Old Jemmy

From a “Collection of 180 Loyal Songs,” written since 1678.  This is a parody on the Whig song, “Young Jemmy is a lad that’s royally descended,” written in celebration of the Duke of Monmouth.  Old Jemmy is the Duke of York, afterwards James II.

To the tune of “Young Jemmy.”

Old Jemmy is a lad
   Right lawfully descended;
No bastard born nor bred,
   Nor for a Whig suspended;
The true and lawful heir to th’ crown
   By right of birth and laws,
And bravely will maintain his own
   In spight of all his foes.

Old Jemmy is the top
   And chief among the princes;
No Mobile gay fop,
   With Birmingham pretences;
A heart and soul so wondrous great,
   And such a conquering eye,
That every loyal lad fears not
   In Jemmy’s cause to die.

Old Jemmy is a prince
   Of noble resolutions,
Whose powerful influence
   Can order our confusions;
But oh! he fights with such a grace
   No force can him withstand,
No god of war but must give place
   When Jemmy leads the van.

To Jemmy every swain
   Does pay due veneration,
And Scotland does maintain
   His title to the nation;
The pride of all the court he stands,
   The patron of his cause,
The joy and hope of all his friends,
   And terror of his foes.

Maliciously they vote
   To work Old Jemmy’s ruin,
And zealously promote
   A Bill for his undoing;
Both Lords and Commons most agree
   To pull his Highness down,
But (spight of all their policy)
   Old Jemmy’s heir to th’ crown.

The schismatick and saint,
   The Baptist and the Atheist,
Swear by the Covenant,
   Old Jemmy is a Papist:
Whilst all the holy crew did plot
   To pull his Highness down,
Great Albany, a noble Scot
   Did raise unto a crown.

Great Albany, they swear,
   He before any other
Shall be immediate heir
   Unto his royal brother;
Who will, in spight of all his foes,
   His lawful rights maintain,
And all the fops that interpose
   Old Jemmy’s York again.

The Whigs and zealots plot
   To banish him the nation,
But the renowned Scot
   Hath wrought his restoration:
With high respects they treat his Grace,
   His royal cause maintain;
Brave Albany (to Scotland’s praise)
   Is mighty York again.

Against his envious fates
   The Kirk hath taught a lesson,
A blessing on the States,
   To settle the succession;
They real were, both knight and lord,
   And will his right maintain,
By royal Parliament restored,
   Old Jemmy’s come again.

And now he’s come again,
   In spight of all Pretenders;
Great Albany shall reign,
   Amongst the Faith’s defenders.
Let Whig and Birmingham repine,
   They show their teeth in vain,
The glory of the British line,
   Old Jemmy’s come again.