A MAY-DAY LAY.

Hip, hip, huzza!

For Merry May!

More dear than tongues can tell,

To ev'ry child of Phœbus,—and

Of Lancaster and Bell.

Lay by your books:

Let anxious looks

Give place to mirth and smiles.

Come, come, my lads, put up your slates,

And run and fetch your tiles!

Now off they go,

Dick, Tom, and Joe,

Just like a pack of hounds;

With vicar, crier, and beadle too,

To beat the parish bounds.

Away, away,

By bank and brae,

By footway and by highway:

Each lane a Lad-lane now becomes,

And ev'ry way a Boy-way.

At ev'ry well

Their notes they swell,—

One's in the water thrown;

Where he this moral lesson learns:—

"Always let well alone."

And then at night,

Oh! what delight

To hear the pipes of Pan!

And see the old connexion still

Kept up 'twixt May and Can!

While maidens bound

The May-pole round,

With hearts and footsteps light:

And near the Pole a booth is found,

A Boothia Felix quite.

At least 'twas so

Some years ago,

Ere wisdom oped our eyes;

And farthing folks, with penny mags,

Made people penny wise.

But, nowadays,

We've no such Mays:

Unpluck'd now blows the hawthorn.

A May-pole I no more can find

Than Parry can the northern.

Our Johnny raws

Read Newton's laws,

All merriment unheeding;

And, poring over the Laws of Light,

Imagine it light reading.

Yet still, sweet May,

To me thou'rt gay;

My pleasure and my pride!

I love thy vi'lets, daffodils,

Daisies,—and pigeons—pied!

I love thy flow'rs,

And shady bow'rs;

Thy mountains and thy vales.

I love thy morning breezes, and

I love thy nightingales!

Then, hip! huzza!

For Merry May!

We'll banish care and fear;

And sing and dance from day to day,

And laugh from ear to ear!

JUNE.—Haymaking.

JUNE.[1837.
Pattern of patience,—placid punter,—say,
Since early dawn, when thou didst take thy stand,
How many nibbles hast thou had? I pray,—
How many minnows hast thou brought to land?
Not one!—yet comfort thee, Piscator bold;
One thing, at least, you're sure to catch,—a cold!
D.Great Events and Odd Matters.Prognostifications.
1Crib
2squaring
3Transit of Venus. A ship-load of Vestals consigned to Van Diemen's land.to Gully
4☍ □ ♂ ☉
5had a more
6sinster
7aspect than
8Sun rises 3 h. 48 m.Mercury
9 I wish my Son would rise as soon,squaring to
To breathe the balmy air of June,—
10             The lazy dog!Mars?
Not snoring half his hours away,
11 Lie like a torpid lump of clay,♎ ♃ ☿
            Or old King Log.
12 To rouse the sluggard from his nest,Then,
I've all things tried, and done my best,—
13             The prig!as touching
I've stripped the clothes, in hopes he'd mend;
14 I've given him strap,—a thick rope's end,—THE
            Cold pig!
15 In vain!—There lies the stupid clown,WEATHER
As if the Night Mare held him down.
16 ♈ ☍
17 ♈ ☍
18Battle of Waterloo. Lobsters in season.what better
19index
20need we of
21Daniel Lambert died. Grand Diet of Worms.♂ ☉ ♉ ♋
22The grave-digger fled, all a-shiv'ring and shaking,its
  For old Mother Earth she cried,
23With a terrible groan: "Why the deuce are you makingevershifting
  This precious big hole in my side!"
24 ♊ ♒ △
25Quarter Day. Moon hides behind a cloud, for fear of being shot.variable
26 variations
27 ☿ □ ☊ ♍
than the
28 Ha! my lad, you've caught a Tartar,countenance
Landlords never give no quarter.
29 of
30 Spouse?