The Clean Contrary Way, Or, Colonel Venne’s Encouragement to His Soldiers

To the air of “Hey, then, up go we.”
From a Collection of Loyal Songs written against the Rump Parliament.

Fight on, brave soldiers, for the cause,
   Fear not the Cavaliers;
Their threat’nings are as senseless as
   Our jealousies and fears.
Tis you must perfect this great work,
   And all malignants slay;
You must bring back the King again
   The clean contrary way.

’Tis for religion that you fight,
   And for the kingdom’s good;
By robbing churches, plundering them,
   And shedding guiltless blood.
Down with the orthodoxal train,
   All loyal subjects slay;
When these are gone, we shall be blest
   The clean contrary way.

When Charles we have made bankrupt,
   Of power and crown bereft him,
And all his loyal subjects slain,
   And none but rebels left him;
When we have beggar’d all the land,
   And sent our trunks away,
We’ll make him then a glorious prince
   The clean contrary way.

’Tis to preserve his Majesty
   That we against him fight,
Nor ever are we beaten back,
   Because our cause is right:
If any make a scruple at
   Our Declarations, say,—
Who fight for us, fight for the King
   The clean contrary way.

At Keinton, Brainsford, Plymouth, York,
   And divers places more,
What victories we saints obtain,
   The like ne’er seen before:
How often we Prince Rupert kill’d,
   And bravely won the day,
The wicked Cavaliers did run
   The clean contrary way.

The true religion we maintain,
   The kingdom’s peace and plenty;
The privilege of Parliament
   Not known to one and twenty;
The ancient fundamental laws,
   And teach men to obey
Their lawful sovereign, and all these
   The clean contrary way.

We subjects’ liberties preserve
   By imprisonment and plunder,
And do enrich ourselves and state
   By keeping th’ wicked under.
We must preserve mechanicks now
   To lectorize and pray;
By them the gospel is advanced
   The clean contrary way.

And though the King be much misled
   By that malignant crew,
He’ll find us honest at the last,
   Give all of us our due.
For we do wisely plot, and plot
   Rebellion to alloy,
He sees we stand for peace and truth
   The clean contrary way.

The publick faith shall save our souls
   And our good works together;
And ships shall save our lives, that stay
   Only for wind and weather:
But when our faith and works fall down
   And all our hopes decay,
Our acts will bear us up to heaven
   The clean contrary way.