I am the first Assessor

"Green Grow the Rushes O"

I am the first assessor, O!
I am the first assessor, O!
My freens, in short, of Our Court
I am the first assessor, O!

The Whigs an' Radicals may blaw,
About the outward pressure O!
An' say it drave Sir Rob. Awa',-
It was the first assessor, O!
I am the first assessor, O!
I am the first assessor, O!
My freens, in short, of Our Court
I am the first assessor, O!

Our Court memorializ'd the king,
Said naething could be baser, O!
Than tak' Sir Robert back again,
And mak' him first assessor, O!
I am the first assessor, O!
I am the first assessor, O!
My freens, in short, of Our Court
I am the first assessor, O!

The King gave ear unto our prayer,
An' own'd himsel' transgressor, O!
The change was brought about, I swear,
By me, the first assessor, O!
I am the first assessor, O!
I am the first assessor, O!
My freens, in short, of Our Court
I am the first assessor, O!

Grace Banks
David Hunter
Susan Kirkwood
Shirley Watt
Eric White

Songs from 'WHIG-RADICAL Festival Extraordinary!' (1835) (3)

The Assessor's job was to list everyone entitled to vote in town council elections for the Burgh of Aberdeen. This song comes from a Tory pamphlet which mocks the Whigs and Radicals. It suggests, particularly through the songs, that the Whigs and Radicals are not united, and that the Whig MP, Alexander Bannerman, who is given the position of the Chairman at this 'dinner', is a most ineffectual Member of Parliament. It also looks at corruption on the burgh council, but places the blame completely at the feet of the Whigs and Radicals. In this song, the First Assessor is rather confident of his own powers. In December 1834, King George IV had invited the Tories, led by Sir Robert Peel, to form a government, which lasted from December 1834 until April 1835. The song refers to this.