GALLANTS, attend, and hear a friend
Trill forth
harmonious ditty;
Strange things I 'll tell, which late
befell,
In Philadelphia city.
'T was early day, as
poets say,
Just when the sun was rising,
A soldier
stood, on a log of wood,
And saw a thing surprising.
As in amaze he stood to gaze,
The truth can't be
denied, sir,
He spied a score of kegs or more
Come
floating down the tide, sir.
A sailor, too, in jerkin
blue,
This strange appearance viewing,
First damned
his eyes, in great surprise,
Then said, "Some mischief 's
brewing.
"These kegs, I 'm told, the rebels hold,
Packed up like pickled herring,
And they 're come down,
to attack the town,
In this new way of ferrying."
The soldier flew, the sailor too,
And, scared almost to
death, sir,
Wore out their shoes to spread the news,
And ran till out of breath, sir.
Now up and down,
throughout the town,
Most frantic scenes were acted;
And some ran here, and others there,
Like men almost
distracted.
Some fire cried, which some denied,
But said the earth had quak�d;
And girls and boys, with
hideous noise,
Ran through the streets half naked.
From sleep Sir William starts upright,
Awaked by such
a clatter;
He rubs his eyes, and boldly cries,
"For
God's sake, what 's the matter?"
At his bedside, he
then espied,
Sir Erskine at command, sir,
Upon one
foot he had one boot,
And t' other in his hand, sir.
"Arise! arise," Sir Erskine cries,
"The rebels,�more
's the pity,�
Without a boat, are all afloat,
And
ranged before the city.
"The motley crew, in vessels
new,
With Satan for their guide, sir,
Packed up in
bags or wooden kegs,
Come driving down the tide, sir.
"Therefore prepare for bloody war;
These kegs must
all be routed,
Or surely we despised shall be,
And
British courage doubted."
The royal band now ready
stand,
All ranged in dread array, sir,
With stomachs
stout, to see it out,
And make a bloody day, sir.
The cannons roar from shore to shore,
The small arms make
a rattle;
Since wars began, I 'm sure no man
Ere saw
so strange a battle.
The rebel dales, the rebel
vales,
With rebel trees surrounded,
The distant woods,
the hills and floods,
With rebel echoes sounded.
The fish below swam to and fro,
Attacked from every
quarter;
Why sure, thought they, the devil 's to pay,
'Mongst folks above the water.
The kegs, 't
is said, though strongly made
Of rebel staves and hoops,
sir,
Could not oppose their powerful foes,
The
conquering British troops, sir.
From morn till night,
these men of might
Displayed amazing courage;
And when
the sun was fairly down,
Retired to sup their porridge.
An hundred men, with each a pen,
Or more, upon my
word, sir,
It is most true would be too few,
Their
valor to record, sir.
Such feats did they perform
that day,
Against those wicked kegs, sir,
That years
to come, if they get home,
They 'll make their boasts and
brags, sir. |
