Page:Comical history of the king and the cobbler (1).pdf/3

 THE

COMICAL HISTORY

OF THE

How King Henry VIII, used to visit the watches in the city, and how he became acquainted with a merry jovial Cobbler.

was the custom of King Henry the Eight, to walk late in the night into the city disguised, to observe and take notice how the constables and watch performed their duty, not only in guarding the city gates, but also in diligently watching the inner parts of the city, that so they might, in a great measure, prevent those disturbances and casualties which too often happen in great and populous cities in the night; and this he did oftentimes, without the least discovery who he was, returning home to Whitehall early in the morning.

Now, on his return home through the Strand, he took notice of a certain cobbler who was constantly up at work, whistling and singing every