And we shouted and laughed all the way up to Town,
Riding outside the hearse in our glory.
Punch, January 5, 1850.
At the time when the above parody appeared there was an agitation on foot to reform the costliness and vain display at funerals. Punch, both in his cartoons and his letterpress, was exceedingly bitter against the undertakers.
The matter was so energetically taken up by the press and the public, that funerals were soon shorn of their costly mummery, and are now conducted on much more sensible and economical principles than they were in 1850.
In reference to the disputed authority of the ode "Not a drum was heard," the Rev. T. W. Carson, of Dublin, has kindly forwarded a facsimile of the letter, (to which reference was made on page 105), from the Rev. C. Wolfe to his friend Mr. John Taylor. It varies slightly from the version already given, and seems conclusively to establish Wolfe's title as author of the poem.
It runs thus:—
"I have completed the Burial of Sir John Moore, and will here inflict it upon you; you have no one but yourself to blame, for praising the two stanzas (?) that I told you so much;—
(Here follows the poem.)
"Pray write soon—you may direct as usual to College, and it will follow me to the country. Give my love to Armstrong, and believe me, my dear John, ever yours,
(Signed) CHARLES WOLFE."
This is addressed—
"JOHN TAYLOR, ESQ.,