The history and politics of the English protest song

ca. 1719

A Song to a pleasant New Tune

Tune: Unknown
Lyrics: Unknown

Haste a way to Brumswick, you Mum-Fogars all,
Or if you like a British Scaffold prepare for your fall.
Haste away you Round-Heads, O Stanhope be gone,
For if J[ame]s come among you by Jove youre undone.

For he ’tis alone Boys that ought to wear the Crown,
And be set on the Throne Boys, because ’tis his own.
Welcome Great Prince to the Verge of your Isle,
May you ne’re like your Royal Father be forc’d to Exile.

Welcome Great Prince, and the Queen that you bring,
All Hail Mighty Monarch and joy to our K[ing],
For ’tis an honest Briton shall defend the Throne they’l set on,
And the Mischief theyve lit on from Republican wiles.

First of all beware of a Trickster a Wigg,
And Lulibolero that damnable Jig.
Prefer your staunch Tories to Places of Trust,
That your Reign may be long, and your Government just.

So thus having ended, the Council I intended,
If you take it pray mend it, for now tis at worst.

Lyrics

In 1719, a renewed Jacobite rising sought to install the newly-married James Stuart to the throne, in place of George I and his Whig government, led by James Stanhope. This straightforward song in support of the scheme berates the Hanoverian Whig faction who are likened to Roundheads; hails James as the king of honest ‘Britons’; and, most interestingly, warns listeners against ‘Lulibolero that damnable Jig’.

Cause: Jacobite | Tory
Theme: Political Process
Addressed to: The Ruler | The Faithful
Target of Protest: Political Faction
Proposal/Solution: Armed Rebellion | Restoration/Succession