The Old, Old, very Old Man or Thomas Par, the Son of john Parr of Winnington in the Parish of Alberbury; In the County of Shropshire who was Borne in 1483 in The Reign of King Edward the 4th and is now living in The strand, being aged 152 years and odd Months 1635 He died November the 15th And is now buried in Westminster: 1635.  
The Old, Old, Very Old Man: OR The Age and long Life of Thomas Par, The Son of john Parr of Winnington in the Parish of Alberbury; in the Country of Salopp, (or Shropshire) who was Borne in the Reign of King Edward the 4th. and is now living in the Strand, being aged 152. years and odd Months.  
His Manner of Life and Conversation is so long a Pilgrimage; his Marriages, and his bringing up to London about the end of September last. 1635.  
Written by JOHN TAYLOR.  
LONDON, Printed for Henry Gosson, 1635.   

TO THE HIGH AND MIGHTY PRINCE. CHARLES', By the Grace of God, King of great Britain, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, etc.  
OF Subjects (my dread Liege) 'tis manifest,  
You have the old'st, the greatest, & the least;  
That for an Old, a Great, and Little man,  
No kingdom (sure) compare with Britain can;  
One, for his extraordinary stature,  
Guards well your gates, & by instinct of Nature  
(As he is strong) is Loyal, True, and Just,  
Fit, and most able, for his Charge and Trust.  
The other's small and well composed feature  
Deserves the Title of a Pretty Creature:  
And doth (or may) retain as good a mind  
As Greater men, and be as well inclined:  
He may be great in spirit, though small in sight,  
Whilst all his best of service, is Delight.  
The Old'st, your Subject is; but for my use,  
I make him here, the Subject of my Muse:  
And as his Aged Person gained the grace,  
That where his Sovereign was, to be in place,  
And kiss your Royal Hand; I humbly crave,  
His Lives Description may Acceptance have.  
And as your Majesty hath oft before  
Looked on my Poems; Pray read this one more.  
Your Majesty's most Humble Subject and Servant, JOHN TAYLOR.   

THE OCCASION OF this Old Man's being brought out of Shropshiere to London.  
AS it is impossible for the Sun to be without light, or fire to have no heat; so is it undeniable that true Honour is as inseparably addicted to Virtue, as the Steel to the Loadstone; and without great violence neither the one or the other can be sundered. Which manifestly appears, in the conveying out of the Country, of this poor ancient Man (Monument I may say, and almost Miracle of Nature.) For the Right Honourable, Thomas Earl of Arundel and Surrey, Earl Martial of England, etc. being lately in Shropshiere to visit some Lands and Manners which his Lordship holds in that County, or, for some other occasions of Importance, which caused his Lordship to be there. The Report of this Aged Man was certified to his Honour; who hearing of so remarkable a Piece of Antiquity, his Lordship was pleased to see him, and in his Innated Noble and Christian Piety, he took him into his charitable tuition and protection; Commanding that a Litter and two Horses (for the more easy carriage of a man so enfeebled and worn with Age) to be provided for him; Also, that a Daughter-in-Law of his (named Lucye) should likewise attend him, and have a Horse for her own riding with him; And (to cheer up the Old Man, and make him merry) there was an Antique-fac'd-fellow, called jack, or john the Fool, with a high and mighty no Beard, that had also a Horse for his carriage. These all were to be brought out of the Country to London, by easy journeys; the Charges being allowed by his Lordship, and likewise one of his Honours own Servants, named Brian Kelley, to ride on horseback with them, and to attend and defray all manner of Reckonings and Expenses; all which was done accordingly, as followeth.  
Winnington is a Hamlet in the Parish of Alberbury, near a place called the Welsh Pool, eight miles from Shrewsbury, from whence he was carried to Wim, a Town of the Earls aforesaid; and the next day to Shefnall, (a Manor House of his Lordships) where they likewise stayed one night; from Shefnall they came to Woolverhampton, and the next day to Brimicham, from thence to Coventry; and although Master Kelley had much to do to keep the people off that pressed upon him in all places where he came, yet at Coventry he was most oppressed: for they came in such multitudes to see the Old Man, that those that defended him, were almost quite tired and spent, and the aged man in danger to have been stifled; and in a word, the rabble were so unruly, that Bryan was in doubt he should bring his Charge no further; (so greedy are the Vulgar to hearken to, or gaze after novelties.) The trouble being over, the next day they passed to Daventry, to stony Stratford, to Redburn, and so to London, where he is well entertained and accommodated with all things, having all the aforesaid Attendants, at the sole Charge and Cost of his Lordship.  

