Much to Catherine and Thomas’ disgust
Ben liked keeping a slave
They thought that abolition was a must
He thought they should just behave

Benjamin liked keeping slaves so much
He purchased his local paper
And ran articles, polemics and such
About how he’d done slaves a favour

They’re much better clothed
And much better housed
And much better fed
The Herald espoused
Than your average English labour

He’d met Buck in the chapel
And they’d set about brewing beer
For the good, the great and the rabble
Of Bury St Edmunds, in the year

Of Our Lord Eighteen Hundred and Six
Old ale and porter too
And when The Blake’s found themselves in a fix
It was Benjamin who came through

And said I’ll manage your plantations
In Monserrat and St Kitts
And many generations of Greenes
Will reap the benefits

His business grew, his chattels grew too
Though he found trafficking abhorrent
Keeping slaves, he’d happily pursue
As necessity, so he’d warrant

So, he fought hard the passage of The Slave Trade Act
Even quoting The Bible on occasion
And by 1833 he’d attract
Libel action, to his frustration

Three years later, he was off to the City
Leaving Edward to brew the beer
The compensation for freedom, more’s the pity
Going to Benjamin, not the slaves, it’s clear

While the wages on the plantations
That the freed slaves were now making
Did not match the profits and remunerations
That the Greene family were taking

And while Edward was running the brewery
Young Charles went out to St Kitts
Able, but with much tomfoolery
He left behind thirteen, the family now admits

All of whom were born illegitimately
As discovered by Sir Hugh Carleton Greene
Himself director of the BBC
And a great-nephew of Charlie Greene

(The novelist, Graeme Greene
Another who carried the gene)

Now the good folk of St Kitts and Nevis
Frustrated by government hesitation
Have said to Greene King, you owe us this
We demand our reparation

So, put down your pint of IPA
And listen to the slave’s child’s tale
Of what really happened back in the day
And the true cost of your ale