COMFORTS OF BATH. VII.
Plate VII.
'And if you've a mind for a frolic, i' faith, I'll just step and see you jump into the bath.' Thinks I to myself, they are after some fun, And I'll see what they're doing, as sure as a gun: Oh! 'twas pretty to see them all put on their flannels, And then take the water like so many spaniels; And though all the while it grew hotter and hotter, They swam just as if they were hunting an otter. 'Twas a glorious sight to behold the fair sex All wading with gentlemen up to their necks, And view them so prettily tumble and sprawl In a great smoking kettle as big as our hall; And to-day many persons of rank and condition Were boil'd by command of an able physician.
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You cannot conceive what a number of ladies Were stewed in the water the same as our maid is: So Tabby, you see, had the honour of washing With folks of distinction and very high fashion; But in spite of good company, poor little soul, She shook both her ears like a mouse in a bowl. But what is surprising, no mortal e'er view'd Any one of the physical gentlemen stew'd; Since the day that King Bladud first found out these bogs, And thought them so good for himself and his hogs, Not one of the faculty ever has try'd These excellent waters to cure his own hide; Tho' many a skilful and learned physician, With candour, good sense, and profound erudition, Obliges the world with the fruits of his brain, Their nature and hidden effects to explain.
COMFORTS OF BATH. VIII.