themselves up in a body, presuming to\ncontend for their pretended ancient Rights and Liberties, insomuch that\nthe Gentry and civil Magistrates of the Country was in great danger;\nat which time the Sheriff, by night, privately got into the house of\nThomas Hickathrift, as a secure place of refuge, in so eminent a time\nof danger: where before Thomas Hickathrift, he laid open the villainous\nintent of this headstrong giddy-brained multitude, Mr. Sheriff, quoth\nTom, what service my brother, meaning the Tinker, and I can perform,\nshall not be wanting. This said, in the morning by day-break, with\ntrusty clubs they both went forth, desiring the Sheriff to be their\nguide, in conducting them to the place of the rebels\u2019 rendezvous,\nwhen they came there Tom and the Tinker marched up to the head of\nthe multitude, and demanded of them the reason why they disturbed\nthe Government? To which they answered with a loud cry, Our will\u2019s\nour law; and by that alone will we be governed. Nay quoth Tom if it\nbe so, these trusty clubs are our weapons, and by them you shall be\nchastised. Which words were no sooner out of his mouth but the Tinker\nand he put themselves both together in the midst of the throng and with\ntheir clubs beat the multitude down, trampling them under their feet\nevery blow which they struck laid twenty or thirty sprawling before\nthem. Nay, remarkable it was, the Tinker struck a tall man just upon\nthe nape of the neck, with that force that his head flew off, and was\ncarried violently fourteen foot from him, where it knockt down one of\ntheir chief ringleaders; Tom on the other hand still pressing forward,\ntill by an unfortunate blow he broke his club; yet he was not in the\nleast dismay\u2019d; for he presently seized upon a lusty stout rawbon\u2019d\nmiller, and made use of him for a weapon, till at length they clear\u2019d\nthe field; so that there was not one found that dare lift up a hand\nagainst them, having run into holes and corners to hide themselves\nshortly after some of their heads were taken and made public examples\nof justice, the rest being pardoned at the humble request of Thomas\nHickathrift and the Tinker.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. II.\n\n\n_Tom Hickathrift and the Tinker was sent for to Court and of their kind\nentertainment there, etc._\n\nThe King being truly informed of the faithful services perform\u2019d by\nthese his loving Subjects, Thomas Hickathrift and the Tinker, he was\npleased to send for them to his Palace, where a Royal banquet was\nprepared for their entertainment, most of the Nobility being present.\nNow after the banquet was over, the King said unto all that were\nthere, these are my trusty and well-beloved subjects, men of approved\ncourage and valour, they are the men that overcame and conquer\u2019d ten\nthousand which were got together to disturb the peace of my realm;\naccording to the character that hath been given to Tho. Hickathrift\nand Henry Nonesuch, persons here present, they cannot be matcht in any\nother kingdom in the world; were it possible to have an army of twenty\nthousand such as these, I dare venture to act the part of Alexander\nthe Great over again: yet in the meanwhile, as a proof of my Royal\nfavour, kneel down and receive the antient order of knighthood, Mr.\nHickathrift, which was instantly perform\u2019d. And as for Henry Nonesuch,\nI will settle upon him, as a reward for his great service, the sum of\nForty Shillings a year, during life. Which said, the King withdrew, and\nSir Thomas Hickathrift and Henry Nonesuch the tinker, returned home,\nattended by many persons of quality, some miles from the Court. But to\nthe great grief of Sir Thomas, at his return from the Court, he found\nhis aged Mother drawing to her end, who in a few days after died and\nwas buried in the Isle of Ely.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. III.