Contents -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895.

William Johnson Fox 1786–1864

The Barons Bold

THE BARONS bold on Runnymede

By union won their charter;

True men were they, prepar’d to bleed,

But not their rights to barter:

And they swore that England’s laws

Were above a tyrant’s word;

And they prov’d that freedom’s cause

Was above a tyrant’s sword:

Then honor we

The memory

Of those Barons brave united;

And like their band,

Join hand to hand:

Our wrongs shall soon be righted.

The Commons brave, in Charles’s time,

By union made the Crown fall,

And show’d the world how royal crime

Should lead to royal downfall:

And they swore that rights and laws

Were above a monarch’s word;

And they raised the nation’s cause

Above the monarch’s sword:

Then honor we

The memory

Of those Commons brave, united;

And like their band,

Join hand to hand:

Our wrongs shall soon be righted.

The People firm, from Court and Peers,

By union won Reform, sirs,

And, union safe, the nation steers

Through sunshine and through storm, sirs:

And we swear that equal laws

Shall prevail o’er lordlings’ words,

And can prove that freedom’s cause

Is too strong for hireling swords:

Then honor we

The victory

Of the people brave, united;

Let all our bands

Join hearts and hands:

Our wrongs shall all be righted.