Last one.
Some verses inspired by the sight of a Cask of Master Brewer Lord Rupert the Unbalanced’s new Beer being provided for the Delectation of his Friends.
Roll the cask across the floor,
All here act as sentry;
Bid a guard stand by the door
Banning laggard’s entry.
Beer we have, and beer we keep,
Made by one with talents.
And we drink until we sleep
Or become unbalanced.
Bring the tap! For I a-thirst,
My poor throat is dusty;
And the thing I fear the worst
Is a voice gone rusty.
Let us therefore broach this cask
Each man get his measure
For drunkenness is now our task
As well as his pleasure.
Give praise to God! Thank the Saint
Keeping safe our beer:
Noble ale, so free of taint,
Gladly we quaff here.
Fill your mugs, forget your cares
And salute your brewer;
For without his wondrous wares
Would our joys be fewer.
Written by Lord Morgan O’Lathlann. This poem is done in the Goliard style: the meter is derived from the Latin poem Tempus Adest Floridum (best known for the 19th century use of its melody for Good King Wenceslas). Tempus Adest Floridum is a secular spring carol believed to derive from the 13th century: the earliest known printing of it is the Finnish 1582 “Piae Cantiones ecclesiasticae et scholasticae veterum episcoporum” (“Devout ecclesiastical and scholastic songs of the old bishops”), a collection of medieval songs for religious students. The general style was written in order to be consistent with the works found in Wine, Women and Song: Mediaeval Latin Students’ Songs Now Translated Into English Verse With An Essay by John Addington Symonds, Symonds, John Addington, Cooper Square Publishers Inc., New York, 1966. The subject is a celebration of Lord Rupert the Unbalanced’s recent induction in the East Kingdom’s Order of the Maunche.