\n\n\n_Tom after his old Mother\u2019s death went a wooing; and how he served a\nyoung Gallant who affronted him before his Mistress._\n\nTom\u2019s mother being dead, and he left alone in a large and spacious\nhouse, he found himself strange and uncouth, therefore he began to\nconsider with himself that it would not be amiss to seek out for a\nwife; and hearing of a young rich widow, not far from Cambridge, to her\nhe went, and made his addresses: and at the first coming she seem\u2019d to\nshew him much favour and countenance; but between this and his coming\nagain, she had given some entertainment to a more genteel and airy\nspark, who happened likewise to come while honest Tom was there the\nsecond time; he look\u2019d wishfully at Tom, and he star\u2019d as wishfully\nat him again; at last the young spark began with abuseful language to\naffront Tom, telling him he was such a great lubberly whelp, adding\nthat such a one as he should not pretend to make love to a Lady, as he\nwas but a Brewer\u2019s servant. Scoundrel quoth Tom better words should\nbecome you, and if you do not mend your manners, you shall not fail\nto feel my sharp correction. At which the young Spark challenged him\nforth into the back yard; for, as he said, he did not question but to\nmake a fool of Tom in a trice. Into the yard they both walk together,\nthe young spark with a naked sword, and Tom with neither stick nor\nstaff in his hand, nor any other weapon. What says the spark, have you\nnothing to defend yourself? well I shall the sooner dispatch you. Which\nsaid, he ran furiously forward, making a pass at Tom, which he put by,\nand then wheeling round to his backside, Tom gave him such a swinging\nkick on the breech, which sent the spark like a Crow up into the Air,\nfrom whence he fell upon the ridge of a thatcht house, and then came\ndown into a large fish pond, and had been certainly drown\u2019d if it had\nnot been for a poor shepherd who was walking that way, and seeing\nhim float upon the water, dragged him out with his hook, and home he\nreturned like a drowned Rat; while Tom enjoy\u2019d the kind embraces of his\nfair Mistress.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. IV.\n\n\n_Tom served two Troopers, whom the young Spark had hired to beset him,\netc._\n\nThis young galland being tormented in his mind to think how Tom had\nconquered and sham\u2019d him before his Mistress, he was now resolved for\nspeedy revenge; and knowing that he was not able to coap with a man of\nTom\u2019s strength and activity, he therefore hired two lusty Troopers,\nwell mounted, to lie in ambush in a thicket which Tom had to pass\nthrough from his home to the young lady, and accordingly they attempted\nto set upon him: How now quoth Tom Rascals, what would you be at? Are\nyou indeed weary of the world, that you so unadvisably set upon one who\nis able to crush you in like a Cucumber; the Troopers laughing at him,\nsaid, that they were not to be daunted at his high words, High words\nquoth Tom, no I will come to action; and with that he run in between\nthese armed Troopers, catching them under his arm. Horse and Men, with\nas much ease as if they had been but a couple of Baker\u2019s babbins,\nsteering his course with them hastily towards his own home, and, as\nhe pass\u2019d thro\u2019 a meadow, in which there was many Haymakers at work,\nthe poor distressed troopers crying out, Stop him stop him he runs\naway with two of the King\u2019s troopers. The hay-makers laught heartily\nto see how Tom hugged them along; ever and anon he upbraided them for\ntheir baseness; declared that he would make minced meat of them to feed\nthe Crows and Jackdaws about his house and habitation. This was such\na dreadful lecture to them, that the poor rogues begg\u2019d that he would\nbe merciful, and spare their lives, and they would discover the whole\nplot, and who was the person that employ\u2019d them; which accordingly they\ndid, and gain\u2019d favour in the sight of Tom, who pardon\u2019d them upon\npromise that they would never be concern\u2019d in such a villainous action\nfor the time to come.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. V.