'Twas on those Downs, by Roman hosts annoy'd,
Fought our bold fathers, rustic, unrefin'd!
Freedom's plain sons, in martial cares employ'd!
They ting'd their bodies, but unmask'd their mind.
'Twas there, in happier times, this virtuous race,
Of milder merit, fix'd their calm retreat;
War's deadly crimson had forsook the place,
And Freedom fondly lov'd the chosen seat.
No wild ambition fir'd their tranquil breast,
To swell with empty sounds a spotless name;
If fost'ring skies, the sun, the show'r, were blest,
Their bounty spread; their fields' extent the same.
Those fields, profuse of raiment, food, and fire,
They scorn'd to lessen, careless to extend;
Bade Luxury to lavish courts aspire,
And Avarice to city breasts descend.
[Excerpt]
The family is the Penn family, of Harborough Hall in Worcestershire.
There is a tradition that the ancient Britons fought a battle against the Romans on Harborough Downs.