One Remarkable Passage of the Old man's Policy must not be omitted or forgotten, which is thus.  
His three Leases of 63. years being expired, he took his last Lease of his Landlord (one Master john Porter) for his Life, with which Lease, he hath lived more than 50. years (as is further hereafter declared;) but this Old Man would (for his wife's sake) renew his Lease for years, which his Landlord would not consent unto; wherefore old Parr, (having been long blind) sitting in his chair by the fire, his wife looked out of the window, and perceived Master Edward Porter, the Son of his Landlord, to come towards their house, which she told her husband, saying, Husband, our young Landlord is coming hither: Is he so, said old Parr; I prithee wife lay a Pin on the ground near my foot, or at my right toe; which, she did; and when young Master Porter (yet forty years old) was come into the house, after salutations between them, the Old Man said, Wife, is not that a Pin which lies at my foot? Truly husband, quoth she, it is a Pin indeed, so she took up the Pin, and Master Porter was half in a maze that the Old Man had recovered his sight again; but it was quickly found to be a witty conceit, thereby to have them to suppose him to be more lively than he was, because he hoped to have his Lease renewed for his wife's sake, as aforesaid.  
He hath had two Children by his first wife, a Son and a Daughter, the Boy's name was john, and lived but ten weeks; the Girl was named joan, and she lived but three weeks. So that it appears he hath outlived the most part of the people that are living near there, three times over.    

The very Old Man: OR, The Life of Thomas Parr.  

AN Old man's twice a child (the proverb says)  
And many old men ne'er saw half his days  
Of whom I write; for he at first had life,  
When York and Lancaster's Domestic strife  
In her own blood had factious England drenched,  
Until sweet Peace those civil flames had quenched.  
When as fourth Edward's Reign to end drew nigh,  
john Parr (a man that lived by Husbandry)  
Begot this Thomas Parr, and borne was He  
The year of fourteen hundred, eighty three.  
And as his Father's Living and his Trade,  
Was Plough, and Cart, scythe, Sickle, Bill, and Spade;  
The Harrow, Mattock, Flail, Rake, Fork, & Goad,  
And Whip, and how to Load, and to Unload;  
Old Tom hath showed himself the Son of john,  
And from his Father's function hath not gone.   

A Digression.  
YEt I have read of as mean Pedigrees,  
That have attained to Noble dignities  
Agathocles, a Potter's Son, and yet  
The Kingdom of Sicilia he did get.  
Great Tamburlaine, a Scythian Shepherd was,  
Yet (in his time) all Princes did surpass.  
First Ptolomey (the King of Aegypts' Land)  
A poor man's Son of Alexander's Band.  
Dioclesian, Emperor, was a Scrivener's Son,  
And Proba from a Gardener th' Empire won.  
Pertinax was a Bondman's Son, and won  
The Empire; So did Valentinian,  
Who was the offspring of a Rope-maker,  
And Maximinus of a Mule-driver.  
And if I on the truth do rightly glance,  
Hugh Capet was a Butcher, King of France.  
By this I have digressed, I have expressed  
Promotion comes not from the East or West.   

To the Matter.  
SO much for that, now to my Theme again:  
This Thomas Parr hath lived th' expired Reign  
Of ten great Kings and Queens, th' eleventh now sways  
The Sceptre, (blessed by th' ancient of all days.)  
He hath survived the Edward's, fourth and fifth;  
And the third Richard, who made many a shift  
To place the Crown on his Ambitious head;  
The seventh & eighth brave Henry's both are dead,  
sixth Edward, Mary, Philip, Elsabeth,  
And blessed remembered james, all these by death  
Have changed life, and almost 'leven years since  
The happy reign of Charles our gracious Prince,  
Tom Parr hath lived, as by Record appears  
Nine Months, one hundred fifty, and two years.  
Amongst the Learned, 'tis held in general  
That every seventh year's Climacterical,  
And dangerous to man's life, and that they be  
Most perilous, at th' Age of sixty three,  
Which is, nine Climactericals'; but this Man  
Of whom I write, (since first his life began)  
Hath lived of Climactericals' such plenty,  
That he hath almost outlived two and twenty.  
