Come haste away to the rendezvous, There’s plenty of good peck and booze; Askew is a seaman’s friend, My boys, you’ll find him in the end. _Chorus as before._ When the American war began, the British public expected a series of easy victories--at all events wherever the navy was engaged. The ballad called _The Brags of Washington_ is an instance of this (p. 244). Consequently the repulse of the fleet under Sir Peter Parker, which attacked Charleston on June 28, 1776, was a disagreeable surprise. It is the theme of an English ballad, _On the late Engagement in Charleston River_, and of an American song parodying Parker’s despatch (pp. 245-47; cf. Clowes, iii. 372). In February 1778 France concluded a defensive treaty with the United States, and in April hostilities between France and England began. _The Cruisers_ celebrates the beginning of this stage of the war; _The Arethusa_ its first action, namely, the fight between that ship and the Belle Poule on June 17, 1778 (pp. 247-248). The song, according to Sir J. K. Laughton, ‘sets truth and seamanship alike at defiance,’ for the Arethusa fought well but was beaten, and would certainly have been taken or sunk if the approach of the English seventy-fours had not scared the Belle Poule away (_Sea Fights and Adventures_, p. 8). It is to be observed that the crew of the Belle Poule numbered 230 not 500 men, that she was not driven ashore, and that she was ultimately taken by the Nonsuch, 64 guns, in 1780 (Clowes, iv. 13, 99, 114). To the same date or to 1777 belongs a song _On the brave Admiral Lockhart_, printed in Logan’s _Pedlar’s Pack_ (p. 77). Lockhart took the command of the Shrewsbury in 1777. The verses are to be sung to the tune of _Hearts of Oak_. Ye sons of old Ocean who’re strangers to fear On board of the _Shrewsbury_ quickly repair; Brave Lockhart commands her, rejoice every tar, For Lockhart commanded the _Tartar_ last war. The Shrewsbury formed part of the Channel fleet under Admiral Keppel. When Keppel first put to sea on June 12, 1778, the public voice confidently predicted his success, as _Admiral Keppel Triumphant_ shows (p. 252). On July 27 he engaged the French fleet under d’Orvilliers off Ushant. Two songs give an account of this indecisive engagement, one of which accounts for its indecisiveness by asserting that Keppel had secret orders not to fight (pp. 253, 255). Then followed recriminations between Keppel and Vice-admiral Sir Hugh Palliser, ending with the trial of Keppel by court-martial on the charges of misconduct and incapacity. On February 11, 1779, he was acquitted, and the charges were pronounced malicious and unfounded. The popularity of the verdict is attested by _Keppel Triumphant_ and _Keppel for Ever_ (pp. 255, 257).