Then thirty thousand underground will know the reason why!
The refrain is ancient, but the poem itself was composed by Mr. Hawker. This is its earliest form: it afterwards underwent some revision.
THE SONG OF THE WESTERN MEN.
A good sword and a trusty hand,
A merry heart and true,
King James’s men shall understand
What Cornish lads can do.
And have they fixed the where and when,
And shall Trelawney die?
Then twenty thousand Cornish men