There wandered a hundred

In hoods of silk

Serjeants they seemed

And served at the bar

Pleading the Law,

For pennies and for pounds,

Unlocking their lips never

For love of our Lord.

Thou mightest better mete the mist

On Malvern hills

Than get a mutter from their mouths

Save thou show thy money

I saw bold bishops

And bachelors of divinity

Made clerks of accounts

To serve the king,

Deacons and archdeacons,

Men full of dignity,

Who should preach to the people

And feed the poor,

They leapt away to London

(their bishops gave them leave)

To be clerks of the Kings Bench

And to despoil the land.

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