“——The late noble duke of Grafton gave my mother a gravestone. This is all that remains to mark the village as the birth-place of Giles, and all that now remains in it belonging to the Bloomfields.”
G. B.
With a sentence or two, by way of continuation to the appeal already made in behalf of George Bloomfield, it was purposed to conclude the present article; but just as the sheet was ready for the press a packet of his manuscript papers arrived, and extracts from these will exemplify his character and his necessities. The following address to one of his old friends is a fair specimen of his talent for versifying:—
To Mr. Thomas Wisset, of Sapiston,
Psalm Singer, Parish Clerk, and
Sexton, &c. &c.
Respectfully I would impart,
In language most befitting,
The sorrows of an aching heart,
With care and trouble smitten.
I’ve lost the best of wives, d’ye see,
That e’er to man was given;
Alas! she was too good for me,
So she’s remov’d to heaven.
But while her happiness I trace,
Fell poverty pursuing,
Unless another takes her place,
’Twill be my utter ruin.
My children’s clothes to rags are worn,
Nor have we wit to mend ’em;
Their tatters flying all forlorn—
Kind Providence, defend ’em.
Dear Tom, thou art St. Andrew’s clerk,
And glad I am to know it;
Thou art a witty rhyming spark,
The merry village poet.