\n\n\n_Tom going to be married, was set upon by one-and-twenty Ruffians in\nArmour, and of the havock he made amongst them, etc._\n\nIn regard Tom had been hinder\u2019d by these troopers, he delay\u2019d his\nvisit to his Lady till next day, and then coming to her, gave her a\nfull account of what had happen\u2019d; she was pleased at heart at this\nwonderful relation, knowing it was safe for a woman to marry with a\nman who was able to defend her against all assaults whatsoever, and\nsuch a one she found Tom to be. The day of marriage was accordingly\nappointed, friends and relations invited. Yet secret malice which is\nnever satisfied without sweet revenge, had like to have prevented the\nsolemnity for having three miles to go to church, where they were\nto be married, the aforesaid Gentleman had provided a second time\nRuffians in armour to the number of twenty-one, he himself being then\npresent either to destroy the life of Tom, or put them into strange\nconsternation; however thus it happened, in a lonesome place they\nbolted out upon them, making their first assault upon Tom, and with\na Speer gave him a slight wound, at which his love and the rest of\nthe women shrieked and cry\u2019d like persons out of their wits, Tom\nendeavour\u2019d all that he could to pacify them, saying, stand you still\nand I will show you pleasant sport. And with that he catch\u2019d a back\nsword from the side of a Gentleman in his own company, with which he\nso bravely behaved himself that at every stroke he cut off a joint,\nloth he was to touch the life of any, but aiming at their legs and\narms, he lopt them off so fast, that in less than a quarter of an hour,\nthere was not one in the company but what had lost a limb, the green\ngrass being stained with their purple gore, and the ground strew\u2019d\nwith legs and arms, as \u2019tis with tiles from the tops of the Houses\nafter a dreadful storm. His Love and the rest of the company standing\nall the while as joyful spectators, laughing one at another, saying,\nWhat a company of cripples has he made, as it were in the twinkling of\nan eye! Yes, quoth Tom, I believe that for every drop of blood that I\nlost, I have made the Rascals pay me a limb as a just tribute. This\ndone, he stept to a Farmer\u2019s hard by, and hired there a servant giving\nhim twenty shillings to carry these cripples home to their respective\nhabitations in his dung-cart; and then did he hasten with his love to\nthe church, where they were married, and then returned home, where they\nwere heartily merry with their friends, after their fierce and dreadful\nencounter.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. VI.\n\n\n_Tom made a feast for all the poor Widows in the adjacent towns; and\nhow he served an old Woman who stole a Silver Cup at the same time,\netc._\n\nNow Tom being married, he made a plentiful feast, to which he invited\nall the poor widows in four or five parishes for the sake of his\nmother, which he had lately buried, this feast was kept in his own\nhouse, with all manner of varieties that the country could afford for\nthe space of four days, in honour likewise of the four victories which\nhe lately obtain\u2019d. Now when the time of feasting was ended, a Silver\nCup was missing, and being ask\u2019d about it, they every one deny\u2019d they\nknew any thing of it. At length it was agreed that they should all\nstand the search, which they did, and the Cup was found upon a certain\nold woman, named the Widow Stumbelow; then was all the rest in a rage,\nsome was for hanging her, others were for chopping the old woman in\npieces, for her ingratitude to such a generous soul as Sir Thomas\nHickathrift; but he entreated them all to be quiet, saying they should\nnot murder a poor old Woman, for he would appoint a punishment for her\nhimself; which was this; he bor\u2019d a hole thro\u2019 her nose and tying a\nstring therein, then order\u2019d her to be stript stark naked, commanding\nthe rest of the old women to stick a candle in her fundament, and lead\nher by the nose thro\u2019 all the streets and lanes in Cambridge, which\ncomical sight caused a general laughter. This done, she had her cloaths\nrestor\u2019d her again, and so was acquitted.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. VII.\n\n\n_Sir Thomas Hickathrift and his Lady was sent for to Court, and of what\nhappened._\n\nThe tydings of Tom\u2019s wedding was soon nois\u2019d in the Court, so that the\nKing sent them a royal invitation to the end he might see his Lady,\nthey immediately went, and were received with all demonstrations of\nJoy and Triumph. But while they were in their mirth, a dreadful cry\napproached the Court which proved to be the Commons of Kent who were\ncome thither to complain of a dreadful Giant that was landed in one of\nthe Islands: And brought with him abundance of Bears and young Lyons,\nlikewise a dreadful Dragon on which he himself rid, which monster and\nravenous beasts had frighted all the inhabitants out of the Island.