Revolutionary Tea

There was an old lady lived over the sea

And she was an island queen

Her daughter lived out in a far country

With an ocean of water between

The old lady’s pockets were full of gold

But never content was she

So she called on her daughter to pay her a tax

Of three pence a pound on her tea

Oh, mother, dear mother, the daughter replied

I’ll ne’er do the thing you ax

I’m willing to pay a fair price for the tea

But never a three penny tax

You shall, quoth the mother and reddened with rage

For you’re my own daughter, you see

And sure ’tis quite proper a daughter should pay

Her mother a tax on her tea

And so the old lady her servants called up

And packed off a budget of tea

And eager for three pence a pound, she put in

Enough for a large family

She ordered her servants to bring home the tax

Declaring her child should obey

Or, old as she was and almost woman grown

She’d half whip her life away

The tea was conveyed to the daughter’s door

All down by the ocean’s side

But the bouncing girl poured out every pound

In the dark and boiling tide

And then she called out to the island queen

Oh, mother, dear mother, cried she

The tea you may have when ’tis steeped enough

But never a tax from me