midnight
Such was their diet when they resided in the convent , and if the prior of the monk-house sent any of them abroad , then they were strictly enjoined neither to touch nor eat any manner of fish as long as they were on sea or rivers , and to abstain from all manner of flesh whenever they were at land , that everyone might be convinced that , while they enjoyed the object , they denied themselves the power , and even the desire , and were no more moved with it than the Marpesian rock . All this was done with proper antiphones , still sung and chanted by ear , as we have already observed . When the sun went to bed , they fairly booted and spurred each other as before , and having clapped on their barnacles e ` en jogged to bed too . At midnight the Sandal came to them , and up they got , and having well whetted and set their razors , and been a-processioning , they clapped the tables over themselves , and like wire-drawers under their work fell to it as aforesaid . Friar John des Entoumeures , having shrewdly observed these jolly Semiquaver Friars , and had a full account of their statutes , lost all patience , and cried out aloud : Bounce tail , and God ha ' mercy guts ; if every fool should wear a bauble , fuel would be dear . A plague rot it , we must know how many farts go to an ounce . Would Priapus were here , as he used to be at the nocturnal festivals in Crete , that I might see him play backwards , and wriggle and shake to the purpose .