(REPRINTED VERBATIM.)
COME, come, my boys, with a hearty glee,
To Fairlop Fair—bear chorus with me;
At Hainault Forest, ’tis known very well,
This famous Oak has long borne the bell.
Let music sound, as the boat goes round;
If we tumble on the ground, we’ll be merry, I’ll be bound,
We will booze it away; dull care we’ll defy,
And be happy on the first Friday in July.
To Hainault Forest Queen Anne she did ride,
And beheld the beautiful Oak by her side;
And, after viewing it from the bottom to the top,
She said to her Court, that it was _Fair-lop_!
It is eight fathoms round, spreads an acre of ground;
They plaster’d it round, to keep the Tree sound;
So we’ll booze it away; dull care we’ll defy,
And be happy on the first Friday in July.
About a century ago, as I have heard say,
This Fair it was kept by one Daniel Day,
As hearty a good fellow as ever there could be;
His coffin was made of a limb of the Tree.
With black-strap and sherry, he made his friends merry,
All sorrows for to drown in brandy, rum, and perry;
So they boozed it away; dull care we will defy,
And be happy on the first Friday in July.
At Hainault old Forest there standeth a tree,
And round it have been dances, mirth, pranks, and glee;
It is surrounded with woods, lawns, and plains,
Where the merry little warblers pour forth their sweet strains.
So we’ll dance round the Tree, and merry we will be;
Every year we’ll agree the _fair_ Fair for to see;
And we’ll booze it away; dull care we will defy,
And be happy on the first Friday in July.