Growltiger was a Bravo Cat
Who travelled on a barge:
In fact he was the roughest Cat
That ever roamed at large
From Gravesend up to Oxford
He pursued his evil aims
Rejoicing in his title of
The Terror of the Thames

His manners and appearance
Did not calculate to please;
His coat was torn and seedy
He was baggy at the knees
One ear was somewhat missing
No need to tell you why
And he scowled upon a hostile world
From one forbidding eye

The cottagers of Rotherhithe
Knew something of his fame;
At Hammersmith and Putney
People shuddered at his name
They would fortify the henhouse
Lock up the silly goose
When the rumour ran along the shore
Growltiger's on the loose!

Woe to the weak canary
That fluttered from its cage;
Woe to the pampered Pekinese
That faced Growltiger's rage;
Woe to the bristly Bandicoot
That lurks on foreign ships
And woe to any Cat with whom
Growltiger came to grips!

But most to Cats of foreign race
His hatred had been vowed:
To Cats of foreign name and race
No quarter was allowed
The Persian and the Siamese
Regarded him with fear
Because it was a Siamese had
Mauled his missing ear.

Now on a peaceful summer night
All nature seemed at play
The tender moon was shining bright
The barge at Molesey lay
All in the balmy moonlight
It lay rocking on the tide
And Growltiger was disposed to show
His sentimental side

Growltigers bucko-mate, Grumbuskin,
Long since had disappeared
For to The Bell at Hampton
He had gone to wet his beard
And his bosun, Tumblebrutus
He too had stol'n away:
In the yard behind the Lion
He was prowling for his prey

In the forepeak of the vessel
Growltiger sat alone
Concentrating his attention
On the Lady Griddlebone
And his raffish crew were sleeping
In their barrels and their bunks
As the Siamese came creeping
In their sampans and their junks

Growltiger had no eye or ear
For aught but Griddlebone
And the Lady seemed enraptured
By his manly baritone
Disposed to relaxation
And awaiting no surprise
But the moonlight shone reflected from
A thousand bright blue eyes

And closer still and closer
The sampans circled round
And yet from all the enemy there
Was not heard a sound
The foe was armed with toasting forks
And cruel carving knives
And the lovers sang their last duet
In danger of their lives

In una tepida notte d'estate, allorché la natura
era nel pieno fulgore, e la fresca rugiada
splendeva al chiar di luna sopra la verzura
si poteva vedere il galeone ancorato
oscillare in silenzio nel vento profumato
dalla marea del naviglio serenamente cullato
in quella tepida notte che c'è dunque di male
se in tanta poesia anche il pirata diventa sentimentale?
in quella tepida notte
(translation)

Then Gilbert gave the signal to
His fierce Mongolian horde;
With a frightful burst of fireworks
The Chinks they swarmed aboard
Then Griddlebone she gave a screech
For she was badly skeered
I'm sorry to admit it but
She quickly disappeared

She probably escaped with ease
I'm sure she was not drowned
But a serried ring of flashing steel
Growltiger did surround
The ruthless foe pressed forward
In stubborn rank on rank
Growltiger to his vast surprise
Was forced to walk the plank.

He who a hundred victims
Had driven to their drop
At the end of all his crimes
Was forced to go
Ker-flip,
Ker-flop.

Oh there was joy in Wapping
When the news flew through the land
At Maidenhead and Henley
There was dancing on the strand
Rats were roasted whole in Brentford
And Victoria Dock
And a day of celebration was
Commanded in Bangkok.