Quite cautiously the mill began,
For neither knew the other's plan:
Each cull completely in the dark, [5]
Of vot might be his neighbour's mark;
Resolved his fibbing not to mind, [6]
Nor yet to pay him back in kind;
So on each other kept they tout,
And sparred a bit, and dodged about.
Ri, tol, lol, etc.
IV
Vith mawleys raised, Tom bent his back, [7]
As if to place a heavy thwack;
Vile Jem, with neat left handed stopper,
Straight threatened Tommy with a topper;
'Tis all my eye! no claret flows, [8]
No facers sound—no smashing blows,
Five minutes pass, yet not a hit,
How can it end, pals ?—vait a bit.
Ri, tol, lol, etc.
V.
Each cove vos teared with double duty,
To please his backers, yet play booty, [9]
Ven, luckily for Jem, a teller
Vos planted right upon his smeller [10]
Down dropped he, stunned; ven time was called
Seconds in vain the seconds bawled;
The mill is o'er, the crosser crost,
The losers von, the vinners lost.
[1: fight] [2: money] [3: man] [4: stripped] [5: fellow] [6: Notes] [7: hands] [8: blood] [9: deceive them] [10: nose]
THE THIEVES' CHAUNT [Notes] [1836]
(By W. H. SMITH in The Individual)
I
There is a nook in the boozing ken, [1]
Where many a mug I fog, [2]
And the smoke curls gently, while cousin Ben
Keeps filling the pots again and again,
If the coves have stump'd their hog. [3]