Note 12 — Chapter II · MUSIC BEFORE AND DURING THE REFORMATION—(continued)
Reading edition
"That will draw three souls out of one weaver" is a line of peculiar interest.
Although it shows a distinct lack of reverence, it is quite typical of the spirit of the time. The "weavers" were mostly Calvinist refugees settled on the East Coast, whose austere manners and mode of life made them a constant source of ridicule to the people among whom they had taken shelter.
The imperious will of the Tudor monarchs had, hitherto, prevented the dissemination of Calvinism in England, and so, to the boisterous, happy-go-lucky temperament of the Elizabethan Englishman, the ostentation of religious phraseology, added, probably, to their quaint pronunciation of the language, made them at once a butt of scorn and contempt.
The expression used, too, by the clown "By'r lady" shows that Protestantism had as yet made little inroad on the life of the people.
It is worthy of note that it was from this part of England sailed the first batch of emigrants to the new world in the "Mayflower," now immortalised in history.