For by Records, and true Certificate,  
From Shropshiere late, Relations doth relate,  
That He lived 17 years with john his Father,  
And 18 with a Master, which I gather  
To be full thirty five; his Sires decease  
Left him four years' Possession of a Lease;  
Which passed, Lewis Porter Gentleman, did then  
For twenty one years grant his Lease again:  
That Lease expired, the Son of Lew's called john,  
Let him the like Lease, and that time being gone,  
Then Hugh, the Son of john (last named before)  
For one and twenty years, sold one Lease more.  
And lastly, he hath held from john, Hugh's Son,  
A Lease for's life these fifty years, outrun:  
And till old Thomas Parr, to Earth again  
Return, the last Lease must his own remain.  
Thus having showed th'extension of his Age,  
I'll show some Actions of his Pilgrimage.   

His Marriage.  
A Tedious time a Bachelor he tarried,  
Full eighty years of age before he married:  
His Continence, to question I'll nor call,  
Man's frailties weak, and oft doth slip and fall.  
No doubt but he in fourscore years might find  
In Salop's County, females fair and kind:  
But what have I to do with that; let pass,  
At th' age aforesaid he first married was  
To jane, john Tailor's Daughter; and 'tis said;  
That she (before he had her) was a Maid.  
With her he lived years three times ten and two,  
And then she died (as all good wives will do.)  
She dead, he ten years did a Widower stay;  
Then once more ventured in the Wedlock way:  
And in affection to his first wife jane,  
He took another of that name again;  
(With whom he now doth live) she was a widow  
To one named Anthony (and surnamed Adda)  
She was (as by report it doth appear)  
Of Gillsels Parish, in Mountgom'ry-Shiere,  
The Daughter of john Lloyde (corruptly Flood)  
Of ancient house, and gentle Cambrian Blood.   

Digression.  
But hold, I had forgot, in's first wife's Time,  
He frayly, foully, fell into a Crime,  
Which richer, poorer, older men, and younger,  
More base, more noble, weaker men, and stronger  
Have fall'n into.  
The Cytherean, or the Paphaean game,  
That thundering jupiter did oft inflame;  
Most cruel cutthroat Mars laid by his Arms,  
And was a slave to Loves Enchanting charms,  
And many a Pagan god, and semi-god,  
The common road of lustful love hath trod:  
For from the Emperor to the russet Clown,  
All states, each sex, from Cottage to the Crown,  
Have in all Ages ' since the first Creation,  
Been folyd, & overthrown with Love's temptation:  
So was old Thomas, for he chanced to spy  
A Beauty, and Love entered at his eye,  
Whose powerful motion drew on sweet consent,  
Consent drew Action, Action drew Content,  
But when the period of those joys were passed,  
Those sweet delights were sourly sauced at last.  
The flesh retains, what in the Bone is bred,  
And one Colt's tooth was then in old Tom's head,  
It may be he was gulled as some have been,  
And suffered punishment for others sin;  
For pleasures like a Trap, a grin, or snare,  
Or (like a painted harlot) seems most fair;  
But when she goes away, and takes her leave,  
No ugly Beast so foul a shape can have.  
Fair Katherine Milton, was this Beauty bright,  
(Fair like an Angel, but in weight too light)  
Whose fervent feature did inflame so far  
The Ardent fervour of old Thomas Parr,  
That for Law's satisfaction, 'twas thought meet,  
He should be purged, by standing in a Sheet,  
Which aged (He) one hundred and five year,  
In Alberbury's Parish Church did wear.  
Should All that so offend, such Penance do,  
Oh, what a price would Linen rise unto,  
All would be turned to sheets, our shirts & smocks  
Our Table linen, very Porter's Frocks  
Would hardly scape trans-forming, but all's one,  
He suffered, and his Punishment is done.   

Another Passage more of his Life.  
But to proceed, more serious in Relation,  
He is a Wonder, worthy Admiration,  
he's in these times filled with Iniquity)  
No Antiquary, but Antiquity;  
For his Longeuity's of such extent,  
That he's a living mortal Monument.  
And as high Towers, (that seem the sky to shoulder)  
By eating Time, consume away, and molder,  
Until at last in piece meal they do fall;  
Till they are buried in their Ruins All:  
So this Old Man, his limbs their strength have left,  
His teeth all gone, (but one) his sight bereft,  
His sinews shrunk, his blood most i'll and cold,  
Small solace, Imperfections manifold:  
Yet still his spirits possess his mortal Trunk,  
Nor are his senses in his ruins shrunk,  
But that his Hearing's quick, his stomach good,  
he'll feed well, sleep well, well digest his food.  
