Gallants, attend, and hear a friend
Drill forth harmonious ditty
Strange things I'll tell, which late befell
In Philadelphia city
T 'was early day, as poets say,
Just as the sun was rising
A soldier stood on a log of wood,
he saw a sight surprising.
As in the maze he stood to gaze,
the truth can't be denied, sir.
Despite a score of kegs
or more come floating on the tide, sir.
A sailor, too, in jerkin' blue,
the strange appearance viewing,
First damned his eyes
with great surprise,
Then said, there's trouble brewing.
The kegs must hold the rebel bold,
Packed in like pickled herring,
And they've come down
to attack the town
In this new way of ferrying.
The sailor flew, the soldier too,
And scared almost to death, sir,
Ran out their shoes to spread the news
And screamed till out of breath,
Throughout the town as they ran down
The strangest scenes were acted
For some ran here and some ran there
And some ran quite distracted
Some fire cried which some denied
But said the earth had quaked
And girls and boys with hideous noise
Ran through the town half naked.
Arise! Arise !"
Sir Erskine cries,
The rebels moors, the pity.
Without a boat are all afloat,
And ranged outside the city.
The cannons roar from
shore to shore,
The small arms made a rattle.
Since war began, I'll swear,
No man e 'er saw so strange a battle.
The fish below swam to and fro,
Attacked from every quarter.
Why, sure, they, the devil's to pay
Among folks above the water.
The keg'st is said, though strongly made
Of rebels, staves, and hopes, sir,
Could not oppose those valiant foes
The conquering British troops are.
A thousand men with each a pen,
Or more, upon my word, sir,
Would be too few, it is too true,
Such valour to record, sir.
When faced with guns,
the red coat runs too fast
for Yankee Legs, sir.
We all can see his bravery
subduing wooden kegs, sir.