The political and occasional poems of Winthrop Mackworth Praed Edited, with notes, by Sir George Young |
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| X. | X.
THE LAY OF THE CHEESE. |
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 | The political and occasional poems of Winthrop Mackworth Praed |  |
41
X. THE LAY OF THE CHEESE.
“Does your Honour like cheese?” “Like it!” said the Duke, whose
good-nature anticipated what was to follow, “cakes and cheese are a
dinner for an Emperor!”—Heart of Midlothian.
The Pope, that pagan full of pride,
From whom may Heaven defend us,
Did lay one summer eventide,
A horrid plot to end us;
O'Connell came and talked his fill;
Sir Francis Burdett made a Bill;
And honest men felt great alarms,
Both for their faiths and for their farms,
Solid men of Cheshire!
From whom may Heaven defend us,
Did lay one summer eventide,
A horrid plot to end us;
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Sir Francis Burdett made a Bill;
And honest men felt great alarms,
Both for their faiths and for their farms,
Solid men of Cheshire!
We heard around the savage cries
Of men with ragged breeches,
Who practised the barbarities
Of making hay—and speeches;
And Popish priests, disguised like Whigs,
Prepared to steal the Parson's pigs,
To overthrow the Church and steeple
And break the backs of upright people,
Solid men of Cheshire!
Of men with ragged breeches,
Who practised the barbarities
Of making hay—and speeches;
And Popish priests, disguised like Whigs,
Prepared to steal the Parson's pigs,
To overthrow the Church and steeple
And break the backs of upright people,
Solid men of Cheshire!
Then up the Heir Apparent got
Of Britain's wide dominion,
And said that Heaven and Earth should not
Demolish his opinion;
That Heirs Apparent were not meant
To listen to an argument,
And bringing Royal Dukes to reason,
He thought, was little short of treason—
Solid men of Cheshire.
Of Britain's wide dominion,
And said that Heaven and Earth should not
Demolish his opinion;
That Heirs Apparent were not meant
To listen to an argument,
And bringing Royal Dukes to reason,
He thought, was little short of treason—
Solid men of Cheshire.
And what reward did men devise
For such a peroration,
Which saved their lives and liberties
From transubstantiation?
A long address, filled full of beauties,
Expressive of their loves and duties;
And also a prodigious cheese,
As heavy as Sir Harcourt Lees—
Solid men of Cheshire.
For such a peroration,
43
From transubstantiation?
A long address, filled full of beauties,
Expressive of their loves and duties;
And also a prodigious cheese,
As heavy as Sir Harcourt Lees—
Solid men of Cheshire.
Rank makes a virtue of a sin;
Small labour it would cost one
To prove that Peers a cheese may win,
As Æsop's magpie lost one.
The Prince and pie perhaps inherit
A voice of nearly equal merit;
A fox induced the bird to puke;
A lawyer bammed the Royal Duke—
Solid men of Cheshire.
Small labour it would cost one
To prove that Peers a cheese may win,
As Æsop's magpie lost one.
The Prince and pie perhaps inherit
A voice of nearly equal merit;
A fox induced the bird to puke;
A lawyer bammed the Royal Duke—
Solid men of Cheshire.
“Blest cheese,” said girls in grogram vests,
“Rub off your rural shyness;
And feast his Royal Highness' guests,
And feast his Royal Highness.
'Tis thine to catch the sweets that slip
From Mr. Peel's melodious lip,
The Chancellor's Bœotian thunders,
And Blomfield's Æschylean blunders—
Solid men of Cheshine.
“Rub off your rural shyness;
And feast his Royal Highness' guests,
And feast his Royal Highness.
'Tis thine to catch the sweets that slip
From Mr. Peel's melodious lip,
The Chancellor's Bœotian thunders,
And Blomfield's Æschylean blunders—
Solid men of Cheshine.
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“The Parmesan upon the board
Shall tasteless seem before thee,
And many a spiritual lord
Shall breathe a blessing o'er thee;
A hallowed spot the shrine shall be,
Where'er a shrine is made for thee,
And none but Reverend Rats shall dare
To taste a single morsel there—
Solid men of Cheshire.”
Shall tasteless seem before thee,
And many a spiritual lord
Shall breathe a blessing o'er thee;
A hallowed spot the shrine shall be,
Where'er a shrine is made for thee,
And none but Reverend Rats shall dare
To taste a single morsel there—
Solid men of Cheshire.”
Alas, the fatal sisters frowned
Upon the promised pleasure;
The creditors came darkly round,
And seized the ponderous treasure!
But yet, to ease the Duke's distress,
They forwarded the long address,
Because—to strip the fact of feigning—
The paper was not worth detaining!
Solid men of Cheshire!
Upon the promised pleasure;
The creditors came darkly round,
And seized the ponderous treasure!
But yet, to ease the Duke's distress,
They forwarded the long address,
Because—to strip the fact of feigning—
The paper was not worth detaining!
Solid men of Cheshire!
| The political and occasional poems of Winthrop Mackworth Praed | |