Wit and Mirth: or Pills to Purge Melancholy, Vol. 5 of 6 — Text and Context

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In Category - Adventure Picaresque Fiction

Authors: D'Urfey, Thomas, 1653-1723 [Editor] Digital Source: Project Gutenberg Gutenberg Release Year: 2008 First Publication Year: Not confirmed

Key Word: Ballads, English; Songs, English Target Reader: Readers of public-domain and historical texts

Book Edition: Project Gutenberg digital edition Book Language: en

Edition facts

Words 51,742

Reading time 225 min

Text sections 12

The catalog record for Wit and Mirth: or Pills to Purge Melancholy, Vol. 5 of 6 — Text and Context provides practical reading context through 51,742 words, 3 hr 45 min estimated reading time, and 12 detected text sections.

The text analysis averages about 31.0 words per sentence, while the detected sections provide another way to judge how the source is divided.

Project Gutenberg metadata also associates the work with “Ballads, English,” connecting these edition facts with the source record’s subject description.

Source: Project Gutenberg record #26679

Thomas D'Urfey's 1719 collection of bawdy ballads, political satires, and comic songs, set to music by Purcell and others. This volume mixes rustic love lyrics, anti-French propaganda, and theatrical pieces, reflecting early 18th-century popular entertainment.

Editorial Edition Score 4.8/5

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Description quality20 pts
Title & short description10 pts
Source metadata20 pts
Text length15 pts
Chapters / structure15 pts
EPUB file integrity20 pts

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Edition quality

File: pg26679

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And had she been a _Cavalier_, Surely she had been hang'd. _Help House of Commons_, &c.

Hers was but _Fornication_ found, For which she felt the Lash: But his was _Bugg'ry_ presum'd, Therefore they hanged _Swash_: What will become of _Bishops_ then, Or _Independency_? For now we find both Dogs and Men, Stand up for PRESBYTRY. _Help House of Commons_, &c.

She might have took a _Sow-gelder_, With _Synod-men_ good store, But she would have a _Lay-Elder_, With Two Legs and Two more: Go tell the _Assembly_ of Divines, Tell Adoniram blue; Tell _Burgess_, _Marshall_, _Case_ and _Vines_, Tell _Now-and-Anon_ too. _Help House of Commons_, &c.

Some say she was a _Scottish_ Girl, Or else (at least) a Witch; But she was born in _Colchester_, Was ever such a Bitch: Take heed all Christian Virgins now, The _Dog-Star_ now prevails; Ladys beware your Monkeys too, For Monkeys have long Tails. _Help House of Commons_, &c.

Bless _King_ and _Queen_, and send us Peace, As we had Seven Years since: For we remember no _Dog-days_, While we enjoy'd our Prince: Bless sweet Prince _Charles_, Two _Dukes_, Three Girls, Lord save his _Majesty_; Grant that his _Commons_, _Lords_, and _Earls_, May lead such lives as _He_. _Help House of Commons_, &c.

_Plain Proof Ruin'd: Or, a Grand_ CHEAT _Discover'd._

Bold Impudent _Fuller_ invented a Plot, And all to discover the Devil knows what; About a young Bantling strangely begot. _Which no body can deny._

The better to cheat both the Fools and the Wise, He Impos'd on a Nation a Hundred of Lies; That none but a Knight of the Post could devise. _Which no body can deny._

He tells us he had the Honour to peep, In the Warming-pan where the _Welch_ Infant did sleep; And found out a Plot which was Damnable deep, _Which no Body can believe._

Then to the Wise Senate he suddenly went, Where he told all the Lies that he then could invent, For which he was Voted a Rogue by consent, _Which no Body can deny._

And tho' he was Punish'd for that his Offence, He has almost forgot it, it was so long since, Therefore the whole Game he began to Commence, _Which no Body can deny._

Then he to the Lords his bold Letters did send, And told the high Peers, that the Plot he could mend, And make it as plain, as he first did pretend, _Which no Body can deny._

He told them his Witnesses were mighty Men, That wou'd come to the Town, tho' the Devil knows when, And make _William Fuller_ once famous agen, _Which no Body can deny._

The Lords they were Generous, Noble and Kind, And allowed him Freedom his 'Squires to find, The which he will do when the Devil is Blind, _Which no Body can deny._

So the Peers they declared him a scandalous Sot, And none thinks him fit to manage a Plot, If _Newgate_ and _Tyburn_ does fall to his Lot, _There's no Body will deny._

They gave him no more time than himself did require, To find out his _Jones_ and the wandering 'Squire, But the time being come, they were never the nigher, _Which no Body can deny._

The brave House of _Commons_ next for him did send, To hear what the Block-headly Fool wou'd pretend, Who humbly request, that they wou'd him befriend, _Which no Body can deny._

One day he declar'd they were near _London_ Town, But the very next Day into _Wales_ they were flown, Such nimble Heel'd Witnessess never were known, _Which no Body can deny._

When being Examin'd about his sham Plot, He answer'd as though he had minded them not, Perhaps the Young Rogue had his Lesson forgot, _Which no Body can deny._

