Loyal and patriotic poetry abounded; here is a specimen:—
THE VOICE OF THE BRITISH ISLES.
Tune—‘Hearts of Oak.’
Away, my brave boys, haste away to the shore;
Our foes, the base French, boast they’re straight coming o’er,
To murder, and plunder, and ravish, and burn—
Let them come—we’ll take care they shall never return;
For around all our shores, hark! the notes loudly ring,
United, we’re ready,
Steady, boys, steady,
To fight for our Liberty, Laws, and our King.
They boast in the dark they will give us the slip:
The attempt may procure them a dangerous dip;
Our bold Tars are watching in Ocean’s green lap,
To give them a long Jacobinical nap.[76]
But should they steal over, with one voice we’ll sing,
United, we’re ready, &c.
They knew, that united, we sons of the waves
Would ne’er bow to Frenchmen, nor grovel like Slaves;
So ere they dare venture to touch on our strand,
They sent black Sedition to poison our land.
But around all our shores let the notes loudly ring,
United, we’re ready, &c.
They swore we were slaves, all lost and undone;
That a Jacobine nostrum, as sure as a gun,
Would make us all equal, and happy, and free;
’Twas only to dance round their Liberty’s tree.
No, no! round our shores let the notes loudly ring,
United, we’re ready, &c.
’Twas only to grant them the kiss call’d fraternal—
A kiss which all Europe has found most infernal;
And then they maintained the effect could not miss—
We should all be as blest as the Dutch and the Swiss.
No, no! round our shores let the notes loudly ring,
United, we’re ready, &c.
With lies, and with many a Gallican wile,
They spread their dread poison o’er Erin’s green Isle;
But now each shillalah is ready to thwack,
And baste the lean ribs of the Gallican Quack.
All around Erin’s shores, hark! the notes loudly ring,
United, we’re ready, &c.
Stout Sandy, our brother, with heart, and with hand,
And his well-try’d Glaymore, joins the patriot band.
Now Jack, Pat, and Sandy thus cordial agree,
We sons of the wave shall for ever be free.
While around all our shores, hark! the notes loudly ring,
United, we’re ready, &c.
As they could not deceive, now they threaten to pour
Their hosts on our land, to lay waste and devour;
To drench our fair fields, and our cities in gore,
Nor cease to destroy till Britannia’s no more.
Let them come if they dare—hark! the notes loudly ring,
United, we’re ready, &c.