Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 8.djvu/12

 NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 s. vm. JAN. i, 1021. 5. 'Come fill up your bumper and let us drink deep Of whisky itself, it composes to sleep ; A toast we must have, and the French it must be, Por they never intended to hurt you or me. But Justice they always commended. And Mankind they always befriended, And Friendship to' us they intended, To set poor old England free ! 6. Don't you remember, dear Dondle, last year, 'They sent us to Toulon like sheep from the shear ? They bid us set down without dread or fear, For the French were so frightened, they durst not come near. But they came running like bulls of a tedder, And thrashed us as thick as tanned leather, And drove us into ships altogether, Like as many young pigs in a creel. 7. Good morrow, dear Dondle, before that we part, Let's drink to the memory of honest young heart, Who died like a man although bit a boy, To think of his fate, how it sickened my joy. For he died for the good of the Nation, For which he has got a flue station, A man may be sure of salvation That dies for his Liberty's cause. Another entry, in the same handwriting* and entitled 'A Church and King Creed,' appears to belong to about the same period, but may be later than 1794, as the war taxes became very heavy only after 1796, when the outcry was general among all classes. A CHURCH AND KING CREED. " I believe in one Billy Fit.t, Chancellor of the Exchequer, mighty Master of Lords and Commons and of all Court Intrigues visible and invisible ; and in one Secretary Henry Dundas, beloved of Pitt before all women, Minister of Ministers, Head of Heads, Light of Lights, Very Man of Very Man, beloved not hated, being of one opinion with our Creator, by whom all Ministers are made ; who for us men, and for our taxation -came up from Scotland, and was incarnate by the Devil, and was made fit for Billy's purpose, and is now chief Controller of the East India Company : he descended into Scotland and was there burnt in effigy, and the third day he came again according to the Newspapers, and now sitteth at the right hand of Pitt, from whence he shall come to judge both the loyal and dis- loyal, till folly shall have an end. And I believe in old George, the giver of all places and pensions, who together with Pitt and Dundas is worshipped and glorified, who speaks by Proclamation. I believe in one system of corruption, and I believe that the remission of taxes will not take place till the Resurrection of the dead, and I look for a better Government in the world to come. Amen. At the other end of the book is a further fiet of verses entitled ' New Song, called The Rambling Boy,' the merit of which is about equal to that of the ' New Fashion Shaver. ' The neat writing suggests a copy, but there are some corrections, one or two words being struck out and others inserted, and
 * he sixth and seventh verses are placed in

wrong order. This occasions a footnote, which reads : " Mr. Editor, The 6th and 7th verses they are placed wrong, for the 6th is where the 7th should be and 7th where the 6th should be. [ am, Yours, &c., Jas. Greaves." From this it would appear that James reaves was the writer or transcriber of the verses and that he contributed them to some Local newspaper. Possibly Greaves was the owner of the book, but this is by no means certain. A loose sheet of paper preserved between the leaves, and setting forth a petition of weavers in the year 1758, is dated from Hollinwood, and bears eighteen signatures the first of which is that of J. Greaves, who seems to have been the draftsman. Perhaps this Greaves was the father of the writer of the ' Rambling Boy. ' Hollinwood lies between Oldham and Man- chester, about two miles south-west of the former town, with which it is now merged. But in the eighteenth century it was a self- contained village. THE RAMBLING BOY. 1. I am a rambling shoemaker from Belfast town I came, And to my great misfortune, I 'listed in the Train. Their usage being very bad with me did not agree, Therefore I am resolv'd, my boys, to take my Liberty. 2. We marched to Tipperary with courage stout and bold, They thought to make a slave of me, but them I plainly told To work upon a Sunday with me did not agree, So therefore, boys, I am resolv'd to take my Liberty. 3. The very first night that we came there, our Captain gave command, That me and my poor comrade all on the guard should stand ; The night being dark and very wet, as you may plainly see, That was the night, my brave boys, I took my Liberty. 4. Straightway I deserted and set out for the North, I being something weary I rested on a fort. I had not rested long there till I got up again, And looking all around me I spied five of the Train.