The rain came down, but the warrior duke

Could not get his gingham under;

The gingham he loved, by some awful fluke,

Had its ribs all broken asunder.

He wailed “The rain will fall on me,

“The chief of England’s army;

“My brand new clothes will spoil’d be;

“Oh, take me home and dry me!”


Song for a Civic Banquet, 1880.