An A B C, for Baby Patriots
An A B C, for Baby Patriots
Original Text
Mrs. Ernest Ames, An A B C, for Baby Patriots (London: Dean and Son, 1899). George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida.
2 That dies for the Queen;
3It's the very best Army
4 That ever was seen,
5B stands for Battles
6 By which England's name
7Has for ever been covered
8 With glory and fame.
9C is for Colonies.
10 Rightly we boast,
11That of all the great nations
12 Great Britain has most.
13D is the Daring
14 We show on the Field
15Which makes every enemy
16 Vanish or yield.
17E is our Empire
18 Where sun never sets;
19The larger we make it
20 The bigger it gets.
21F is the flag
22 Which wherever you see
23You know that beneath it
24 Your're happy and free.
25G is the Game
26 We preserve with such care
27To shoot, as it gracefully
28 Flies through the air.
29H is for Hunting,
31A thoro bred Hunter,
32 Some hounds and a fox.
33I is for India,
34 Our land in the East
35Where everyone goes
36 To shoot tigers, and feast.
37J's for our Judges
38 Who sit in a row
39And send folks to prison
40 When naughty you know!
41K is for Kings;
42 Once warlike and haughty,
43Great Britain subdued them
44 Because they'd been naughty.
45L is the Lion
46 Who fights for the Crown
47His smile when he's worried
48 Is changed to a frown.
49M is for Magnates
50 So great and so good,
51They sit on gold chairs
52 And eat Turtle for food.
53N is the Navy
55It's a sight that makes foreigners
56 Wish they were dead.
57O is the Ocean
58 Where none but a fool
59Would ever dare question
60 Our title to rule.
61P is our Parliment,
62 Commons and Peers,
63They will talk if permitted
64 For months -- nay for years.
65Q is our Queen!
66 It fills us with pride
67To see the Queen's coach
68 When the Queen is inside!
69R’s the Roast Beef
70 That has made England great;
71You see it here pictured
72 Each piece on a plate.
73S is for Scotland
74 The home of the Scot!
75It's wetter than England
76 And isn't so hot.
78 That an Englishman takes
79As a matter of course
80 Just as soon as he wakes.
81U is our Unicorn,
82 Such a nice beast
83His home is here now
84 Though he comes from the East.
85V's Volunteers
86 Who can shoot very straight;
87They are drilled now and then
88 Between seven and eight.
89W is the Word
90 Of an Englishman true;
91When given, it means
92 What he says, he will do.
94 The London Police
95Who are paid by the Country
96 For keeping the peace.
97Y is for youngsters
98 Gilded and gay,
99The newspapers call them
101Z is the Zeal
102 Which is everywhere seen
103When a family practices
104 “God Save the Queen.”
Notes
1] Lynda Mugglestone highlighted this poem in her lecture on "Images of Iconicity in the OED," on August 18, 2009, at the Prescriptivism and Patriotism conference, held at New College, University of Toronto. Ames handsomely illustrates the poem in this children's book made available online by the George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida. Back to Line
30] box: a "small country-house; a residence for temporary use while following a particular sport" (OED, "box," n.2, 14). Back to Line
54] Spithead: a protected bay off Portsmouth on the English Channel. Back to Line
77] Tub: for a bath. Back to Line
93] X: the symbol of the London police, crossed batons (Empire Writing, p. 456). Back to Line
100] "Orig. applied in France to the group of fashionable counter-revolutionaries formed after the fall of Robespierre; now gen., young people of wealth and fashion" (OED). Back to Line
Publication Start Year
1899
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
2009
Rhyme
Form