Literature increased greatly in the fifteenth century, and began to take that general form it afterwards bore.  One of the satires on the fashions of the period, which in every age seem to have afforded materials for mirth, begins as follows—­

  “Ye prowd gallonttes hertlesse
   With your hyghe cappis witlesse,
   And youre schort gownys thriftlesse,
   Have brought this londe in gret hevynesse. 
   With youre longe peked schone. 
   Therfor your thrifte is almost don,
   And with youre long here into your eyen
   Have brought this londe to gret pyne.”

There is a good satire written on a priest about the time of the Reformation, showing considerable humour both in matter, language and versification.  It is called “Doctor Doubble Ale.”

A little episode is given arising from the priest’s ignorance—­

  “His learning is exceeding
   Ye may know by his reading,
   Yet coulde a cobbler’s boy him tell
   That he red a wrong gospell
   Wherfore in dede he served him well,
   He turned himselfe as round as a ball,
   And with loud voyce began to call,
   ’Is there no constable among you all
   To take this knave that doth me troble?’
   With that all was on a hubble shubble,
   There was drawing and dragging,
   There was lugging and lagging,
   And snitching and snatching,
   And ketching and catching,
   And so the pore ladde,
   To the counter they had,
   Some wolde he should be hanged,
   Or else he shulde be wranged;
   Some sayd it were a good turne
   Such an heretyke to burn.”

A great many of the humorous poems written against the church were republished at the time of the Reformation to show that for centuries the misdoings of the clergy had been a source of comment.  In “the Sak full of Nuez”—­a rare book[46] referred to in 1575, containing a collection of humorous pieces of a rough and rude character—­we find several hits at the expense of the church.

“A friar used to visit the house of an old woman, who, when he was coming, very prudently hid whatever she had to eat.  One day coming with some friends, he asked her if she had not some meat.  And she said, ‘Nay.’  ‘Well,’ quoth the friar, ‘have you not a whetstone?’ ‘Yea,’ quoth the woman, ‘what will you do with it?’ ‘Marry,’ quoth he, ’I would make meat thereof.’  Then she brought a whetstone.  He asked her likewise if she had not a frying-pan.  ‘Yea,’ said she, ’but what the divil will ye do therewith?’ ‘Marry,’ said the fryer, ’you shall see by and by what I will do with it;’ and when he had the pan, he set it on the fire, and put the whetstone therein.  ‘Cocks-body,’ said the woman, ’you will burn the pan.’  ‘No, no,’ quoth the fryer, ’if you will give me some eggs, it will not burn at all.’  But she would have had the pan from him, when that she saw the pan was in danger; but he would not let her, but still urged her to fetch him some eggs, which