Vernon's Glory ; or, The Spaniards' Defeat

Once more, brave boys, let us proclaim
Brave noble Admiral Vernon's fame,
With Sir Chaloner Ogle too:
They now have made the Spaniards rue ;
For Carthageen they now have ta'en,
And laid it level with the ground;
Seven castles so brave their town could not save,
For Vernon and Ogle have beat them down.

Last March we did from Jamaica sail
With a fair and gentle gale;
Vice-Admiral Vernon of the Blue,
Sir Chaloner Ogle, Rear-Admiral too,
With Lestock Commodore, we made our cannons roar,
And two-and-twenty frigates besides :
Thirty ships of the line, a sight very fine,
Before Carthageen at anchor to ride.

Bocachica Castle first we took,
Which made the Spaniards blue to look ;
That being of the largest force,
The other six did fall of course :
With our cannons and bombs we dismounted their guns,
And our colours did on their Castles raise :
Then toss off a glass, and about let it pass,
To Admiral Vernon's and Ogle's praise.

For twelve hours' space we bombarded the town,
Before we brought their proud spirits down;
We fir'd so smart that they thought we were mad,
At length to surrender they were glad.
We did so cannonade, and such breaches we made,
And many of their houses set in a flame ;
They did submit to fate, and the town surrendered]
To Admiral Vernon, the scourge of Spain,

The Shrewsbury she did suffer most,
And many of her sailors were lost;
Her cable broke, on the Castles she drove,
And there expected she would have stove;
But kind Providence stood in her defence :
Much shatter'd at last she clear'd her way.
Her jolly sailors bold, those noble hearts of gold,
All the time shew'd the Spaniards gallant play.

Don Blass with six ships in the harbour lay,
And soon we shew'd him British play;
We made that proud and hectoring Don
Coward-like from his ship to run ;
Tho' his ship he forsook, two captains we took
And unto England brought them home;
Let th' insulting foe and proud Don know
Vernon can conquer wherever he comes.

Six galleons did there remain,
Which by our fleet were burnt or ta'en :
And tho' their treasure was on shore
Yet we found a sufficient store ;
For plunder, my boys, did crown our joys
After that strong place we had won :
We did revel and roar and booze it on shore,
And forgot all the dangers we had run.

In the king's store-house we found
The value of several thousand pounds,
Which with great joy we brought away,
And did on board our ships convey :
Our success was crown'd with plunder we found,
While the cowardly Spaniards from us fled ;
So great was their fear, they would not us come near,
For Vernon had fill'd them all with dread.

When we had all their treasure seiz'd,
And freely plunder'd where we pleas'd,
And none but rubbish did remain,
Their store-houses we set on flames :
Thus we burnt them down quite unto the ground :
A heap of ashes for to view ;
Let the cowards know, tho' they did insult us so,
What noble Admiral Vernon can do.

Our jolly tars, brave, noble hearts,
And the brave marines did play their parts;
The officers their orders gave,
Which the men performed as brave.
They never did flinch, nor gave back an inch,
But sweet revenge was all their cry:
They scorn'd for to run from the mouth of a gun,
But with Vernon and Ogle would conquer or die.

For the proud Queen of Spain we care not a fart !
For Carthageen she may break her heart ;
Of Don Blass, that cowardly tool,
Brave Vernon did make an April fool:
For 'twas upon that day we made him run away,
Unto our noble admiral's fame :
Then fill a brimming glass, and round let it pass,
To Admiral Vernon and Ogle's name.

Come, brave boys, a health begin,
And fill your glasses to the brim;
A health to Admiral Vernon brave ;
To Sir Chaloner Ogle another we'll have;
To each jolly tar and marine that was there,
Whose courage the[n] was bravely seen;
To Lestock, Commodore, and many thousands more,
Who assisted at taking of Carthageen.