"
We have not the _Church History_ at hand, but Fuller, in his
_Worthies_, says, "Bray is a village well known in Barkshire, the
vivacious Vicar whereof, living under King Henry the Eighth, King Edward
the Sixth, Queen Mary, and Queen Elizabeth, was first a Papist, then
a Protestant, then a Papist, then a Protestant again. This Vicar being
tax't by one for being a turncoat, not so (said he) for I always kept
my principles, which is this, to live and die Vicar of Bray."
Lastly, here is the song:--
THE VICAR OF BRAY.
In good King Charles's golden days,
When loyalty had no harm in't,
A zealous high-churchman I was,
And so I got preferment.
To teach my flock I never miss'd:
Kings are by God appointed;
And those are damn'd that do resist,
And touch the Lord's anointed:
And this is law, I will maintain
Until my dying day, sir,
That whatsoever king shall reign,
I will be Vicar of Bray, sir.
When royal James obtain'd the throne,
And Popery came in fashion,
The penal laws I booted down,
And read the declaration:
The Church of Rome I found would fit
Full well my constitution;
And had become a Jesuit,
But for the Revolution,
And this is law, &c.
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