Database of Poems
Charlie Grey's Come Again!
1832: Representation of the People Acts
Author: Anon
Publication: Charlie Grey's Come Again!
Publication type: Broadside
Featured individuals:
William Allan
James Aytoun (1797-1881)
Henry Brougham (1778-1868)
William Dundas (1762-1845)
Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey (1764-1845)
Francis Jeffrey (1773-1850)
Thomas Dick Lauder (1784-1848)
John Learmonth (1789-1858)
John Archibald Murray (1778-1859)
Robert Peel (1788-1850)
John Russell, 1st Earl Russell (1792-1878)
Andrew Skene (1784-1835)
Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington (1769-1852)
Charles Wetherell (1770-1846)
A full copy of this poem is available.
This poem has a set tune, and its title is:
Donald Caird.
Archive/Library: National Library of Scotland
Classmark(s): ABS.10.206.02(27)
This song, written in Scots, which celebrates the Whigs' recovery following the 'days of May' when the Tories had the opportunity to form a government. Wellington is portrayed as wanting to 'trample a' our necks' while Grey is portrayed as a supporter of 'good auld Caledon' - Scotland. The poem then notes the fall of various Tories now that 'Charlie Grey's come again'. Several political figures are referenced in this section, including some that are tough to identify: Sinclair, Maitland, Scott, and Bigson. Scott may refer to Walter Scott, a Tory who is here portrayed as telling 'a lying tale'. The poem closes by praising the 'Scottish dames' over German women: these Scottish women, the speaker states, will 'spunk us up to fect or fa''. No publication details are printed on the song so it is not clear where and when the song was published.