“One thing of Gaarge Ridler’s I must commend,
      And that wur vor a notable theng;
      He mead his braags avoore he died,
      Wi’ any dree brothers his zons zshou’d zeng.”

This meant that the king, “before he died,” boasted that notwithstanding his present adversity, the ancient constitution of the kingdom was so good and its vitality so great that it would surpass and outlive any other form of government, whether republican, despotic, or protective.

     “There’s Dick the treble and John the mean
      (Let every mon zing in his auwn pleace);
      And Gaarge he wur the elder brother,
      And therevoore he would zing the beass.”

“Dick the treble, Jack the mean, and George the bass” meant the three parts of the British constitution—­King, Lords, and Commons.  The injunction to “let every man sing in his own place” was intended as a warning to each of the three estates of the realm to preserve its proper position and not to attempt to encroach on each other’s prerogative.

     “Mine hostess’s moid (and her neaum ’twur Nell),
      A pretty wench, and I lov’d her well;
      I lov’d her well—­good reauzon why,
      Because zshe lov’d my dog and I.”

“Mine hostess’s moid” was an allusion to the queen, who was a Roman Catholic; and her maid, the Church.  The singer, we must suppose, was one of the leaders of the party, and his “dog” a companion or faithful official of the Society; and the song was sung on occasions when the members met together socially:  and thus, as the Roman Catholics were Royalists, the allusion to the mutual attachment between the “maid” and “my dog and I” is plain and consistent.

     “My dog has gotten zitch a trick
      To visit moids when thauy be zick;
      When thauy be zick and like to die,
      Oh, thether gwoes my dog and I.”

The “dog”—­that is, the official or devoted member of the Society—­had “a trick of visiting maids when they were sick.”  The meaning here was that when any of the members were in distress, or desponding, or likely to give up the royal cause in despair, the officials or active members visited, consoled, and assisted them.

     “My dog is good to catch a hen,—­
      A duck and goose is vood vor men;
      And where good company I spy,
      Oh, thether gwoes my dog and I.”

The “dog,” the official or agent of the Society, was “good to catch a hen,” a “duck,” or a “goose”—­that is, any who were well affected to the royal cause of whatever party; wherever “good company I spy, Oh, thither go my dog and I”—­to enlist members into the Society.

     “My mwother told I when I wur young,
      If I did vollow the strong beer pwoot,
      That drenk would pruv my auverdrow,
      And meauk me wear a thzreadbare cwoat.”

“The good ale-tap” was an allusion, under cover of a similarity in the sound of the words “ale” and “aisle,” to the Church, of which it was dangerous at that time to be an avowed follower, and so the members were cautioned that indiscretion would lead to their discovery and “overthrow.”