Alexander Brome: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

A Song to the Tune of Cuckolds all a-row

Alexander Brome

“A Song to the Tune of Cuckolds all a-row” as printed in Rump Songs (1662).

Alexander Brome: Collected Lyrics Text 12 1662 · historical text
Public domainPolitical songHistorical song
Complete public-domain lyrics

This text comes from Rump Songs, a historical songbook transcribed on Wikisource and reproduced from the pinned revision linked below.

Verse 1

Know this my Brethren Heaven is clear,

And all the clowds are gone,

The righteous men shall flourish now

Good dayes are comming on;

Come then my Brethren and be glad,

And eke rejoyce with me,

Lawn sleeves and Rochets shall go down,

And hey then up go we.

Verse 2

Wee’l break the Windows which the Whore

Of Babylon hath painted,

And when the Popish Saints are down,

Then Burges shall be Sainted;

There’s neither Crosse nor Crucifix

shall stand for men to see,

Romes trash and trumpery shall go down,

And hey then up go we.

Verse 3

What ere the Popish hands have built,

Our Hammers shall undoe,

Wee’l break their Pipes, and burn their Copes,

And pull down Churches too;

Wee’l exercise within the Groves,

And teach beneath a Tree,

Wee’l make a Pulpit of a Cask,

And hey then up go we.

Verse 4

Wee’l down with all the Versities,

Where Learning is profest,

Because they practice and maintain

The language of the Beast;

Wee’l drive the Doctors out of doors,

And parts what ere they be;

Wee’l cry all Arts and Learning down,

And hey then up go we.

Verse 5

Wee’l down with Deans and Prebends too,

And I rejoyce to tell ye

How that we will eat Pigs our fill,

And Capon by the belly;

Wee’l burn the Fathers Learned Books,

And make the School-men flee;

Wee’l down with all that smells of wit,

And hey then up go we.

Verse 6

If once the Antichristian crew

Be crush’d and overthrown,

Wee’l teach the Nobles how to stoop,

And keep the Gentry down;

Good manners have an ill report,

And turns to pride we see,

Wee’l therefore cry good manners down,

And hey then up go we.

Verse 7

The name of Lords shall be abhorr’d,

for every man’s a Brother,

No reason why in Church and State

One man should rule another.

But when the Change of Government

Shall set our fingers free,

Wee’l make the wanton Sisters stoop,

And hey then up go we.

Verse 8

What though the King and Parliament

Do not accord together,

We have more cause to be content,

This is our Sun-shine weather;

For if that reason should take place,

And they should once agree,

Who would be in a Round-heads case?

And hey then up go we.

Verse 9

What should we do then in this case,

Let’s put it to a venture,

If that we hold out seven years space,

Wee’l sue out our indenture,

A time may come to make us rue,

And time may set us free,

Except the Gallows claim his due,

And hey then up go we.

Credits

Written by Alexander Brome

Words by Alexander Brome. Historical text published in Rump Songs (1662); public domain. No claim to a modern recording or arrangement.

Source & text edition

Rump Songs (1662), “A Song to the Tune of Cuckolds all a-row”

This 1662 collection (Rump: or an Exact Collection of the Choycest Poems and Songs Relating to the Late Times, 1639-1661) is credited to Alexander Brome (died 1666); every contributor died more than 330 years ago, so the text is in the public domain worldwide, and the edition carries a Wikisource PD-old determination.

How to read this historical text and its source

Read the source on Wikisource

View copyright evidence · Transcription terms (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Retrieved 2026-10-26. Line spacing and section labels are adapted for reading. The displayed text follows the linked edition. Editorial notes and abstract artwork are by 52lyrics.
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