As once on a time a young frog pert and vain,
Beheld a large ox grazing over the plain,
He boasted his size he could quickly attain.
O the roast beef of Old England,
And O the Old English roast beef!
Then eagerly stretching his weak little frame,
Mamma, who stood by like a knowing old dame,
Cried, 'Son, to attempt it you're greatly to blame.'
O the roast beef, etc.
But deaf to advice, he for glory did thirst,
An effort he ventur'd more strong than the first,
'Till swelling and straining too hard, made him burst.
O the roast beef, etc.
Then, Britons, be valiant, the moral is clear,
The ox is Old England, the frog is Monsieur,
Whose puffs and bravadoes we never need fear.
O the roast beef, etc.
For while by our commerce and arts we are able
To see the sirloin smoking hot on our table,
The French may e'en croak, like the frog in the fable.
O the roast beef, etc.
The French sentinel is so situated as to give some idea of a figure
hanging in chains: his ragged shirt is trimmed with a pair of paper
ruffles, on which is written "Grand Monarch. P." The old woman, and
a fish which she is pointing at, have a striking resemblance. The
abundance of parsnips and other vegetables indicate what are the
leading articles in a Lenten feast.
Mr. Pine the painter sat for the friar, and from thence acquired the
title of Father Pine. This distinction did not flatter him, and he
frequently requested that the countenance might be altered, but the
artist peremptorily refused.
Part of the print was engraved by C. Mosley, but the heads are
evidently by Hogarth.[175]
A copy has been repeatedly engraven as an head-piece to the cantata
before mentioned: the profile of the artist was traced for a
watch-paper; and a wooden representation of the starved soldier has
frequently decorated advertisements for recruits, where it is opposed
to the figure of a well-fed gourmand, characteristically christened a
valiant British soldier.
The original picture is in the possession of Lord Charlemont.
Soon after this painting was finished, a nail was by some accident
run through the cross at the top of the gate. Hogarth strove in vain
to repair the blemish with paint of the same colour; he therefore
introduced a half-starved crow looking down on the beef, and thus
completely covered the defect.
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