Explore "Tramp and Fish" by James McIntyre on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
A hungry tramp did long for dish, / And he stole a big bunch of fish, / But he full soon did come to grief, / He was quick captured as a thief.
And brought before the magistrate, / So judge he would pronounce his fate, / Judge asked him how he came by fish, / The thief said for them he did wish, / The best fish ever came from brook, / I own, my Lord, I did them hook, / Said constable, he speaks what's true, / And you must give the devil his due.
Then judge did constable rebuke, / He owns fish if he did them hook, / He has not broken any clause / I know of in our fishery laws.
Unless you can show this reason, / He has hooked them out of season, / Your duty you have thus mistook, / For man had right the fish to hook.
Fishing here it is not treason, / Him you had no right to seize on, / And when the poor man did fish hook, / He had a right the same to cook.