He will speak heartily, laugh, and be merry;  
Drink Ale, and now and then a cup of Sherry;  
Loves Company, and Understanding talk,  
And (on both sides held up) will sometimes walk.  
And though old Age his face with wrinkles fill,  
He hath been handsome, and is comely still,  
Well faced, and though his Beard not oft corrected,  
Yet near it grows, not like a Beard neglected  
From head to heel, his body hath all over,  
A Quickset, Thick-set natural hairy cover.  
And thus (as my dull weak Invention can)  
I have Annatomized this poor Old Man.  
Though Age be incident to most transgressing,  
Yet Time well spent, makes Age to be a blessing.  
And if our studies would but deign to look,  
And seriously to ponder Nature's Book,  
We there may read, that Man, the noblest Creature,  
By riot and excess doth murder Nature.  
This man ne'er fed on dear compounded dishes,  
Of Metamorphosed beasts, fruits, fowls, and fishes,  
The earth, and air, the boundless Ocean  
Were never raked nor sorraged for this Man;  
Nor ever did Physician to (his coast)  
Send purging Physic through his guts in post:  
In all his life-time he was never known,  
That drinking others healths, he lost his own,  
The Dutch, the French, the Greek, and Spanish Grape,  
Upon his reason never made a Rape;  
For Riot, is for Troy an Annagram;  
And Riot wasted Troy, with sword and flame:  
And surely that which will a Kingdom spill,  
Hath much more power one silly man to kill,  
Whilst sensuality the palate pleases,  
The body's filled with surfeits, and diseases;  
By Riot (more than War) men slaughtered be,  
From which confusion this Old Man is free.  
He once was catched in the Veneral Sin,  
And (being punished) did experience win,  
That careful fear his Conscience so did strike,  
He never would again attempt the like.  
Which to our understandings may express  
men's days are shortened through lasciviousness,  
And that a competent contenting Diet  
Makes men live long, and sound sleep in quiet.  
Mistake me not, I speak not to debar  
Good fare of all sorts; for all Creatures are  
Made for man's use, and may by Man be used,  
Not by voratious Gluttony abused.  
For he that dares to scandal or deprave  
Good housekeeping; Oh hang up such a Knave;  
Rather commend (what is not to be found)  
Then injure that which makes the world renowned.  
Bounty hath got a spice of Lethargy,  
And liberal noble Hospitality  
Lies in consumption, almost pined to death,  
And Charity benumbed, near out of Breath.  
May England's few good housekeepers be blessed  
With endless Glory, and eternal Rest;  
And may their Goods, Lands, and their happy Seed  
With heaven's best Blessings multiply and breed.  
'Tis madness to build heigh with stone and lime,  
Great houses, that may seem the Clouds to climb,  
With spacious Halls, large Galleries, brave rooms,  
Fit to receive a King, Peers, Squires and Grooms;  
Amongst which rooms, the devil hath put a Witch in,  
And made a small Tobacco-box the Kitchen,  
For Covetousness the Mint of Mischief is,  
And Christian Bounty the Highway to Bliss  
To wear a Farm in shoestrings, edged with gold,  
And spangled Garters worth a Copy hold  
A hose and doublet; which a Lordship cost,  
A gaudy cloak (three Manors price almost)  
A Beaver, Band, and Feather for the head,  
(Prized at the Church's tithe, the poor man's bread)  
For which the Wearers are feared, and abhorred  
Like jeroboam's golden Calves adored  
This double, treble a god man, I woe,  
Knows and remembers when these things were  
Good wholesome labour was his exercise,  
Down with the Lamb, & with the Lark would rise,  
In mire and toiling sweat he spent the day,  
And (to his Team) he whistled Time away;  
The Cock his night Clock, and till day was done,  
His Watch, and chief sun-dial, was the Sun.  
He was of old Pythagoras opinion,  
That green cheese was most wholesome (with an onion)  
Course, Mesclin Bread, and for his daily swigg,  
Milk, Buttermilk, and Water, Whey, and Whigg;  
Sometimes Metheglin, and by fortune happy,  
He sometimes siped a Cup of Ale most nappy,  
Cider, or Perry, when her did repair  
T'a Whitsun Ale, Wake, Wedding, or a Fair,  
Or when in Christmas time he was a Guest  
At his good, Landlords house amongst the rest  
Else he had little leisure Time to waste,  
Or (at the Ale house) huffecap Ale to taste.  
