Literary Byways Part 8

The next are two Kentish rhymes:--

"Sutton for mutton Kerby for beef, South Darve for gingerbread, Dartford for a thief."

This is complimentary:--

"English lord, German count, and French marquies, A yeoman of Kent is worth all three."

It is said of Herefords.h.i.+re:--

"They who buy a house in Herefords.h.i.+re Pay three years' purchase for the air."

Says a Gloucesters.h.i.+re rhyme:--

"Blest is the eye Betwixt Severn and Wye."

In the same s.h.i.+re is the next couplet:--

"Beggarly Birley, strutting Stroud, Hampton poor, and Painswick proud."

Many more rhymes similar to the foregoing might be given, if s.p.a.ce permitted; but we have only room for a few more examples, and they relate to the weather. An old distich says:--

"When clouds are on the hills, They'll come down by the mills."

Another rhyme states:--

"When the mist comes from the hill, Then good weather it doth spill.

When the mist comes from the sea, Then good weather it will be."

In Worcesters.h.i.+re there is a saying:--

"When Bredon Hill puts on his hat, Ye men of the vale, beware of that."

Says a Yorks.h.i.+re rhyme:--

"When Oliver's Mount puts on his hat, Scarbro' town must pay for that."

In the same broad s.h.i.+re is a similar couplet:--

"When Ingleboro' wears a hat, Ribblesdale'll hear o' that."

The Poetry of Toast Lists and Menu Cards.

The public dinner-season in provincial England commences early in October and ends in the middle of March. During that period, at the slightest provocation, our countrymen are prepared to dine together, not with a desire of over-indulgence in eating, but to enjoy the pleasant company usually gathered round the festive board. It is an admitted fact that the men who are in the habit of attending banquets are generally most abstemious. Speech, story, and song form a pleasing part of the proceedings of literary-society dinners, masonic banquets, and the more homely but not less enjoyable suppers held in connection with the Burns'

Clubs. The toast lists and menu cards are often very interesting; they are frequently artistic in design, and enriched with quotations from the poets, which renders them of more than pa.s.sing interest. A few quotations from some of the best of those which have come under our notice seem worth reproducing. The authors represented cover a wide field, ranging from Shakespeare to Tennyson. The former is the most quotable poet, and he is most frequently drawn upon. Burns, however, runs him very closely.

In turning over a pile of toast lists, the first to attract our attention is the one prepared for the Hull Shakespearean Festival. On the front page is a portrait of the bard and the familiar line of "rare" Ben Jonson:--

"He was not of an age, but for all time."

Under the first toast--that of the Queen--are two lines from _Henry V._:--

"G.o.d and his angels guard your sacred throne, And make you long become it."

The toast of the evening follows: "The Immortal Memory of Shakespeare"--Dr. Johnson's well-known verse beneath it:--

"Each change of many-coloured life he drew; Exhausted worlds, and then imagined new; Existence saw him spurn her bounded reign, And panting Time toiled after him in vain."

The third speaker had for his topic "Shakespeare's Universality," with a motto from _Romeo and Juliet_:--

"Monarch of the universal earth."

Actors and actresses were next toasted under the heading of "Shakespearean Exponents," with a quotation from _Oth.e.l.lo_:--

"Speak of me as I am: nothing extenuate, Nor set down aught in malice."

The next theme was "Shakespeare and Tragedy," with a line from _Richard III._:--

"I live to look upon their tragedy."

Then followed "Shakespeare and Comedy," with two lines from the _Taming of the Shrew_:--

"Frame your mind for mirth and merriment, Which bars a thousand harms."

Under the sentiment of "Shakespeare and History," is a line from _Henry IV._ (Part II.):--

"There is a history in all men's lives."

Lastly, "Shakespearean Women" were remembered, and under the toast are three lines as follow from the third part of _Henry VI._:--

"'Tis beauty that doth oft make women proud; 'Tis virtue that doth make them most admired; 'Tis modesty that makes them seem divine."

The programme of music is headed with a couple of lines from _Twelfth Night_:--

"If music be the food of love, play on; Give me excess of it."

At the foot of the card is printed "Good Night," and a quotation from _Macbeth_, as follows:--

"At once good night: Stand not upon the order of your going, But go at once."

The toast list of a local literary society contains some happy quotations from Shakespeare. The speakers are reminded at the commencement of the programme, in the words from _Hamlet_, that "Brevity is the soul of wit."

The two lines under the toast of "The Prince and Princess of Wales" are from _Pericles_:--

"As jewels lose their glory if neglected, So princes their renown if not respected."

A line from _Richard III._:--