It may interest some to know that the first of the series, “The Yarn of the Nancy Bell,” was originally offered to “Punch,”—to which I was, at that time, an occasional contributor. It was, however, declined by the then Editor, on the ground that it was “too cannibalistic for his readers’ tastes.”
W. S. GILBERT.
24 The Boltons, South Kensington,
August, 1876.
CONTENTS.
| PAGE | |
| Captain Reece | [13] |
| The Rival Curates | [18] |
| Only a Dancing Girl | [24] |
| To a Little Maid | [27] |
| The Troubadour | [28] |
| Ferdinando and Elvira; or, the Gentle Pieman | [33] |
| To my Bride | [37] |
| Sir Macklin | [39] |
| The Yarn of the “Nancy Bell” | [44] |
| The Bishop of Rum-Ti-Foo | [48] |
| The Precocious Baby | [54] |
| To Phœbe | [59] |
| Baines Carew, Gentleman | [60] |
| Thomas Winterbottom Hance | [66] |
| A Discontented Sugar Broker | [72] |
| The Pantomime “Super” to his Mask | [78] |
| The Ghost, the Gallant, the Gael, and the Goblin | [80] |
| The Phantom Curate | [85] |
| King Borria Bungalee Boo | [88] |
| Bob Polter | [93] |
| The Story of Prince Agib | [99] |
| Ellen McJones Aberdeen | [104] |
| Peter the Wag | [109] |
| To the Terrestrial Globe | [114] |
| Gentle Alice Brown | [115] |
| Mister William | [120] |
| The Bumboat Woman’s Story | [125] |
| Lost Mr. Blake | [131] |
| The Baby’s Vengeance | [137] |
| The Captain and the Mermaids | [143] |
| Annie Protheroe. A Legend of Stratford-le-Bow | [149] |
| An Unfortunate Likeness | [155] |
| The King of Canoodle-dum | [161] |
| The Martinet | [167] |
| The Sailor Boy to his Lass | [173] |
| The Reverend Simon Magus | [179] |
| My Dream | [184] |
| The Bishop of Rum-Ti-Foo again | [189] |
| The Haughty Actor | [194] |
| The Two Majors | [200] |
| Emily, John, James, and I. A Derby Legend | [205] |
| The Perils of Invisibility | [210] |
| The Mystic Selvagee | [215] |
| Phrenology | [221] |
| The Fairy Curate | [226] |
| The Way of Wooing | [233] |
| Hongree and Mahry. A Recollection of a Surrey Melodrama | [237] |
| Etiquette | [243] |
| At a Pantomime | [249] |
| Haunted | [253] |
CAPTAIN REECE.
Of all the ships upon the blue,
No ship contained a better crew
Than that of worthy Captain Reece,
Commanding of The Mantelpiece.
He was adored by all his men,
For worthy Captain Reece, R.N.,
Did all that lay within him to
Promote the comfort of his crew.
If ever they were dull or sad,
Their captain danced to them like mad,
Or told, to make the time pass by,
Droll legends of his infancy.
A feather bed had every man,
Warm slippers and hot-water can,
Brown windsor from the captain’s store,
A valet, too, to every four.