Oh, tune the string
and let us sing

Lyric writers in those days had not reached the supreme pitch of excellence which has been produced by modern musical comedy. The art was in its infancy then, and the best the minstrels could do was this - and they did it just as Merolchazzar, raising the hoe with painful care, reached the top of his swing and started down :-

      'Oh, tune the string and let us sing

      Our godlike, great, and glorious King!

      He's a bear! He's a bear! He's a bear!'

[...]

      'Oh, may his triumphs never cease!

      He has the strength of ten!

      First in war, first in peace,

      First in the hearts of his countrymen.'

The Clicking of Cuthbert. 10 The Coming of Gowf