But after some Study and impudent Tales, Ask'd for a Commission to march into _Wales_, And be Chang'd to a Herse, as Rogues goes to Gaols, _Which no Body can deny._

But seeing his Impudence still to abound, To go search for the Men who were not to be found, They immediately sent him back to _Fleet_ Pound, _Which no Body can deny._

From the _Fleet_ to the Cart may he quickly advance To learn the true Steps of old _Oates's_ New Dance, And something beside, or it is a great Chance, _Which no Body can deny._

He has made it a Trade to be doing of Wrong, In Swearing, and Lying, and Cheating so long, For all his Life time, he's been at it ding dong, _Which no Body can deny._

_Welch Taffy_ he raves and crys Splutterdenails, He's abused hur Highness with Lies and with Tales, Hur will hang hur if e'er hur can catch hur in _Wales_, _Which no Body will deny._

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The volume opens with an alphabetical table of songs and poems, immediately signaling its nature as a miscellany meant for browsing rather than linear reading. The first song, 'All Christians and Lay-Elders too,' sets a tone of irreverent humor, while the inclusion of music notation and midi files reminds us these were performed pieces. D'Urfey's editorial hand is light; he collects rather than annotates, letting the songs speak for themselves.

The excerpts reveal a range of registers: from the pastoral 'Knotting Song' by Sir Charles Sydney to the crude 'Oyster Nan' and the political rant 'The French King in a foaming Passion.' This variety is the collection's organizing principle, and readers should expect abrupt shifts in tone and subject.

Political Satire and Contemporary Events

The song 'The French King in a foaming Passion' is a clear example of how D'Urfey's collection engages with current events. It lampoons Louis XIV after Marlborough's victories, using a mock-heroic voice: 'Old Lewis le Grand, / He raves like a Fury.' The refrain 'Great Marlborough Conquers' is repeated with ironic glee. The song lists specific grievances—'Towns, Castles, are taken'—and ends with a plea for a cordial. This is not timeless poetry but topical propaganda, meant to amuse an English audience familiar with the War of the Spanish Succession.

Other political songs likely follow similar patterns, though the excerpts only show this one. Readers should note how D'Urfey blends news with entertainment, a common practice in ballad collections of the period.

Love, Lust, and Comic Scenarios

Several songs explore romantic and sexual themes with varying degrees of subtlety. 'The Knotting Song' uses a pastoral setting: 'Hears not my Phillis how the Birds / Their feather'd Mates salute.' The refrain 'Phillis without a frown or smile, / Sat & knotted' suggests a coy or indifferent beloved. In contrast, the anonymous 'A Bonny Lad came to the Court' and 'As Oyster Nan stood by her T[ub]' are bawdier, with double entendres and rustic characters.

The song 'Would you be a Man in Fashion?' advises taking 'a little Dram of Passion / In a lusty Dose of Wine,' blending carpe diem with drinking culture. These pieces show the collection's range from refined wit to crude humor, often within the same page.

Music, Performance, and Print

The volume's title page boasts that songs are 'Set to Musick By Dr. John Blow, Mr. Henry Purcell, and other Excellent Masters.' The excerpts include music notation and links to midi files, indicating that the e-book preserves the performative aspect. The 'Knotting Song' is attributed to Sir Charles Sydney, suggesting courtly origins, while others are anonymous or attributed to D'Urfey himself.

The typography preserves archaic spellings ('VV' for 'W') and uses bold italics for blackletter font in the first song. This attention to textual detail helps modern readers experience the original print layout, though the 1876 reprint modernized music notation. The inclusion of 'Orations made and spoken by me several times upon the Publick Stage' hints that D'Urfey was a performer as well as editor.

Structure and Navigation

The alphabetical table of contents lists songs by first line, a practical choice for a collection meant to be dipped into. The excerpts show that songs vary in length from short lyrics to longer narrative pieces. The volume ends with legal boilerplate from Project Gutenberg, but the original likely concluded with more songs or D'Urfey's orations.

Readers should use the table to find specific pieces, but the lack of thematic grouping means serendipity plays a role. The mixture of genres—ballads, songs, poems, orations—suggests D'Urfey intended the book for leisurely consumption, perhaps at social gatherings where music was performed.

Approach this volume as a sampler of early 18th-century popular culture, not a unified work. The songs reward attention to historical context, wordplay, and musical setting. Let the alphabetical table guide you, but allow room for unexpected discoveries. The political satire gains bite when read alongside Marlborough's campaigns; the love songs reflect courtly and rustic traditions. D'Urfey's collection is a window into the humor and concerns of its time.

There’s a particular glow to old comic tunes that lingers, long after the raucousness fades. Reading D’Urfey’s bawdy verses, I found myself thinking not of the laughter’s echo, but of the quiet feeling beneath it all—the ache for tenderness that satire so often hides. That softer pulse led me back to Poems of Sentiment — Themes and Context the way one might return to a familiar, gentle window after a storm.