When Princes and Prelates

written in 1792

When Princes and Prelates and het-headed zealots All Europe hae set in a lowe, The poor man lies down, nor envies a crown, And comforts himsel with a mowe. And why shouldna poor folk mowe, mowe, mowe, And why shouldna poor folk mowe: The great folk hae siller, and houses and lands, Poor bodies hae naething but mowe. When Brunswick's great Prince cam a cruising to France Republican billies to cowe, Bauld Brunswick's great Prince wad hae shawn better sense At hame with his Princess to mowe. Out over the Rhine proud Prussia wad shine, To spend his best blood he did vow; But Frederic had better ne'er forded the water, But spent as he docht in a mowe. By sea and by shore! the Emperor swore, In Paris he'd kick up a row; But Paris saw ready just leugh at the laddie And bad him gae tak a mowe. Auld Kate laid her claws on poor Stanislaus, And Poland has bent like a bow: May the deil in her arse ram a huge prick of brass! And damn her in hell with a mowe! But truce with commotions and new-fangled notions, A bumper I trust you'll allow: Here's George our gude king and Charlotte his queen, And lang may they tak a gude mowe! And why shouldna poor folk mowe, mowe, mowe, And why shouldna poor folk mowe: The great folk hae siller, and houses and lands, Poor bodies hae naething but mowe.