Vicar of Bray

British  

/ breɪ /

noun

1. a vicar (Simon Aleyn) appointed to the parish of Bray in Berkshire during Henry VIII's reign who changed his faith to Catholic when Mary I was on the throne and back to Protestant when Elizabeth I succeeded and so retained his living

2. Also called: In Good King Charles's Golden Days.  a ballad in which the vicar's changes of faith are transposed to the Stuart period

3. a person who changes his or her views or allegiances in accordance with what is suitable at the time

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Example Sentences

I should think that such an instance has never been known since that good old parson who sung, 'Whatsoever king may reign, Still I'll be Vicar of Bray, Sir.'

From Ireland as It Is And as It Would be Under Home Rule by Buckley, Robert John

And this is law, that I'll maintain, Until my dying day, sir, That whatsoever King shall reign, I'll be the Vicar of Bray, sir.

From English Songs and Ballads by Crosland, T. W. H. (Thomas William Hodgson)

The addition we have suggested might be sanctioned, under the plea that the Vicar of Bray would then have a representative.

From Punch - Volume 25 (Jul-Dec 1853) by Various

Like a lacertine Vicar of Bray, he varies incontinently from buff to blue, and from blue back to orange again, under stress of circumstances.

From Falling in Love With Other Essays on More Exact Branches of Science by Allen, Grant

The son of a man who might have been the original of the Vicar of Bray, he was very little of a poet, less of a priest, but a great deal of a politician.

From The Wits and Beaux of Society Volume 1 by Wharton, Grace