E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Lilburne.
If no one else were alive, John would quarrel with Lilburne. John Lilburne was a contentious Leveller in the Commonwealth; so rancorous against rank that he could never satisfy himself that any two persons were exactly on the same level. (See LAWSUITS.)
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“Is John departed? and is Lilburne gone?
Farewell to both—to Lilburne and to John.
Yet, being gone, take this advice from me:
Let them not both in one grave buried be.
Here lay ye John, lay Lilburne thereabout;
For if they both should meet, they would fall out.”
