The British lion : patriotic song / written & composed by Henry Walker

VERSE 01: Oh, the British Lion is a noble scion,/And proud in his conscious might;/The terror of those he has made his foes,/For he ever defends the right!/And yet so mild that a timid child/May approach him, and need not quail;/And may pat him on the crown, and stroke him down,/But beware how you tread on his tail!/Oh beware!/Have a care!/Oh beware!/Have a care!/Oh beware how you tread on his tail!
VERSE 02: ‘Twill much require to rouse his ire,/For he’s fond of a quiet snooze;/No idle vaunt, or threat, or taunt,/Will provoke him his strength to use;/No bliss he thinks like forty winks,/Yet his vigilance ne’er doth fail:/For he sleeps with but one eyelid shut!/So, beware how you tread on his tail!/For he sleeps with but one eyelid shut!/So, beware how you tread on his tail!
VERSE 03: His foes at best are knaves confest,/Whose malice from envy springs;/And it oft betide, his giant sides/They pierce with their gnatlike stings;/But he merely yawns, for the though ne’er daws/Such pigmies to assail!/Till grown more bold his sloth to behold,/They venture to tread on his tail./Till grown more bold such sloth to behold,/They venture to tread on his tail.
VERSE 04: Then, up he bounds, and his roar resounds/As he lashes each foaming side;/His warlike breath hurls fire and death,/And scatters them far and wide!/And, great and small, down down they fall/’Neath the storm of his iron hail!/And repent to their cost, when all is lost,/That they trod on the Lion’s tail!/And repent to their cost, when all is lost;/So, beware how you tread on his tail!