"The hammer was struck; that concluded the sale,
The sailor he paid down the brass on the nail;
He shook hands with Betsy, and gave her a smack,
And she jumped straddle-legs on to his back.
"The people all relished the joke, it appears,
And gave the young sailor three hearty good cheers;
He never cried stop, with his darling so sweet,
Until he was landed in Denison Street.
"They sent for fiddler and piper to play,
They danced and they sung, till the break of day;
Then Jack to his hammock with Betsy did go,
While the fiddler and piper played 'Rosin, the beau.'"
I have eleven cases of wife selling in this reign, copied from the Times, and I have no doubt I have overlooked some more. The first is—
"Selling a Wife.
"The following memorandum (says the Stockport Advertiser), drawn upon a 1s. 6d. stamp, will best explain the nature of a bargain between two fellows at a beer shop, in the Hillgate, in this town. Milward is a butcher, and was last week fined before our magistrates for using uneven balances in his trading transactions. The other persons are unknown to us:—
"'I, Booth Milward, bought of William Clayton, his wife, for five shillings, to be delivered on the 25th of March, 1831, to be delivered in a alter at Mr. John Lomases house.
"'William Clayton.
"'Witnesses: Joseph Gordon, G. Wood, George Whalley.'"
The next is from the Times, February 25, 1832—