The Mercer is the foremost man

That founded a society.

Cho. Of all the trades that London grace,

We are the first in time and place.

‘When Nature in perfection was,

And virgin beauty in her prime,

The Mercer gave the nymph a gloss,

And made e’en beauty more sublime.

Cho. In this above our brethren blest,

The Virgin’s since our coat and crest.’