The political and occasional poems of Winthrop Mackworth Praed ::

I am a babe of royalty;
Queen Charlotte was my grannam;
And Parliament has voted me
Six thousand pounds per annum;
To teach me how to read and write,
To teach me elocution,
To teach me how to feast and fight
For the king and constitution,

As a well-taught Prince should do,
Who is taught by contribution.

I'll have a doll of porphyry
With diamonds in her curls,
And a rocking-horse of ivory,
And a skipping rope of pearls;
I'll have a painted paper kite
With banker's bills for wings,
And a golden fiddle to play at night
With a silver wire for strings,
As a well-taught Prince should have,
Who is sprung from the German kings.

My woman of the bed chamber
Shall dress in the finest silk;
And a nobleman of Hanover
Shall boil my bread and milk;
My breeches shall be of cloth of gold,
My night-cap of Mechlin lace,
And Cologne water, hot and cold,
Shall be ready to wash my face,
As a well-taught Prince should wash,
Who is come of a royal race.

And when my coach and six shall jog,
With horns, huzzas, and banners,
To some gaunt German pedagogue
Who teaches Greek and manners,

How very ready I shall be
To show that I'm fit for ruling,
By gaming and by gallantry,
And other kinds of fooling
Which a well-taught Prince should learn,
Who costs so much in schooling.

I'll learn of Uncle George to make
A sword-knot, and a bow,
And I'll learn of Uncle York to take
The long odds, and a vow;
And Uncle Clarence shall supply
The science of imprecation,
And you, my own papa, shall try
To teach me fabrication,
Which a well-taught Prince should study,
Whose tutors are paid by the nation.

I'll learn of Peel his lunacy
About the priests and popes;
From ... to live in infamy,
From Canning to talk in tropes;
From Blomfield to discern new lights,
To darken the old, from Scott,
From Liverpool the chartered rights
Which an Englishman has not,
As a well-taught Prince should know,
Who is born for a kingly lot.

While education day by day
My native wit enlarges,
Oh shall I not at last repay
The country's heavy charges!
As wise as any other Guelph,
As useful and as dear,
Oh shall I not procure myself
A people's scorn and fear,
Which a well-taught Prince should earn,
With six thousand pounds a year!

University of Virginia Library

XI. ROYAL EDUCATION.

A NURSERY SONG.