When Kit North is dead, What will Maga do, sir? She must go to bed, And like him die too, sir! Fal de ral, de ral, Iram coram dago; Fal de ral, de ral, Here's success to Maga.

SHEPHERD

When death has them flat, I'll stitch on my weepers, Put crape around my bat, And a napkin to my peepers! Fal de ral, de ral, &c.

NORTH

Your words go to my heart, I hear the death-owl flying, I feel death's fatal dart— By jingo, I am dying! Fal de ral, de ral, &c. COLONEL O'SHAUGHNESSY. See him, how he lies Flat as any flounder! Blow me! smoke his eyes— Death ne'er closed eyes sounder! Fal de ral, de ral, &c.

DELTA

Yet he can't be dead, For he is immortal, And to receive his head Earth would not ope its portal! Fal de ral, de ral, &c.

O'DOHERTY

Kit will never die; That I take for sartain! Death "is all my eye"— An't it, Betty Martin? Fal de ral, de ral, &c. MODERN PYTHAGOREAN. Suppose we feel his arm— Zounds' I never felt a Human pulse more firm: What's your opinion, Delta? Fal de ral, de ral, &c

CHARLES LAMB

Kit, I hope you're well, Up, and join our ditty; To lose such a fine old fel- Low would be a pity! Fal de ral, de ral, &c.

NORTH

Let's resume our booze, And tipple while we're able; I've had a bit of a snooze, And feel quite comfortable! Fal de ral, de ral, &c.

MULLION

Be he who he may, Sultan, Czar, or Aga, Let him soak his clay To the health of Kit and Maga! Fal de ral, de ral, &c.

OPIUM-EATER

Search all the world around, From Greenland to Malaga, And nowhere will be found A magazine like Maga! Fal de ral, de ral, Iram coram dago; Fal de ral, de ral, Here's success to Maga!

Blackwood—Noctes

Notes of a Reader

KNOWLEDGE FOR THE PEOPLE; OR, THE PLAIN WHY AND BECAUSE

PART III.—Origins and Antiquities

This contains the Why and Because of the Curiosities of the Calendar; the Customs and Ceremonies of Special Days; and a few of the Origins and Antiquities of Social Life. We quote a page of articles, perhaps, the longest in the Number:—

Cock-fighting

Why was throwing at cocks formerly customary on Shrove Tuesday?

Because the crowing of a cock once prevented our Saxon ancestors from massacreing their conquerors, another part of our ancestors, the Danes, on the morning of a Shrove Tuesday, while asleep in their beds.

This is the account generally received, although two lines in an epigram "On a Cock at Rochester," by the witty Sir Charles Sedley, imply that the cock suffered this annual barbarity by way of punishment for St. Peter's crime, in denying his Lord and Master—

"Mayst thou be punish'd for St. Peter's crime, And on Shove Tuesday perish in thy prime."

A writer in the Gentleman's Magazine also says—"The barbarous practice of throwing at a cock tied to a stake on Shrovetide, I think I have read, has an allusion to the indignities offered by the Jews to the Saviour of the World before his crucifixion."—Ellis's Notes to Brand.

Why was cock-fighting a popular sport in Greece?

Because of its origin from the Athenians, on the following occasion: When Themistocles was marching his army against the Persians, he, by the way, espying two cocks fighting, caused his army to halt, and addressed them as follows—"Behold! these do not fight for their household gods, for the monuments of their ancestors, nor for glory, nor for liberty, nor for the safety of their children, but only because the one will not give way to the other."—This so encouraged the Grecians, that they fought strenuously, and obtained the victory over the Persians; upon which, cock-fighting was, by a particular law, ordered to be annually celebrated by the Athenians.

Cæsar mentions the English cocks in his Commentaries; but the earliest notice of cock-fighting in England, is by Fitzstephen the monk, who died in 1191.

St. George

Why is St. George the patron saint of England?

Because, when Robert, Duke of Normandy, the son of William the Conqueror, was fighting against the Turks, and laying siege to the famous city of Antioch, which was expected to be relieved by the Saracens, St. George appeared with an innumerable army, coming down from the hills, all clad in white, with a red cross on his banner, to reinforce the Christians. This so terrified the infidels that they fled, and left the Christians in possession of the town.—Butler.

Why is St. George usually painted on horseback, and tilting at a dragon under his feet?

Because the representation is emblematical of his faith and fortitude, by which he conquered the devil, called the dragon in the Apocalypse.—Butler.

Why was the Order of the Garter instituted?

Because of the victory obtained over the French at the battle of Cressy, when Edward ordered his garter to be displayed as a signal of battle; to commemorate which, he made a garter the principal ornament of an order, and a symbol of the indissoluble union of the knights. The order is under the patronage or protection of St. George, whence he figures in its insignia. Such is the account of Camden, Fern, and others. The common story of the order being instituted in honour of a garter of the Countess of Salisbury, which she dropped in dancing, and which was picked up by King Edward, has been denounced as fabulous by our best antiquaries.

Страница 5 из 12

Назад 1…4 5 6…12 Далее

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 17, No. 470, January 8, 1831

AI-разбор доступен после входа

О книге

Читать онлайн

A CHRISTMAS CAROL.—IN HONOUR OF MAGA. (BLACKWOOD.)

SUNG BY THE CONTRIBUTORS

TICKLER

SHEPHERD

NORTH

DELTA

O'DOHERTY

CHARLES LAMB

NORTH

MULLION

OPIUM-EATER

Blackwood—Noctes

Notes of a Reader

KNOWLEDGE FOR THE PEOPLE; OR, THE PLAIN WHY AND BECAUSE

PART III.—Origins and Antiquities

Cock-fighting

St. George

Вам также может понравиться

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 10, No. 279, October 20, 1827

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 10, No. 262, July 7, 1827

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 10, No. 264, July 14, 1827

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 10, No. 276, October 6, 1827

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 14, No. 385, August 15, 1829

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 14, No. 399, Supplementary Number

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 10, No. 273, September 15, 1827

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 20, No. 582, December 22, 1832

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 10, No. 268, August 11, 1827

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 12, No. 331, September 13, 1828

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 12, No. 333, September 27, 1828

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 13. Index to Volume 13