Chap-Books
and
Folk-Lore Tracts.
Edited by
G. L. Gomme, F.S.A.
and
H. B. Wheatley, F.S.A.
First Series.
III.
MOTHER BUNCH’S CLOSET
NEWLY BROKE OPEN,
AND THE
HISTORY OF MOTHER BUNCH OF
THE WEST.
PRINTED FROM
THE EARLIEST EXTANT COPIES,
AND EDITED, WITH AN INTRODUCTION,
BY
GEORGE LAURENCE GOMME, F.S.A.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR THE VILLON SOCIETY.
1885.
[Pg i]
Introduction.
This chap-book is not a story. It is a collection of charmsand dreams supposed to have been communicated by a personagebearing the name of Mother Bunch, a name unhistorical and,so far as I have been able to ascertain, unknown to any otherdepartment of literature.
The edition here printed is made up of two distinct parts.The first part is the oldest, and at one time the only portionextant. This is reprinted from the copy in the PepsyianLibrary at Cambridge, dated 1685. The second part is printedfrom the copy in the British Museum library, and dated bythe authorities there 1780, this being the earliest version I havebeen able to find.
From the wording of its title, “Mother Bunch’s ClosetNewly Broke Open,” there is evidence of the first part beinga continuation of a chap-book already issued upon the samesubject. For this we must refer to a jest-book first publishedin 1604, the title of which runs as follows: Pasquil’s Jests,mixed with Mother Bunche’s Merriments...... This bookis a well-known collection of jests of a rather broad nature, and[Pg ii]its style of composition lent itself to a continuation such aswe have in the chap-book now under consideration. Thereis no other connection between the two publications than thetitle.[1]
The later editions of this chap-book differ considerably fromthat of 1685 in the Pepsyian Collection. Almost every pagevaries, and that too in no inconsiderable manner. It is notperhaps necessary to point out all the variations because theyare not of great literary or historical interest, but it may be wellto indicate the chief differences. The 1685 edition, as hereprinted, contains two parts. These in later editions are amalgamated,and the title on page 10, “The second part ofMother Bunch, who lived at Bonny Ventor in the West,”does not therefore appear. As a specimen of the later editions,the following is the opening passages of the 1780 edition, andother pages are similarly altered:
“Mother Bunch’s Cabinet Broke Open.
“Reading over many ancient histories, it was my chance