I Am a Friar of Orders Gray

John O’Keeffe (1747–1833)

From the Opera of “Robin Hood”

I AM a friar of orders gray,

And down in the valleys I take my way;

I pull not blackberry, haw, or hip,—

Good store of venison fills my scrip;

My long bead-roll I merrily chant;

Where’er I walk no money I want;

And why I ’m so plump the reason I tell,—

Who leads a good life is sure to live well.

What baron or squire,

Or knight of the shire,

Lives half so well as a holy friar?

After supper of heaven I dream,

But that is a pullet and clouted cream;

Myself, by denial, I mortify—

With a dainty bit of a warden-pie;

I ’m clothed in sackcloth for my sin,—

With old sack wine I ’m lined within;

A chirping cup is my matin song,

And the vesper’s bell is my bowl, ding dong.

What baron or squire,

Or knight of the shire,

Lives half so well as a holy friar?