Folk & Traditional Song Lyrics www.traditionalmusic.co.uk The English 
The English (Flanders & Swan) 
The rottenest bits of these islands of ours We've left in the hands of three unfriendly powers Examine the Irishman, Welshman or Scot You'll find he's a stinker as likely as not
 The English the English the English are best I wouldn't give tuppence for all of the rest 
The Scotsman is mean as we're all well aware He's boney and blotchy and covered with hair He eats salty porridge, he works all the day And hasn't got bishops to show him the way
 The English the English the English are best I wouldn't give tuppence for all of the rest 
The Irishman now our contempt is beneath He sleeps in his boots and he lies through his teeth He blows up policemen or so I have heard And blames it on Cromwell and William the Third
 The English are moral the English are good And clever and modest and misunderstood 
The Welshman's dishonest, he cheats when he can He's little and dark more like monkey than man He works underground with a lamp on his hat And sings far too loud, far too often and flat
 The English the English the English are best I wouldn't give tuppence for all of the rest 
And crossing the channel one cannot say much For the French or the Spanish, the Danish or Dutch The Germans are German, the Russians are red And the Greeks and Italians eat garlic in bed
 The English are noble, the English are nice And worth any other at double the price 
And all the world over each nation's the same 
They've simply no notion of playing the game They argue with umpires, they cheer when they've won And they practice before hand which spoils all the fun
 The English the English the English are best I wouldn't give tuppence for all of the rest 
It's not that they're wicked or naturally bad It's just that they're foreign that makes them so mad The English are all that a nation should be And the pride of the English are Chipper and me
 The English the English the English are best I wouldn't give tuppence for all of the rest 
SL apr96