Sir *’s Speech upon the Peace with Sp–n. To the Tune of the Abbot of Canterbury.

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About the Ballad

Sung to the tune of the Abbot of Canterbury, this ballad satire against Walpole mirrored the events of the day and would have been popular in taverns and coffee houses across England. No one has been identified as the author, but his enemies included John Gay, Jonathan Swift, Alexander Pope, Henry Fielding, and Samuel Johnson, a ripe field from which anonymous ballads could easily have surfaced.The ballad was written leading up to the ‘War of Jenkins Ear’ and satirizes Walpole’s speech of 1 Feb. 1739 on the peace with Spain.

I’ll tell you a Story, how lately Sir Blue
Bespoke in great Glee, all his squires so true,
Here, brave boys, is a peace; so give approbation,
And take it into consideration.
                                           Derry Down, Down, Down, Derry Down

Walpole secured the support of the people and of the House of Commons with a policy of avoiding war. By avoiding wars, Walpole could lower taxes. He reduced the national debt with a sinking fund, and by negotiating lower interest rates. He reduced the land tax from four shillings in 1721, to 3s in 1728, 2s in 1731 and finally to only 1s in 1732. His long-term goal was to replace the land tax, which was paid by the local gentry, with excise and customs taxes, which were paid by merchants and ultimately by consumers. Walpole joked that the landed gentry resembled hogs, which squealed loudly whenever anyone laid hands on him. By contrast, he said, merchants were like sheep, and yielded their wool without complaint. The joke backfired in 1733 when he was defeated in a major battle to impose excise taxes on wine and tobacco. To reduce the threat of smuggling, the tax was to be collected not at ports but at warehouses.

“The cits may rave about Slaves at Caracca,
As if ‘twas th’ Excise upon Wine and Tobacco;”

This new proposal, however, was extremely unpopular and aroused the opposition of the nation’s merchants. Walpole agreed to withdraw the bill before Parliament voted on it, but he dismissed the politicians who had dared to oppose it in the first place. Thus, Walpole lost a considerable element of his Whig Party to the Opposition.

After the general elections of 1734, Walpole’s broader popularity had begun to wane. The year 1737 saw the death of Walpole’s close friend Queen Caroline. Though her death did not end his personal influence with George II, who had grown loyal to the Prime Minister during the preceding years, Walpole’s domination of government continued to decline. His opponents acquired a vocal leader in the Prince of Wales who was estranged from his father, the King. Several young politicians including William Pitt the Elder and George Grenville formed a faction known as the “Patriot Boys” and joined the Prince of Wales in opposition.

Walpole’s failure to maintain a policy of avoiding military conflict eventually led to his fall from power. Under the Treaty of Seville (1729), Great Britain agreed not to trade with the Spanish colonies in North America. Spain claimed the right to board and search British vessels to ensure compliance with this provision.

“You will find nothing here of a musty old Right
Of a free Navigation, and Shiddle come Shite;
As well might a School-boy, cry, Doctor, no Birch,
As England but Name to proud Spaniards No Search”
                                                                     Derry Down, &c.”

Disputes, however, broke out over trade with the West Indies. Walpole attempted to prevent war but was opposed by the King, the House of Commons, and by a faction in his own Cabinet.

“You may talk of your Burleigh, your Raleigh, and Drake,
And all those fellows that made Spain to quake;
But forgive me to say, while I do myself right,
That I am the first have the heart, Not To Fight.
                                                                      Derry Down &c.”

The January 1739 Convention of Pardo set up a Commission to resolve the Georgia-Florida boundary dispute and agreed Spain would pay damages of £95,000 for ships seized. In return, the South Sea Company would pay £68,000 to Philip V as his share of profits on the asiento.

“And to prove that our Rights can’t be question’d again,
I have got, I can tell you, the Great Seal of Spain;
It will make you amends for your Half Million Tax,
When you see it so fair, and so fine upon Wax!
                                                                          Derry down, &c.”

Despite being controlled by the government, the company refused and Walpole reluctantly accepted his political opponents wanted war. In 1739 Walpole abandoned all efforts to stop the conflict and commenced the War of Jenkins’ Ear (so called because Robert Jenkins, a Welsh mariner, claimed that a Spaniard inspecting his vessel had severed his ear).

“But here for your honour, your ears, and your wounds,
Here’s my famous old Plaister, some Thousand Pounds good.”

On 10 July 1739, the Admiralty was authorised to begin naval operations against Spain and on 20th, a force under Admiral Vernon sailed for the West Indies. He reached Antigua in early October; on 22 October, British ships attacked La Guaira and Puerto Cabello, principal ports of the Province of Venezuela and Britain formally declared war on 23 October 1739.