The Loyal Tories’ Delight; Or, a Pill for Fanaticks

Being a most pleasant and new song.

1680.—From the Roxburgh Ballads, Vol. iii., fol. 911.

To the tune of “Great York has been debar’d of late, etc.”

Great York has been debar’d of late
From Court by some accursed fate;
But ere long, we do not fear,
We shall have him, have him here,
         We shall have him, have him here.

The makers of the plot we see,
By damn’d old Tony’s treachery,
How they would have brought it about,
To have given great York the rout,
         To have given, etc.

God preserve our gracious King,
And safe tydings to us bring,
Defend us from the sham black box, ¹
And all damn’d fanatick plots,
         And all damn’d, etc.

Here Charles’s health I drink to thee,
And with him all prosperity;
God grant that he long time may reign,
To bring us home great York again,
         To bring us home, etc.

That he, in spight of all his foes
Who loyalty and laws oppose,
May long remain in health and peace,
Whilst plots and plotters all shall cease,
         Whilst plots, etc.

Let Whigs go down to Erebus,
And not stay here to trouble us
With noisy cant and needless fear,
Of ills to come they know not where,
         Of ills to come, etc.

When our chief trouble they create,
For plain we see what they’d be at;
Could they but push great York once down
They’d next attempt to snatch the crown,
         They’d next attempt, etc.

But Heaven preserve our gracious King,
May all good subjects loudly sing;
And Royal James preserve likewise,
From such as do against him rise,
         From such as do, etc.

Then come, again fill round our glass,
And, loyal Tories, less it pass,
Fill up, fill up unto the brim,
And let each boule with necture swim,
         And let each boule, etc.

Though cloakmen, that seem much precise,
’Gainst wine exclaim with turn’d-up eyes;
Yet in a corner they’l be drunk,
With drinking healths unto the Rump,
         With drinking, etc.

In hopes that once more they shall tear
Both Church and State, which is their prayer;
But Heaven does yet protect the throne,
Whilst Tyburn for such slaves does groan,
         Whilst Tyburn, etc.

For now ’tis plain, most men abhor,
What some so strongly voted for;
Great York in favour does remain,
In spight of all the Whiggish train,
         In spight of all, etc.

And now the Old Cause goes to wrack,
Sedition mauger cloath in black
Do greatly dread the triple tree,
Whilst we rejoyce in loyalty,
         Whilst we rejoyce, etc.

Then come, let’s take another round,
And still in loyalty abound,
And wish our King he long may reign
To bring us home great York again,
         To bring us home great York again.

Footnotes

1. There was a story that Charles II. was really married to Lucy Walters, the mother of the Duke of Monmouth, and that the contract of marriage was in existence in a “black box,” in the custody of the Bishop of Durham, suggested apparently by the endeavours of that Bishop to change the succession to the crown in favour of the Duke of Monmouth, to the exclusion of James II. ↩