Laudator Temporis Acti

"The Farmer," in Mirth and Song: Consisting of A Lecture on Heads, Written by George Alexander Stevens, Esq., and The Courtship, with a Collection of Approved Songs (Boston: Printed by E. Lincoln for John Whiting of Lancaster, 1804), pp. 124-125:

Come each jovial fellow who loves to be mellow,
    Attend unto me and sit easy;
One jorum and quiet, we quickly will try it,
    Dull thinking will make a man crazy:
For here I am king, we'll drink, laugh and sing,
    Let no one appear as a stranger;
But show me the ass, that refuses his glass,
    And I'll order him hay in the manger.

By ploughing and sowing, by reaping and mowing
    Kind nature supplies me with plenty;
I've a cellar well stor'd, and a plentiful board,
    And my cupboard affords every dainty:
I have all things in season, both woodcock and pheasant,
    I'm here as a justice of quorum;
At my cabin's far end I've a bed for a friend,
    A clean fireside and a jorum.

Were it not for my seeding you'd have but poor feeding,
    You'd surely be starving without me;
I'm always content when I've paid all my rent,
    And I'm happy when friends are about me:
Draw close to my table, my friends, while you're able,
    Let's not have a word of complaining:
For the jingling of glasses all music surpasses—
    I love to see bottles a draining.

Let the mighty and great, loll in splendour and state;
    I envy them not, I declare it;
I eat my own lamb, my chicken and ham,
    I shear my own fleece, and I wear it:
I've lands and I've bowers, I've fields and I've flowers,
    The lark is my daily alarmer;
So, my jolly boys, now here's God speed the plough,
    Long life and success to the farmer.