The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #163454 Message #3900214
Posted By: GUEST,Chris Foster
17-Jan-18 - 04:04 PM
Thread Name: The common and the goose
Subject: Looking for a tune
I am looking for a tune or tunes for the following set of verses. The poem appears multiple times at least as far back as a Pepys diary entry in 1664. I've heard bits of it quoted many times, but don't recall ever hearing it sung.
The law locks up the man or woman Who steals the goose from off the common But leaves the greater villain loose Who steals the common from off the goose
The law demands that we atone When we take things we do not own But leaves the lords and ladies fine Who take things that are yours and mine
The poor and wretched don't escape If they conspire the law to break This must be so but they endure Those who conspire to make the law
The law locks up the man or woman Who steals the goose from off the common And geese will still a common lack Till they go and steal it back