Ballad of the Armada

  King Philip had vaunted his claims;
    He had sworn for a year he would sack us;
  With an army of heathenish names
    He was coming to fagot and stack us;
    Like the thieves of the sea he would track us,
  And shatter our ships on the main;
    But we had bold Neptune to back us--
  And where are the galleons of Spain?

  His carackes were christened of dames
    To the kirtles whereof he would tack us;
  With his saints and his gilded stern-frames
    He had thought like an egg shell to crack us;
    Now Howard may get to his Flaccus,
  And Drake to his Devon again,
    And Hawkins bowl rubbers to Bacchus--
  For where are the galleons of Spain?

  Let his Majesty hang to St. James
    The axe that he whetted to hack us;
  He must play at some lustier games
    Or at sea he can hope to out-thwack us;
    To his mines of Peru he would pack us
  To tug at his bullet and chain;
    Alas! that his Greatness should lack us!--
  But where are the galleons of Spain?