17
But the bold flag of old England
Flies bravely at the mast;
The Dutch take down their colours,
While the cannons fire their last.
From that hour victorious
Have we kept the seas,
And our navy glorious,
Queens it o’er the breeze.
Long may we keep such empire,
It is a noble debt
We owe to those past triumphs,
We never may forget.
The victory over the Dutch was won by Admiral Blake in the time of the Protectorate. Von Tromp sailed into the channel with a broom at his masthead, intimating that he would sweep the seas of the English. The result is stated above.