\nMoreover they said if speedy course was not taken to suppress them\nin time, they might over-run the whole land. The King hearing this\ndreadful relation was a little startled, yet he perswaded them to\nreturn home and make the best defence they could for themselves at\npresent, assuring them that he should not forget them, and so they\ndeparted.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. VIII.\n\n\n_Thomas Hickathrift was made Governor of the Island of the East Angles,\nnow called Thanet, and of the wonderful Achievements he performed\nthere._\n\nThe King hearing the aforesaid dreadful Tydings, immediately sate\nin Council to consider what was to be done for the overcoming this\nmonstrous Giant, and barbarous savage Lyons and Bears that with him had\ninvaded his Princely territories. At length it was agreed upon that\nThomas Hickathrift was the most likeliest man in the whole kingdom,\nfor undertaking of so dangerous an enterprise; he being not only a\nfortunate man of great strength, but likewise a true and trusty subject\none that was always ready and willing to do his King and country\nservice, for which reason it was thought necessary to make him Governor\nof the aforesaid Island; which place of trust and honour, he readily\nreceived, and accordingly he forthwith went down with his wife and\nfamily, to take possession of the same, attended with a hundred Knights\nand Gentlemen, who conducted him to the entrance of the Island which he\nwas to govern. A castle in those days there was, in which he was to\ntake up his head-quarters, the same being situated with that advantage\nthat he could view the Island for several miles upon occasion; the\nKnights and Gentlemen at last taking their leave of him, wish\u2019d him all\nhappy success and prosperity. Many days he had not been there before it\nwas his fortune to behold the monstrous Giant mounted upon a dreadful\nDragon, bearing upon his shoulder a club of Iron, having but one eye,\nthe which was placed in his forehead, and larger in compass than a\nbarber\u2019s bason, and seem\u2019d to appear like a flaming fire; his visage\nwas dreadful, grim and tawny; the hair of his head hanging down his\nback and shoulders, like snakes of a prodigious length; the bristles of\nhis Beard like rusty wire: And lifting up his blare eye, he happened to\ndiscover Sir Thomas Hickathrift, who was looking upon him from one of\nhis windows of the castle; the Giant then began to knit his brow, and\nbreath forth threatening words to the Governor, who indeed was a little\nsurpriz\u2019d at the approach of so monstrous a brute; the Giant finding\nthat Tom did not make much haste down to meet him, he alighted from the\nback of the dragon, and chained the same to an Oak tree, then marching\nfuriously to the castle, setting his broad shoulder against a corner of\nthe stone walls, as if he intended to overthrow the whole building at\nonce which Tom perceiving, said is this the game you would be at; faith\nI shall spoil your sport, for I have a delicate tool to pick your teeth\nwithal; then taking his two handed sword of five foot long, a weapon\nwhich the King had given him to govern with taking this I say, down he\nwent, and flinging open the Gates, he there found the Giant, who by an\nunfortunate slip in his thrusting was fallen all along, where he lay\nand could not help himself. What, quoth Tom, do you come here to take\nup your Lodging? This is not to be suffer\u2019d, and with that he ran his\nlong broad sword in betwixt the monstrous Giant\u2019s brawny Buttocks and\nout at his Belly, which made the monstrous Brute give such a terrible\ngroan that it seemed like roaring thunder, making the very neighbouring\ntrees to tremble; and then Tom pulling out his sword again, at six or\nseven blows he separated his head from his unconscionable trunk, which\nhead, when it was off, seemed like the root of a mighty Oak. Then\nturning to the Dragon, which was all this while chain\u2019d to a tree,\nwithout any farther discourse, with four blows with his two-handed\nsword, he cut off his head also. This fortunate adventure being over,\nhe sent immediately for a team of horses and a waggon: which he loaded\nwith these heads, and then summoning all the Constables in the Country\nfor a guard, sent them to Court, with a promise to his Majesty, that he\nwould rid the whole Island likewise of Bears and Lyons before he left\nit.