The Vicar of Bray

English ballad

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July 14, 2026

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The "Vicar of Bray" is an English ballad that tells the story of a semilegendary vicar from the village of Bray in Berkshire, England. This vicar is said to have changed his religious allegiance to align with the reigning monarch, serving as both a Protestant and a Roman Catholic vicar multiple times. The ballad, of unknown authorship, details how this vicar managed to keep his position throughout the reigns of Charles II and George I by adapting his creed as needed. Consequently, the term "Vicar of Bray" has come to describe a person with changeable allegiances, often referred to as an opportunist or turncoat.12

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Bray
The well-known English ballad “The Vicar of Bray,” of unknown authorship, tells how the vicar of the community retained his ecclesiastical living by changing creed according to necessity from the time of Charles II until the accession of George I. The modern village is residential in character. Pop. (2001)…
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The well-known English ballad “The Vicar of Bray,” of unknown authorship, tells how the vicar of the community retained his ecclesiastical living by changing creed according to necessity from the time of Charles II until the accession of George I. The modern village is residential in character. Pop. (2001)…
Read More