Growltiger's Last Stand / The Ballad Of Billy McCaw

Growltiger was a Bravo cat who travelled on a barge

In fact, he was the roughest cat that ever roamed at large

From Gravesend up to Oxford, he pursued his evil aims

Rejoicing in the title of the Terror Of The Thames

His manner and appearance did not calculate to please

His coat was torn and seedy, it was baggy at the knees

One ear was somewhat missing

No need to tell you why

And he scowled upon a hostile world from one forbidding eye

The cottagers at Rotherhithe knew something of his fame

At Hammersmith and Putney, people shuddered at his name

They would fortify the hen house

Lock up the silly goose

When the rumour ran along the shore

Growltiger's on the loose

Woe to the weak canary that fluttered from its cage

Woe to the pampered Pekinese that faced Growltiger's rage

Woe to the bristly bandicoot that lurks on foreign ships

And woe to any cat with whom Growltiger came to grips

But most to cats of foreign race his hatred had been vowed

To cats of foreign name and race no quarter was allowed

The Persian and the Siamese regarded him with fear

Because it was a Siamese

That mauled his missing ear

Now, on a peaceful summer night, all nature seemed at play

The tender Moon was shining bright

The barge at Molesey lay

All in the balmy moonlight, it lay rocking on the tide

And Growltiger was disposed to show his sentimental side

Chi e la?

Mi amore!

Sono qui

In the forepeak of the vessel

Growltiger stood alone

Concentrating my attention on the Lady Griddlebone

And my raffish crew were sleeping

In their barrels and their bunks

As the Siamese came creeping in their sampans and their junks

Growltiger had no eye or ear for aught, but Griddlebone

And the lady seemed enraptured by my manly baritone

Disposed to relaxation and awaiting no surprise

But the moonlight shone reflected from a thousand bright blue eyes

And closer still and closer, the sampans circled 'round

And yet, from all the enemy, there was not heard a sound

The foe was armed with toasting forks and cruel carving knives

And the lovers sang their last duet in danger of their lives

In una tepida notte d'estate

Allorche la natura era nel pieno fulgore

E la resca rugiada splendeve al chiar de Luna

Sopra la verzura si poteva vedere

Il galeone ancorato

Oscillare in silenzio nel vento profumato

Dalla marea del naviglio serenemente cullato

In quella tepida notte che c'e dunque di male

Se intanta poesia

Il pirata divento sentimentale?

Oscillare in silenzio nel vento profumato

Dalla marea del naviglio serenamente cullato

In quella tepida notte

In quella tepida notte

In quella tepida notte

Then Genghis gave the signal

To his fierce Mongolian horde

Abandoning their sampans

The chinks they swarmed aboard

Abandoning their sampans

Their pullaways and junks

They battened down the hatches

On the crew within their bunks

Then Griddlebone she gave a screech

For she was badly skeered

I'm sorry to admit it

But she quickly disappeared

She probably escaped with ease

I'm sure she was not drowned

But a serried ring of flashing steel

Growltiger did surround (ayy!)

The ruthless foe pressed forward

In stubborn rank on rank

Growltiger to his vast surprise

Was forced to walk the plank

He, who a hundred victims

Had driven to that drop

At the end of all his crimes was forced

To go kerflip-kerflop

Oh, there was joy in Wapping when the news flew through the land

At Maidenhead and Henley, there was dancing on the Strand

Rats were roasted whole in Brentford and Victoria Dock

And a day of celebration was commanded in Bangkok

These modern productions

Are all very well

But there's nothing to equal

From what I hear tell

That moment of mystery

When I made history