Humour of the North

by Lawrence J. Burpee

One day a housemaid, as he sat

At the receipt of biz,

Came crying, "Ho, Sir Smith, Sir Smith,

Sir Jones's pipes is friz."

He girt his apron round his loins,

His tools took from the shelf,

And to the journeyman he said,

"I'll see to this myself."

"Would," said he, as he drew the bill,

"My father were alive;