Ay! De Ruyter was a gentleman, and high-bred were his people;
No chapel-going folks were they, but loved a church and steeple!
His blood, of every good Dutch race contained a little sprinkle—
A Knickerbocker was his sire, his aunt a Rip van Winkle;
And so well he danced and sang, and kissed and talked so wondrous clever,
He gave this maiden’s heart a twist, and conquered it for ever!
And being thus a captain gay, “condemned to country quarters,”
A favourite of his royal lord, adorned with stars and garters,
He saw this young maid,
As one day on parade