In good King Charles's golden days, When loyalty no harm meant;A furious High-Church man I was, And so I gain'd preferment.Unto my flock I daily preach'd, Kings are by God appointed,And damn'd are those who dare resist, Or touch the Lord's anointed. And this is law, I will maintain Unto my dying day, sir, That whatsoever king shall reign, I will be Vicar of Bray, sir!
When Royal James possess'd the crown, And popery grew in fashion;The penal law I houted down, And read the declaration:The Church of Rome, I found would fit, Full well my constitution,And I had been a Jesuit, But for the Revolution. And this is law, I will maintain Unto my dying day, sir, That whatsoer king shall reign, I will be Vicar of Bray, sir!
When William our deliverer came, To heal the nation's grievance,I turned the cat in pan again, And swore to him allegiance:Old principles I did revoke, Set conscience at a distance,Passive obedience is a joke, A jest is non-resistance. And this is law, I will maintain Unto my dying day, sir, That whatsoer king shall reign, I will be Vicar of Bray, sir!
When glorious Anne became our queen The Church of England's glory,Another face of things was seen, And I became a Tory:Occasional conformists base, I damn'd, and moderation,And thought the Church in danger was, From such prevarication. And this is law, I will maintain Unto my dying day, sir, That whatsoer king shall reign, I will be Vicar of Bray, sir!
When George in pudding time came o'er, And moderate men looked big, sir,My principles I chang'd once more, And so became a Whig, sir:And thus preferment I procur'd, From our faith's great defender,And almost every day abjur'd The Pope, and the Pretender. And this is law, I will maintain Unto my dying day, sir, That whatsoer king shall reign, I will be Vicar of Bray, sir!
The illustrious House of Hanover, And Protestant succession,To these I lustily will swear, Whilst they can keep possession:For in my faith, and loyalty, I never once will falter,George, my lawful king shall be, Except the times should alter. And this is law, I will maintain Unto my dying day, sir, That whatsoer king shall reign, I will be Vicar of Bray, sir!
