THE BALLAD OF "BEAU BROCADE." "Hark! I hear the sound of coaches!" EVENTEEN hundred and thirty-nine :- First great GEORGE was buried and gone; LONDON then, as the "Guides" aver, And people of rank, to correct their "tone," Those were the days of the War with Spain, WHITEFIELD preached to the colliers grim, WALPOLE talked of "a man and his price"; Those, in fine, were the brave days when ... And of all the knights of the gentle trade This they knew on the whole way down; (For timorous cits on their pilgrimage Would "club" for a "Guard " to ride the stage; And the Guard that rode on more than one Open we here on a March-day fine, There was Barber DICK with his basin by; Portly product of Beef and Beer, JOHN the host, he was standing near. Straining and creaking, with wheels awry, Lumbering up from Bagshot Heath, Passengers heavily armed inside; Not the less surely the coach had been tried! Tried !-but a couple of miles away, Tried successfully, never a doubt,- Cloak-bags rifled, and cushions ripped,— Even a Methodist hosier's wife Offered the choice of her Money or Life! Highwayman's manners no less polite, Hoped that their coppers (returned) were right ; Sorry to find the company poor, Hoped next time they'd travel with more ; Plucked them all at his ease, in short: Such was the "Plymouth Fly's" report. Sympathy! horror! and wonderment ! Hosier's wife led into the Bar; (That's where the best strong waters are !) Followed the tale of the hundred-and-one Ensign (of BRAGG's) made a terrible clangour: "BEAU BROCADE"; Robber, of course, was Devonshire DOLLY, plump and red, Spoke it out boldly, staring hard : : "Why did n't you shoot then, GEORGE the Guard ?" Spoke it out bolder, seeing him mute : "GEORGE the Guard, why did n't you shoot ?" Portly JOHN grew pale and red, (JOHN was afraid of her, people said ;) Gasped that "DOLLY was surely cracked," (JOHN was afraid of her-that's a fact !) GEORGE the Guard grew red and pale, "Shoot? Why-Rabbit him !-did n't he shoot ?" Muttered-" The Baggage was far too 'cute!" "Shoot? Why he'd flashed the pan in his eye!" Muttered-"She'd pay for it by and by!" Further than this made no reply. Nor could a further reply be made, For GEORGE was in league with "BEAU BROCADE"! And JOHN the Host, in his wakefullest state, Was not-on the whole-immaculate. But nobody's virtue was over-nice When WALPOLE talked of “a man and his price”; And wherever Purity found abode, 'Twas certainly not on a posting road. II. "Forty" followed to "Thirty-nine." Glorious days of the Hanover line! |