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. IX.\n\n\n_The Tinker hearing of Tom s Fame went down to be Partner in his\nEnterprize; and how he was unfortunately slain by a Lyon._\n\nTom\u2019s victories rang so long, that they reach\u2019d the ears of his old\nacquaintance, the Tinker, who, desirous of honour, resolved to go down\nand visit Tom in his new government, when coming there he met with kind\nand loving entertainment, for they were very joyful to see one another:\nNow after three or four days\u2019 enjoyment of one another\u2019s company, Tom\ntold the Tinker that he must needs go forth in search after wild Bears\nand Lyons, in order to rout them out of the Island. Well, quoth the\nTinker, I would gladly take my fortune with you, hoping that I may be\nserviceable to you, upon occasion. Well, quoth Tom, with all my heart,\nfor I must needs acknowledge I shall be right glad of your company.\nThis said, they both went forward, Tom with his two handed sword, and\nthe Tinker with his long pike-staff. Now after they had travelled\nabout four or five hours, it was their fortune to light of the whole\nknot of wild beasts together, being in number fourteen, of which six\nof them were Bears, the other eight young Lyons now when they had\nfastened their eyes upon Tom and the Tinker, these ravenous beasts\nbegan to roar and run furiously, as if they would have devoured them\nat a mouthful; but Tom and the Tinker stood side by side with their\nbacks against an Oak, and as the Lyons and Bears came within their\nreach, Tom with his long sword clove their heads asunder till they were\nall destroyed, saving one lyon, who, seeing the rest of his Fellows\nslain, was endeavouring to make his escape: now the Tinker being\nsomewhat too venturous, ran too hastily after him, and having given\nthe Lyon one blow, he turn\u2019d upon him again, seizing him by the throat\nwith that violence, that the poor Tinker fell dead to the Ground; Tom\nHickathrift, seeing this, gave the Lyon such a blow that it ended his\nlife.\n\nNow was his joy mingled with sorrow for tho\u2019 he had cleared the Island\nof those ravenous savage beasts, yet his grief was intolerable for\nthe loss of his old friend. Home he returned to his lady, where in\ntoken of Joy for the wonderful success which he had in his dangerous\nenterprizes, he made a very noble and splendid Feast, to which he\ninvited most of his best Friends and Acquaintance, to whom he made the\nfollowing Promise.\n\n  My Friends while I have Strength to stand,\n    most manfully I will pursue\n  All Dangers, till I clear this Land,\n    of Lions, Bears, and Tygers too;\n  This you\u2019ll find true, or I\u2019m to blame,\n    let it remain upon Record;\n  Tom Hickathrift\u2019s most glorious fame,\n    who never yet has broke his word\n  The Man who does his Country bless,\n    shall merrit much from this fair land;\n  He who relieved them in Distress,\n    His Fame upon Record shall stand:\n  And you my Friends who hear me now,\n    let honest Tom, for ever dwell,\n  Within your Minds and Thoughts I trow,\n    since he has pleas\u2019d you all so well.\n\n\nFINIS.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n\n[A] Blomefield\u2019s _History of Norfolk_, vol. ix. pp. 79-80; the same\nstory is related by Chambers in his _History of Norfolk_, vol. i. p.\n370. The parishes of W. and N. Lynn, though lying in marshland, are\nexcluded from any right of pasturage on the Smeth Common.\n\n[B] _Quarterly Review_, vol. xxi. p. 103.\n\n[C] _Quarterly Review_, vol. xxi. p. 102, note.\n\n[D] _Quarterly Review_, vol. xxi. pp. 102-103.\n\n\n\n\nTRANSCRIBER\u2019S NOTES:\n\n\n  Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_.\n\n  Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.\n\n  Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been retained from the original.\n\n  Archaic or alternate spelling has been retained from the original.","title":"The History of Thomas Hickathrift","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":12243}