Upon the Spanish Invasion in Eighty Eight
1.
In Eighty eight, ere I was born,
As I do well remember a,
In August was a Fleet prepar’d
The month before September a.
2.
Lisbone, Cales and Portugall [Cales, i.e. Cadiz.]
Toledo and Grenada;
They all did meet, & made a Fleet,
And call’d it their Armada.
3.
There dwelt a little man in Spain
That shot well in a gun a;
Don Pedro hight, as black a wight
As the Knight of the Sun a.
4.
King Philip made him Admirall,
And charg’d him not to stay a,
But to destroy both man and boy,
And then to come his way a.
5.
He had thirty thousand of his own,
But to do us more harm a,
He charg’d him not to fight alone,
But to joyn with the Prince of Parma.
6.
They say they brought provision much
As Biskets, Beans and Bacon,
Besides, two ships were laden with whips,
But I think they were mistaken.
7.
When they had sailed all along,
And anchored before Dover,
The English men did board them then,
And heav’d the Rascalls over.
8.
The queen she was at Tilbury,
What could you more desire a?
For whose sweet sake Sir Francis Drake
Did set the ships on fire a.
9.
Then let them neither brag nor boast,
For if they come again a,
Let them take heed they do not speed
As they did they know when a.