The Digger Movement in the Days of the Commonwealth Part 13

"THE DIGGERS MIRTH:[129:1]

OR

Certain Verses composed and fitted to tunes, for the delight and recreation of all those that dig, or own that work, in the Commonwealth of England.

Wherein is shewed how the Kingly Power doth still reign in several sorts of men.

With a hint of that Freedom which shall come, When the Father shall reign alone in His Son.

Set forth by those who were the original of that so righteous a work, and continue still successful therein at Cobham in Surrey.

LONDON.

Printed in the year 1650."

It contains but two long pieces, both of which merit more than a pa.s.sing notice. The first, probably from the pen of Robert Coster, ent.i.tled "The Diggers Christma.s.se Caroll," contains some twenty-eight verses of six lines each. The view and hopes of the Diggers, as well as references to recent public events, are amusingly related, and in conclusion the reader is reminded that--"Freedom is not won, neither by sword nor gun,"

and therefore entreated to discard his faith in the efficacy of force, of Money and the Sword, and to share their belief in the power of Love, Righteousness, and Co-operative Labour, for the satisfaction of the needs and desires of all.

The second piece, which we suspect to be from Winstanley's pen, is headed:

"A hint of that Freedom which shall come, When the Father shall reign alone in His Son,"

and the first two verses seem to us worthy of being given in full. They run as follows:

"The Father He is G.o.d alone, nothing besides Him is; All things are folded in that one, by Him all things subsist.

He is our Light, our Life, our Peace, whereby we our being have; From Him all things have their increase, the Tyrant and the Slave."

It was probably also about this time that Winstanley composed the following much more lively piece, which is to be found in the _Clarke Papers_,[130:1] and which may here find a fitting place:

"THE DIGGERS SONG.

"You n.o.ble Diggers all, stand up now, stand up now, You n.o.ble Diggers all, stand up now, The waste land to maintain, seeing Cavaliers by name Your digging do disdain and persons all defame.

Stand up now, stand up now.

Your houses they pull down, stand up now, stand up now, Your houses they pull down, stand up now; Your houses they pull down to fright poor men in town, But the Gentry must come down, and the poor shall wear the crown.

Stand up now, Diggers all!

With spades and hoes and plowes, stand up now, stand up now, With spades and hoes and plowes, stand up now; Your freedom to uphold, seeing Cavaliers are bold To kill you if they could, and rights from you withhold.

Stand up now, Diggers all!

Their self-will is their law, stand up now, stand up now, Their self-will is their law, stand up now; Since tyranny came in, they count it now no sin To make a goal a gin, to starve poor men therein.

Stand up now, stand up now.

The Gentry are all round, stand up now, stand up now, The Gentry are all round, stand up now; The Gentry are all round, on each side they are found, Their wisdom's so profound to cheat us of our ground.

Stand up now, stand up now.

The Lawyers they conjoin, stand up now, stand up now, The Lawyers they conjoin, stand up now; To arrest you they advise, such fury they devise, The devil in them lies, and hath blinded both their eyes.

Stand up now, stand up now.

The Clergy they come in, stand up now, stand up now, The Clergy they come in, stand up now; The Clergy they come in, and say it is a sin That we should now begin our freedom for to win.

Stand up now, Diggers all!

The t.i.thes they yet will have, stand up now, stand up now, The t.i.thes they yet will have, stand up now; The t.i.thes they yet will have, and Lawyers their fees crave, And this they say is brave, to make the poor their slave.

Stand up now, Diggers all!

'Gainst Lawyers and 'gainst Priests, stand up now, stand up now, 'Gainst Lawyers and 'gainst Priests, stand up now; For tyrants they are both, even flat against their oath, To grant us they are loath, free meat and drink and cloth.

Stand up now, Diggers all!

The club is all their law, stand up now, stand up now, The club is all their law, stand up now; The club is all their law, to keep poor men in awe; But they no vision saw to maintain such a law.

Stand up now, Diggers all!

The Cavaliers are foes, stand up now, stand up now, The Cavaliers are foes, stand up now; The Cavaliers are foes, themselves they do disclose By verses, not in prose, to please the singing boys.

Stand up now, Diggers all!

To conquer them by love, come in now, come in now, To conquer them by love, come in now; To conquer them by love, as it does you behove, For He is King above, no Power is like to Love.

Glory here, Diggers all!"

FOOTNOTES:

[112:1] King's Pamphlets. British Museum, Press Mark, E. 573. Also at the Guildhall Library.

[115:1] Mr. Drake was the Lord of the Manor, and the patron of Parson Platt. He was made an Ejector for the County of Surrey by Cromwell, and Platt made Lay Ejector.

[122:1] See _A Declaration of the b.l.o.o.d.y and Unchristian Acting of William Star and John Taylor of Walton, with divers men in women's apparell, in opposition to those that dig upon St. Georges Hill_. King's Pamphlets. British Museum, Press Mark, E. 561.

[122:2] _Clarke Papers_, vol. ii. pp. 215-217. No date is attached; but Winstanley's second letter, which immediately follows it, is dated December 8th, 1649.

[124:1] See _Calendar of State Papers_, Domestic, 1649-1650, p. 335.

[124:2] _Clarke Papers_, vol. ii. pp. 217-220.

[126:1] King's Pamphlets. British Museum, Press Mark, E. 585.

[129:1] King's Pamphlets. British Museum, Press Mark, E. 1365.

[130:1] Vol. ii. p. 221.

CHAPTER XII

A NEW YEAR'S GIFT FOR THE PARLIAMENT AND ARMY

"Hear, O thou Righteous Spirit of the Whole Creation, and judge, who is the thief, he who takes away the Freedom of the Common Earth from me, which is my Creation Right; Or I, who take the Common Earth to plant upon for my free livelihood, endeavouring to live as a Free Commoner, in a Free Common-wealth, in Righteousness and Peace."--WINSTANLEY, _The Law of Freedom_.