Now We Are Six

Of Hilary the Great and Good

They tell a tale at Christmas time

I’ve often thought the story would

Be prettier but just as good

If almost anybody should

Translate it into rime .

So I have done the best I can

For lack of some more learned man .

Good King Hilary

Said to his Chancellor

(Proud Lord Willoughby,

Lord High Chancellor):

“Run to the wicket-gate

Quickly, quickly,

Run to the wicket-gate

And see who is knocking.

It may be a rich man,

Sea-borne from Araby,

Bringing me peacocks,

Emeralds and ivory;

It may be a poor man,

Travel-worn and weary,

Bringing me oranges

To put in my stocking.”

Proud Lord Willoughby,

Lord High Chancellor,

Laughed both loud and free: ^*

“I’ve served Your Majesty, man to man,

Since first Your Majesty’s reign began,

And I’ve often walked, but I never, never ran,

Never, never, never,” quoth he.

Good King Hilary

Said to his Chancellor

(Proud Lord Willoughby,

Lord High Chancellor):

“Walk to the wicket-gate

Quickly, quickly,

Walk to the wicket-gate

And see who is knocking.

It may be a captain,

Hawk-nosed, bearded,

Bringing me gold-dust,

Spices, and sandalwood:

It may be a scullion,

Care-free, whistling,

Bringing me sugar-plums

To put in my stocking.”

Proud Lord Willoughby,

Lord High Chancellor,

Laughed both loud and free:

“I’ve served in the Palace since I was four,

And I’ll serve in the Palace a-many years more,

And I’ve opened a window, but never a door,

Never, never, never,” quoth he.

Good King Hilary

Said to his Chancellor

(Proud Lord Willoughby,

Lord High Chancellor):

“Open the window

Quickly, quickly,

Open the window

And see who is knocking.

It may be a waiting-maid,

Apple-cheeked, dimpled,

Sent by her mistress

To bring me greeting;

It may be children,

Anxious, whispering,

Bringing me cobnuts,

To put in my stocking.”

Proud Lord Willoughby,

Lord High Chancellor,

Laughed both loud and free;

“I’ll serve Your Majesty till I die—

As Lord Chancellor, not as spy

To peep from lattices; no, not I,

Never, never, never,” quoth he.

Good King Hilary

Looked at his Chancellor

(Proud Lord Willoughby,

Lord High Chancellor):

He said no word

To his stiff-set Chancellor,

But ran to the wicket-gate

To see who was knocking.

He found no rich man

Trading from Araby;

He found no captain,

Blue-eyed, weather-tanned;

He found no waiting-maid

Sent by her mistress;

But only a beggarman

With one red stocking.

Good King Hilary

Looked at the beggarman,

And laughed him three times three;

And he turned that beggarman round about:

“Your thews are strong, and your arm is stout;

Come, throw me a Lord High Chancellor out,

And take his place,” quoth he.

Of Hilary the Good and Great

Old wives at Christmas time relate

This tale, which points, at any rate,

Two morals on the way.

The first: “ Whatever Fortune brings ,

Don’t be afraid of doing things .”

(Especially, of course, for Kings.)

It also seems to say

(But not so wisely): “ He who begs

With one red stocking on his legs

Will be, as sure as eggs are eggs ,

A Chancellor some day .”