
	Down the Generations 1. When William surveyed old Albion In the Domesday book of yore There was many a mention Of an ounce of gold or more And later when hale Henry Drank a yard of ale He somehow stayed clean sober So his ardour did not pale. Chorus: Down the generations Through the mists of time There stand our weights and measures Which have served each purpose fine. 2. When Newton saw the light As an apple fell like lead So many feet per second squared Accelerated in his head What steamed into action And Stephenson got on track They used up gallons of water And coal by the hundredweight sack. Down the generations… 3. The six yard box in football The cricket pitch of a chain The final furlong at the races The golf putt played in vain The seven pound two ounce baby Born to a six foot Dad We choose to use this language To lose it would be sad Down the generations… 4. When Francis Drake in Plymouth Finished his game of bowls He used his twenty pounders To see off the nation’s foes Then Wren he built St. Pauls Which is still with us today Designed in feet and inches Anchored in London Clay. Down the generations…. 5. Brunel, who was a genius With his tunnels, bridges and boats Used traditional measures Down to the sleeves of his coat Then our friends across the Atlantic Taught us how to fly Using pounds per square inch As the lunar craft flew high Down the generations… 6. So when the try to tell you As they might from time to time That nothing works but metric Just say ‘ Don’t spin that line’ For British weights and measures Evolved through the common man And he never used a hundred Where a simple figure could stand. Down the generations…