King John
By Dorothy Tan
King John sat there, with his head on his arm
I want to conquer France, how could this be done?
‘I’ll raise taxes on barons, that’s what I’ll do’
He didn’t know that trouble was about to ensue
The barons revolted, they all rebelled
‘We’ve had enough’ the barons all yelled
O King John, what a vile man was he
Doing all things bad
Taking all he could see
Raising taxes, seizing land
Making our widowed sisters marry horrible men
‘We’ll go to London, we’ll fight for our rights
To get us out of this terrible plight’
The barons travelled, gathering people along the way,
Led by Fitzwalter, they didn’t give up, come what may
King John said ‘Ignore these traitors, I will not speak to them’
I am the King and they will destroy my grand plan
But the king will talk, he was compromise
Though this simply foreshadowed his own demise
In 1215, at Runnmede near Windsor,
The two sides met and settled their score
King John agreed, though grudgingly,
To the 63 rules the baron had decreed
He was now subjected to law
O King John
A supreme king no more.
This bill of rights was thus, to stay,
The magna carta we have today
800 years on, we celebrate
Its existence and the barons’ courage and bravery.
