The Guy Fawkes Song
I'll sing a doleful tragedy of Guy Fawkes the Prince of Sinister,
Who once blew up the House of Lords, the King and all his ministers--
That is, he would have blown them up, and folks will ne'er forget him.
He was so keen to do that deed--that is, if they'd have let him.
CH. Bow wow wow, fol di rol di iddy iddy, bow wow wow.
He straightway came from Lamberth side and wished the state was undone,
And crossing over Vauxhall Bridge, that way came into London--
That is, he would have gone that way to perpetrate his guilt, sirs,
But a little thing prevented him--the bridge it wasn't built, sirs.
While searching through those dusty vaults with portable gas-light, sirs,
About to touch the powder train at witching hour of night, sirs--
That is, I mean he would have used the gas but was prevented,
For gas, you see, in James' time, it had not been invented.
And when they caught him in the act, so very near the crown's end,
They straightway sent to Bow Street that brave old runner Townsend-
That is, they would have sent for him, for fear he was not starter at,
But Townsend wasn't living then, he wasn't born 'til after that.
So let's bless the Royal Majesty, and bless the Royal son, sirs,
And may he never get blown up if to the thrown he comes, sirs.
And if he does, I'm sure he'll reign--so prophesize my song, sirs;
But if he don't, why then he won't, and so I can't be wrong, sirs.
note: I know this very funny song (I don't really know if it classifies as
a ballad) about Guy Fawkes. I learned it from Ian Robb, who claims he
learned it from a book of songs copyrighted by Charles Chilton.
(I believe this was the same Charles Chilton who wrote the BBC
science Fiction radio series "Journey into Space" which first aired
in 1953.)
The version that Charles Chilton claims is his has 6 verses,
one of which does not seem to me to be written by the same pen as the
others. My theory is that Charles wrote that one verse and then claimed
t
give it as an example, but here's the rest of it, in case you're
interested. MC
MC
OCT98
Thanks to Mudcat for the Digital Tradition!