Page images
PDF
EPUB

Oh, Mary! I'm in love with you;
Your eyes are very bright;
Your tresses like a raven's wing,

Your smile a ray of light.

Yes, Mary dear, my heart's your own,

But I'm a poor man still;

And brilliant eyes and tresses dark
Won't pay the butcher's bill.

Oh, Mary, I'm in love with you,
And for your rosy lip

The bee'd forsake his favourite flower,
More honied sweets to sip.

Yes, Mary dear, my heart's your own,
I would that we could wed;
But could we live on kisses, love,

Without a loaf of bread?

Oh, Mary! I'm in love with you,

Your image I adore;

The charms you boast would grace a throne,

But not a second floor.

Yes, Mary dear, my heart's your own,

I feel your virtue's worth;

But love, I fear, would soon catch cold
Beside a fireless hearth!

Oh, Mary! I'm in love with you,
Sincere is my regard;

But you would find my humble couch
Uncomfortably hard!

Glad dreams may haunt your pillow now,
But they would vanish quick;
Yes, Mary dear, my heart's your own,
But could we sleep on tick?

Oh, Mary! I'm in love with you,

But in our needy home

What could we do, should some fine day

A little baby come?

Yes, Mary dear, my heart's your own,
But such a marriage shun;

Go seek, go seek a wealthy mate,
And cut the Younger Son!

CHAPTER X.

SHORT AND SWEET- -BEING A GLOSSARY OF WORDS MOST IN USE AMONG YOUNGER SONS.

YOUNGER Sons are not only peculiar animals themselves, and have not only peculiar animals -in the shape of their Duns-to deal with, but they also have a vocabulary of words in use among themselves, which may with justice be termed "peculiar" likewise. The "peculiar" language, which is the dialect of Billingsgate, we have seen of late forcibly illustrated by the "reverend" contenders for "gown" or "surplice" in the Church. Mr. Ainsworth and Sir

H

Edward Bulwer Lytton have kindly enlightened us as to the "peculiar" language, alias

66

slang" in vogue among thieves, et hoc genus omne; but I am not aware that there has been hitherto any guide or glossary published to explain the interesting and ingenious expressions in use among Detrimentals. I shall therefore devote this short chapter to a plain, and I hope intelligible, "glossary" of the various phrases of what may be called a "technical" nature, most commonly employed by younger sons.

GLOSSARY OF WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS IN USE AMONG YOUNGER SONS.

[graphic][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

and respect, however tyrannical or vicious he may be; a personage vastly useful on the stage, where he generally appears.-Deus ex machinâ- -as a beneficent dispenser of all kinds of blessings, but not so useful in real life, where he often demurs to paying your "little bills;" an elderly individual, who forgets that he was young once himself, and that you are young now; a most delightful and exemplary character when good-humoured and liberal, but a most disagreeable and improper one, when morose and stingy; a being who must be humoured in his whims, that you may be indulged in your small luxuries; whose breeches pocket must be picked by adroit flattery, not torn rudely open by bearish violence; whose strong-box must be unclosed by the pleasant key of Humbug, not burglariously violated by force or threats; the fountain of your being, and who, in that capacity, ought to sprinkle your path of existence with a refreshing shower of golden drops; the guardian of your youth, who tips you on your birthday as a

« ՆախորդըՇարունակել »