Nor did he ever hunt a Tavern Fox,  
ne'er knew a Coach, Tobacco, or the Pox,  
His Physic was good Butter, which the soil  
Of Salop yields, more sweet than Candy oil,  
And Garlic he esteemed above the rate  
Of Venice-Triacle, or best Mithridate.  
He entertained no Gout, no Ache he felt;  
The air was good, and temp'rat where he dwelled,  
Whilst Mavisses, and sweet tongued Nightingales  
Did chant him Roundelays, and Madigals.  
Thus living within bounds of Nature's Laws,  
Of his long lasting life may be some cause.  
For though th' almighty all man's days do measure,  
And doth dispose of life and death at pleasure,  
Yet Nature being wronged, man's days and date  
May be abridged, and God may tolerate.  
But had the Father of this Thomas Parr,  
His Grandfather, and his Great grandfather,  
Had their lives threads so long a length been spun,  
They (by succession) might from Sire to Son  
Have been unwritten Chronicles, and by  
Tradition show Time's mutabillity.  
Then Parr might say he heard his Father well,  
Say that his Grand-fire heard his Father tell  
The death of famous Edward the Confessor,  
(Harrold) and William conqueror his successor;  
How his Son Robert wan jerusalem,  
Overcame the Saracens, and Conquered them:  
How Rufus reigned, and's Brother Henry next,  
And how usurping Stev'n this Kingdom vexed:  
How Maud the Empress (the first Henry's daughter)  
To gain her Right, filled England full of slaughter:  
Of second Henry's Rosamond the fair,  
Of Richard Cuer-de-lyon, his brave heir,  
King john, and of the foul suspicion  
Of Arthur's death, john's elder Brothers Son.  
Of the third Henry's long reign (sixty years)  
The Baron's wars, the loss of wrangling Peers,  
How Longshanks did the Scots & French convince,  
Tamed Wales, and made his hapless son their Prince.  
How second Edward was Carnarvan called,  
Beaten by Scots, and by his Queen enthralled.  
How the third Edward, fifty years did reign,  
And t' honoured Garters Order did ordain.  
Next how the second Richard lived and died,  
And how fourth Henry's faction did divide  
The Realm with civil (most uncivil) war  
'twixt long contending York and Lancaster.  
How fifth Henry swayed, and how his son  
sixth Henry, a sad Pilgrimage did run.  
Then of fourth Edward, and fair Mistress Shore,  
King Edward's Concubine Lord Hastings (—)  
Then how fifth Edward, murdered with a trick  
Of the third Richard; and then how that Dick  
Was by seventh Henries slain at Bosworth field;  
How he and's son th' eighth Henry, here did wield  
The Sceptre; how sixth Edward swayed,  
How Mary ruled, and how that royal Maid  
Elizabeth did Govern (best of Dames)  
And Phenix-like expired, and how just james  
(Another Phoenix) from her Ashes claims  
The right of Britain's Sceptre, as his own,  
But (changing for a better) left the Crown  
Where now 'tis, with King Charles, and may it be  
With him, and his most blessed Posterity  
Till time shall end; be they on Earth renowned,  
And after with Eternity be crowned.  
Thus had Parr had good breeding, (without reading)  
He from his sire, and Grand sire's sire proceeding,  
By word of mouth might tell most famous things  
Done in the Reigns of all those Queens and Kings.  
But he in Husbandry hath been brought up,  
And ne'er did taste the heliconian cup,  
He ne'er knew History, nor in mind did keep  
Aught, but the price of Corn, Hay, Kine, or Sheep.  
Day found him work, and Night allowed him rest.  
Nor did Affairs of Stae his brain molest.  
His highest Ambition was, A tree to lop,  
Or at the furthest to a Maypoles top,  
His Recreation, and his Mirth's discourse  
Hath been the Pyper, and the Hobby-horse.  
And in this simple sort, he hath with pain,  
From Childhood lived to be a Child again.  
'Tis strange, a man that is in years so grown  
Should not be rich, but to the world 'tis known,  
That he that's borne in any Land, or Nation,  
Under a Twelvepences Planet's Domination,  
(By working of that Planet's influence)  
Shall never live to be worth thirteen pence.  
Whereby (although his Learning cannot show it)  
he's rich enough to be (like me) a Poet.  
But ere I do conclude, I will relate  
Of reverend Age's Honourable state;  
Where shall a young man good Instructions have,  
But from the Ancient, from Experience grave?  
