Annotation:Welcome Brother Debtor

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WELCOME BROTHER DEBTOR. AKA - "Welcome, Welcome, Brother Debtor." AKA and see "Debtor's Welcome to their Brother." English, Air (3/4 time). G Major. The song, by Irish-born Charles Coffey (d. 1745), was originally entitled "The Prisoner's Ballad; or, Welcome, Welcome, Brother Debtor, &c. The True Copy of which was Never Printed Before"; it appeared in Prisoner's Opera. The original air used in the opera was a different one than appeared with they lyric printed in the latter 18th century. The original air is an older one, often employed in ballad operas and especially for sea songs (see "Sailor's Complaint (The)"). The words were printed in Calliope, or, The Musical Miscellany (1788, Song 238, p. 441, directed to be sung to the air "Cease Rude Boreas") and other 18th century songsters. The first couple of stanzas go:

Welcome, welcome, brother debtor,
To this poor but merry place;
Where no bailiff, dun, or fetter,
Dare to shew a frightful face.
But, kind Sir, as you're a stranger,
Down your garnish you must lay;
Or your coat will be in danger:
You must either strip or pay.

Ne'er repine at y our confinement
From your children or your wife:
Wisdom lies in true resignment,
Through the various scenes of life.
Scorn to show the least resentment,
Though beneath the frowns of fate;
Knaves and beggars find contentment;
Fears and cares attend the great.

"Welcome Brother Debtor" was among those played by British bands the evening before their surrender at Yorktown, in keeping with their anticipated encarceration.

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