Bombardment of St Malo

Posted by Tim Radford on Monday 25th of November 2024 15:43

The Siege of St. Malo

On the fourteenth of November
Straight to the French coast we did steer
All against the brave St. Malo
With our fleet we did draw near
With our English colours flying
In the sight of all the town
With the brave, bold Resolution
To burn St. Malo down.

(On the Fifteenth of November
At the dawning of the day
We espied a gallant Frenchman
That gave us home away…??)
…(The rest is wanting…)

Our bombs we then did cast
And they fell into the town
Which made the French admire
To see their buildings tumble down
Then some men were prisoners taken
And some ran out of the town
While we waited in our longboats
To burn St. Malo down.

Then at last we saw St. Malo
It was to ruin brought
And the proud insulting Louis
He was a lesson taught
On the sixteenth of November
WE set their ships aflame
And then a noble building
WE treated it the same.

Roud 3309
Baring-Gould & Shepherd
From J.Peake, Liskeard, May 1881
Canow Kernow – Inglis Gundry -1966