Roboam, (Son and Heir to Solomon)  
Rejecting ancient Counsel, was undone  
Almost; for ten of twelve Tribes fell  
To jeroboam King of Israel.  
And all wise Princes, and great Potentates  
Select and choose Old men, as Magistrates,  
Whose Wisdom, and whose reverend Aspect,  
Knows how and when to punish or protect.  
The patriarchs long lives before the Flood,  
Were given them (as 'tis rightly understood)  
To store and multiply by procreations,  
That people should inhabit and breed Nations.  
That th' Ancients their Posterities might show  
The secrets Deep, of Nature how to know  
To scale the sky with learned Astronomy,  
And found the Ocean's deep profundity;  
But chiefly how to serve, and to obey  
God, who made them out of slime and clay;  
Should men live now, as long as they did then,  
The Earth could not sustain the Breed of Men.  
Each man had many wives, which Bigamy,  
Was such increase to their Posterity,  
That one old man might see before he died,  
That his own only offspring had supplied  
And Peopled Kingdoms.  
But now so brittle's the estate of man,  
That (in Comparison) his life's a span.  
Yet since the Flood it may be proved plain,  
That many did a longer life retain,  
Than him I write of; for Arpachshad lived  
Four hundred thirty eight, Shelah survived  
Four hundred thirty three years, Eber more,  
For he lived twice two hundred sixty four.  
Two hundred years Terah was alive,  
And Abr'ham lived one hundred seventy five.  
Before Iob's Troubles, holy writ relates,  
His sons and daughters were at marriage states,  
And after his restoring, 'tis most clear,  
That he survived one hundred forty year.  
john Buttadeus (if report be true)  
Is his name that is styled, The Wand'ring jew,  
'Tis said, he saw our Saviour dye; and how  
He was a man then, and is living now;  
Whereof Relations you (that will) may read;  
But pardon me, 'tis no part of my Creed.  
Upon a Germans Age, 'tis written thus,  
That one johannes de Temporibus  
Was Armour-bearer to brave Charlemaigne,  
And that unto the age he did attain  
Of years three hundred sixty one, and then  
Old john of Times returned to Earth again.  
And Noble Nestor, at the siege of Troy,  
Had lived three hundred years both Man and boy.  
Sir Walter Raleigh (a most learned Knight)  
Doth of an Irish Countess, Desmond write,  
Of seven score years of Age, he with her spoke:  
The Lord Saint Albans doth more mention make  
That she was Married in Fourth Edward's reign,  
Thrice shed her Teeth, which three times came again.  
The High-land Scots and the Wilde-Irish are  
Long lived with Labour, hard, and temperate fare.  
Amongst the Barbarous Indians some live strong  
And lusty, near two hundred winters long?  
So as I said before my Verse now says  
By wronging Nature, men cut off their days.  
Therefore (as Times are) He I now write on,  
The age of all in Britain hath out gone;  
All those that were alive when he had Birth,  
Are turned again unto their mother earth,  
If any of them live, and do reply,  
I will be sorry, and confess I lie.  
For had he been a Merchant, than perhaps  
Storms, Thunderclaps, or fear of Afterclaps,  
Sands, Rocks, or Roving Pirates, Gusts and storms  
Had made him (long ere this) the food of worms,  
Had he a Mercer, or a Silkman been,  
And trusted much in hope great game to win.  
And late and early strived to get or save  
His Grey head long ere now had been i'th' Grave.  
Or had he been a judge or Magistrate,  
Or of Great Counsel in Affairs of state  
Than days important business, and nights cares  
Had long ere this, Interred his hoary hairs:  
But as I writ before, no cares oppressed him,  
Nor ever did Affairs of State molest him.  
Some may object, that they will not believe  
His Age to be so much, for none can give  
Account thereof, Time being passed so far,  
And at his Birth there was no Register.  
The Register was ninty seven years since  
Given by th' eight Henry (that Illustrious Prince)  
Th' year fifteen hundred forty wanting twain  
And in the thirtieth year of that King's reign;  
So old Parr now, was almost an old man,  
Near sixty ere the Register began.  
I have writ as much as Reason can require,  
How Times did pass, how's Leases did expire;  
And Gentlemen o'th' County did Relate  
T'our g●acious King by Their Certificate  
His age, & how time with grey hairs hath crowned him  
And so I leave him older than I found him.   
FINIS.