Written in the 1690s. If you don't love whiskey or the English language as it used to be spoken and sung, you have no soul. ;>) Lyrics below.
"Come, and doe not musing stand
if thou the truth discerne
But take a full cup in thy hand,
and thus begin to learne-
Not of the earth, nor of the ayre,
at evening or at morne-
But joviall boyes your Christmas keep,
with the little Barly-Corne.
"Twill make a weeping widow laugh,
and soon incline to pleasure;
"Twill make an old man leave his staffe,
and dance a youthfull measure:
And though your clothes be ne'er so bad,
or ragged, rent and torne,
Against the cold you may be clad
with the little Barly-Corne.
"Twill make a miser prodigall,
and shew himself kind hearted;
"Twill make him never grieve at all,
that from his coyne hath parted;
"Twill make a shepherd to mistake
his sheepe before a storme;
"Twill make the poet to excel;
this little Barley-Corne.
"It is the neatest serving man
to entertain a friend;
It will doe more than money can
all jarring suits to end;
There's life in it, and it is here,
'tis here within this cup,
Then take your liquor, doe not spare,
but cleare carouse it up.