For, now De Ruyter’s topsails
   Off naked Chatham show,
We dare not meet him with our fleet –
   And this the Dutchmen know!

Rudyard Kipling, ‘The Dutch in the Medway’

Happy World Poetry Day! What better time to do a spot of research into poems about Medway? I couldn’t think of any poems about Medway – or Kent for that matter – off the top of my head, but I was pleased to discover that its history has inspired many famous writers! Today, I’ve picked out a poem by Rudyard Kipling. This one sparked my interest because it’s about the Dutch raid on the River Medway in June 1667, which I’ve written about before.

Rudyard Kipling famously wrote The Jungle Book and the much-loved poem, If. He lived at Bateman’s in East Sussex, which is a beautiful place and well worth visiting if you’re in the area.

Kipling’s poem, ‘The Dutch in the Medway’ is about the Dutch navy’s infamous raid on the river in June 1667, during the Second Anglo-Dutch War. The Dutch fleet sailed up the Medway, virtually unhindered, and captured three ships. It was an embarrassing defeat for the English forces, especially as the King’s flagship was captured.

The Dutch in the Medway, by Rudyard Kipling
If wars were won by feasting,
   Or victory by song,
Or safety found in sleeping sound,
   How England would be strong!
But honour and dominion
   Are not maintained so.
They’re only got by sword and shot,
   And this the Dutchmen know!
 
The moneys that should feed us
   You spend on your delight,
How can you then have sailor-men
   To aid you in your fight?
Our fish and cheese are rotten,
   Which makes the scurvy grow –
We cannot serve you if we starve,
   And this the Dutchmen know!
 
Our ships in every harbour
   Be neither whole nor sound,
And, when we seek to mend a leak,
   No oakum can be found;
Or, if it is, the caulkers,
   And carpenters also,
For lack of pay have gone away,
   And this the Dutchmen know!
 
Mere powder, guns, and bullets,
   We scarce can get at all;
Their price was spent in merriment
   And revel at Whitehall,
While we in tattered doublets
   From ship to ship must row,
Beseeching friends for odds and ends –
   And this the Dutchmen know! 
 
No King will heed our warnings,
   No Court will pay our claims –
Our King and Court for their disport
   Do sell the very Thames!
For, now De Ruyter’s topsails
   Off naked Chatham show,
We dare not meet him with our fleet –
   And this the Dutchmen know!

Kipling’s poem was first published in A School History of England in 1911. It focusses on King Charles II’s neglect of England’s navy, blaming his frivolous spending on ‘merriment and revel’ for the state of the English forces and their defeat.

De Ruyter – mentioned at the end of the poem – was the leader of the Dutch fleet. A distinguished naval commander, he was beloved by his men, who affectionately referred to him as Bestevaêr (old Dutch for ‘grandfather’). De Ruyter is a celebrated figure in the Netherlands, where he has featured on stamps and banknotes. There is a statue of him in his home city of Vlissingen, and he is buried in De Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam.

‘The Dutch in the Medway’ is one of many poems by Kipling that were put to music by the English folk singer, Peter Bellamy.

I feel inspired to start a collection of poems about Medway now. Do you have a favourite poem about Medway? If so, do share it in the comments.