(REPRINTED VERBATIM.)
LADS, let us jovial float
Merry in our tight-rigg’d boat;
Our Pilot so gay with badge and coat
Shall tow us along:
The music shall so sweetly play,
And all shall be so blithe and gay;
We’ll laugh and joke,
And drink and smoke,
And join the cheerful song.
Lads, let us, &c.
On the first Friday after June,
Like the birds, we’re in full tune;
We rise up in the morning soon,
Our neat boat to trim.
From St. George’s turnpike we do start,
And with joy from home depart,
Music playing,
Colours flying,
Then does the fun begin.
Lads, let us, &c.
Then first to Ilford we do steer,
And, when we have had breakfast there,
Then to Romford do repair;
From thence to Hornchurch go;
Thence back again we go to dine,
Where we booze on punch and wine,
Singing, dancing,
Life enhancing,
For pleasure all on tip-toe.
Lads, let us, &c.
Then to Fairlop Fair we steer,
With carriages in front and rear,
Our skins quite brimful with good cheer;
So mellow then we start;
Then we o’er the Forest ride,
Neither fearing wind nor tide,
Singing, laughing,
Drinking, quaffing,
Merrily we glide.
Lads, let us, &c.
When Phœbus to the west draws near,
And the feather’d race doth disappear,
Then from the Forest we do steer,
At Ilford awhile to stay;
Then from the Angel at Ilford
Merry we’re tow’d along the road;
All hearty, jovial,
Quite convivial,—
Thus we finish the day.
Lads, let us, &c.
THE TRIP TO FAIRLOP;
OR, A LOVER’S TRIUMPH.
(Exhibiting the Dialect of the Peasantry of Essex.)
AIR—“The Teetotaller.”