Steeds more appropriate being brought,
Huzzas formed parting speech;
The Prince drove on and people went
To swig with Mrs. Leech.
Thy Flock's frail error, Reverend Sir,
Did serve a loyal dish up;
For which, if Prince has any grace,
He'll surely make thee Bishop.
Another short piece on this same subject may be added:
Ye Tideswellites, can this be true,
Which Fame's loud Trumpet brings;
That ye the Cambrian Prince to view,
Forsook the King of kings?
That ye, when swiftly rattling wheels
Proclaimed his Highness near;
Trode almost on each other's heels,
To leave the House of Prayer?
Another time adopt this plan,
Lest ye be left i' th' lurch;
Place at the end o' th' Town a man
To ask him into th' church!
The Derby Ram.
The origin of this popular old ballad has yet to be ascertained. At present it has puzzled more heads than one, and its elucidation must be left to future research. Its principal characteristic is its bold extravagance. Derby and Derby people have, however, I know by references to allusions to it, been fond of their Ram for more than a century. How much older it is than that time is difficult to say. There are several versions of the ballad: the one I here give is, however, the most complete I have met with. The "Derby Ram" has been set as a glee by Dr. Callcott, and is still sung with much applause at public dinners in the town. So popular, indeed, is the Ram in the district, that a few years ago—in 1855—the First Regiment of Derbyshire Militia, whose barracks and head quarters are at Derby, carrying out the idea of the Welsh Fusileers with their goat, attached a fine Ram to the staff of the regiment. So well trained was he, and so evidently proud of his post, that he marched with a stately step in front of the band as they marched day by day through the town while up for training, and attracted quite as much notice as any drum-major ever did. More than this, a political periodical, a kind of provincial Charivarri, has been issued under the title of the "Derby Ram," which is supposed to butt at party doings, and at local abuses of various kinds; and I write this note with a steel pen which bears the extraordinary name stamped upon it of the "Derby Ram pen!"
As I was going to Darby, Sir,
All on a market day,
I met the finest Ram, Sir,
That ever was fed on hay.
Daddle-i-day, daddle-i-day,
Fal-de-ral, fal-de-ral, daddle-i-day.