Thomas Cromwell: The Rise And Fall Of Henry VIII's Most Notorious Minister - Plot & Excerpts
RAPHAEL HOLINSHED, CHRONICLER1 After Cromwell’s execution, an extraordinary propaganda war of pamphlets and broadsides broke out in London. A ‘Ballad on Thomas Cromwell’ was swiftly published containing sixteen doggerel verses, each with a repetition of the last line. It begins: Both man and child is glad to tell Of that false traitor Thomas Cromwell Now that he is set to learn to spell Sing troll2 on away. And it ends: God save King Henry with all his power And Prince Edward that goodly flower With all his lords of great honour Sing troll on away Sing troll on away Here and now rumellow,3 troll on away. Several rebuttals quickly followed, broadly sympathetic to Cromwell but careful to avoid any direct or implicit criticism of the King. One such broadside, ‘A Ballad Against Malicious Slanderers’, was written by Thomas Smyth, sewer4 to Henry and possibly a member of the evangelical faction at court. This was in the form of eighteen verses beginning: Although Lord Cromwell a traitor was Yet dare I say the King of his grace Has forgiven him that great trespass To rail on dead men, thou art to blame Troll now into the way again for shame.
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