including "The Ballad of Billy McCaw"



CHORUS:

Growltiger was a bravo cat who travelled on a barge

In fact he was the roughest cat that ever roamed at large

From Gravesend up to Oxford he pursued his evil aims

Rejoicing in his title of



GROWLTIGER:

The "Terror of the Thames"! Ha ha ha ha!



GRUMBUSKIN:

His manners and appearance did not calculate to please

His coat was torn and seedy, it was baggy at the knees

One ear was somewhat missing, no need to tell you why

And he scowled upon a hostile world from one forbidding eye



CHORUS:

The cottagers of Rotherhithe knew something of his fame

At Hammersmith and Putney, people shuddered at his name

They would fortify the hen house, lock up the silly goose

When the rumor ran along the shore:



GROWLTIGER:

Growltiger's on the loose! Ha ha ha ha!



SOLOS:

Woe to the weak canary that fluttered from its cage

Woe to the pampered Pekinese, that faced Growltiger's rage

Woe the bristly bandicoot that lurks on foreign ships

And woe to any cat with whom Growltiger came to grips



But most to cats of foreign race his hatred had been vowed

To cats of foreign name and race, no quarter was allowed

The Persian and the Siamese regarded him with fear

Because it was a Siamese had mauled his missing ear



TUMBLEBRUTUS:

Now on a peaceful summer night all nature seemed at play

The tender moon was shining bright, the barge at Molesey lay



CHORUS:

All in the balmy moonlight it lay rocking on the tide

And Growltiger was disposed to show his sentimental side



GRUMBUSKIN:

Growltiger's bucko mate, Grumbuskin, long since had disappeared

For to the bell at Hampton he had gone to wet his beard

-acap