Classic Poem

" WHARE HAE YE BEEN A' DAY ,
MY BOY Tammy O?
C OURTING O' A YOUNG THING ,
JUST COME FRAE HER MAMMIE O?"

[To John Murray, March 23, 1820. Hobhouse had been committed to Newgate Prison for several weeks for a parliamentary " breach of privilege." He was chosen a member for Westminster at the next election.]

How came you in Hob's pound to cool,
My boy Hobbie O?
Because I bade the people pull
The House into the Lobby O.

What did the House upon this call,
My boy Hobbie O?
They voted me to Newgate all,
Which is an awkward Jobby O.

Who are now the people's men,
My boy Hobbie O?
There's I and Burdett — Gentlemen,
And blackguard Hunt and Cobby O.

You hate the house — why canvass, then,
My boy Hobbie O?
Because I would reform the den
As member for the Mobby O.

Wherefore do you hate the Whigs,
My boy Hobbie O?
Because they want to run their rigs,
As under Walpole Bobby O.

But when we at Cambridge were,
My boy Hobbie O,
If my memory don't err,
You founded a Whig Clubby O.

When to the mob you make a speech,
My boy Hobbie O,
How do you keep without their reach
The watch within your fobby O?

But never mind such petty things,
My boy Hobbie O;
God save the people — damn all Kings,
So let us Crown the Mobby O!