Great Britain -- History, Naval -- Poetry; Sea songs -- Great Britain
Goree, th’ Havannah too, where shot in showers flew,
Keppel so bold,
In the midst of the fray, he to his men did say,
‘We’ll shew them British play and share their gold.’
Tho’ he’s been false-accused, his character abus’d,
Still he’s the thing;
Keppel these forty years has serv’d in the wars,
Fear’d neither wounds nor scars, for George his king.
But Twitcher and his crew (I mean his dupe Sir Hugh),
Wicked their scheme!
To try Keppel did call, thro’ malice, that was all.
Lucifer’s pride must fall, like Admiral Byng.
Bonfires, bells did ring; Keppel was all the ding,
Music did play;
Windows with candles in, all for to honour him;
People aloud did sing, ‘Keppel! huzza!’
May he draw his sword again in defence of George his king
And country’s right.
On board the _Victory_, again his flag does fly.
Monsieurs will feel, by-and-by, if he will fight.
Go, go, thou base Sir Hugh, vice-admiral of the blue,
Prythee be still!
Ah! what a wicked dog, to splice the very log!
Give him, instead of grog, a leaden pill!
_A NEW SONG ON ADMIRAL BARRINGTON._
Come, all you jolly sailors of courage stout and bold,
Come, listen to these lines; the truth I will unfold.
Jack, ensign, and pennant in the morning we let fly,
We engag’d the French fleet the 6th of July.
Our drums they did beat and to quarters we went,
And for to engage the French fleet it was our intent;
Our guns they being loaded with round and grape shot,
We beat three ports into one on board the _Languedoc_.
There was Admiral Barrington, Britannia’s delight,
With courage undaunted he boldly did fight;
His rigging being shatter’d, and likewise his sails,
He still kept cannonading on board the _Prince of Wales_.
We had one floating battery carry’d guns upon three decks
And in the time of action she left her f a legs [_sic_].
We never back’d our topsails French cannon to shun,
But boldly ran the gantlet with Admiral Barrington.
If Royal George of England will give us the grant
For Admiral Barrington to have the command,
We would conquer the French fleet were they ever so strong,
We’d hoist the British colours on board the Count d’Estaing.
There’s Captain Fitzherbert was valiant in the fight,
And in the _Royal Oak_ he took great delight,
In the loading their guns and discharging so free;
It shew’d that they were loyal to King and country.
Come, my brave boys, this engagement is all o’er,
And when that we return, my boys, we’ll dance, sing, and roar;
This song it shall be with the old and the young:
Long life and success unto Admiral Barrington.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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