He gain’d from them (all he abhorred) a gaol!
No further seek his doings to disclose,
Or draw his follies from this dull abode,
(Here he’ll at all events three months repose),
Th’ Insolvent Act may open then a road.
This Parody was published anonymously in a little work, entitled, “Prison Thoughts,” by a Collegian. London, John Lowndes, 1821. It was afterwards reprinted in “Doings in London, or Day and Night Scenes in the Metropolis,” by George Smeeton, which was published about 1828. In this it is said that the above Parody of Gray’s Elegy was written by a favourite dramatist, but it does not give his name.
——:o:——
Another parody, with a somewhat similar title, was published, in quarto, in 1790, of which the following is an exact reprint, omitting an advertisement, a list of subscribers, a dedication to Sir Martin Stapylton Bart, and some rather tedious footnotes:—
AN ELEGY.
In Imitation of Gray.
Written in
The King’s Bench Prison.
By a Minor.
Printed for the Author; and sold by R. Lea, Greek Street,
Mdccxc.