DRINK ENGLAND DRY
Sung at Hoxey, Jan. 6 (Old Christmas)

1
Come, me brave boys, as I've told you before,
And drink, me brave boys, and we'll boldly call for more.
For the French they invade us, they say they will try,
They say that they will come and drink Old England dry.

Chorus:
Ay, dry, me boys, ay dry!
They say they will come and drink Old England dry.

2
Then up spoke Lord Roberts, a man of fair renown,
He swears he'll be true to his country and his crown,
For the cannons they shall rattle, and the bullets they shall fly
'Fore that they shall come and drink Old England dry.

Chorus:

3
Supposing we should meet with the Germans by the way,
Ten thousand to one we should show them British play,
With our swords and our cutlasses we'll fight until we die,
We'll die before that they shall come and drink Old England dry.

Chorus:

Ethel H. Rudkin, 1932, "An Account of the Hoxey Hood Game," Folklore, vol. 43, no. 3, pp. 289-301.

Mrs. Rudkin describes the activities in detail, and provides a few photographs. She said that, of the songs sung, the only one she had never heard before was "Drink Old England Dry."