20 FEBRUARY 1926, Page 19

POETRY

CAPE ST. VINCENT

February 14th, 1797.

BARELY twenty sail, And a lawless crew at that, (Might have graced a yardarm at the Noce) Chanced it in a gale, And they laid the Dons out flat, Made a fine old shambles of some thirty Ships or more.

Men with ready lips For a bottle or a wench, Swift to strike and follow up the blow ; Big or little ships,

To the Spanish or the French Hell could not have bettered them a Hundred years ago.

What a mint of stuff

You can press from any street, Fit and fresh for any brawl or breeze, Battle-bred and tough For the making of a fleet,... Such a fleet as Jervis took to tidy up. The seas