Or in turf-embers roasted crisp and hot.
Welcome, although you be our only dish;
Welcome, companion to flesh, fowl, or fish;
But to the real gourmands, the learned few,
Most welcome, steaming in an Irish stew.”
T. Crofton Croker.
——:o:——
“Mazeppa Travestied: a Poem,” is the title of a small anonymous pamphlet published by C. Chapple, Pall Mall, London, in 1820. Price, Half-a-crown. It has an introductory address to “The Goddess of Milling, and her worshippers, The Fancy.”
The preface contains the following sensible passage “With regard to Travesty, or Parody in general, it may be observed that the use of it by no means necessarily implies a design of holding up the original to ridicule and contempt.” The parody itself, however, is so full of slang, and deals with such unsavoury topics, that no extracts from it can be given. Suffice it to say that it describes the adventures and amours of prize-fighters and their friends, in language worthy of the theme, although it must be admitted, the parody closely imitates the original poem in its construction. Following the Mazeppa Travestie comes a short parody descriptive of the defeat of Belasco, the Jewish prize-fighter.
The Defeat of Crack-a-Rib.