"
"Say you so, Senor?--look!--yon long-neck'd flock,
Each bird of it on _one_ foot, ends the matter;
Ay--there they stand,--as firm as any rock,
I swear by ev'ry dish I ever broke, or platter."
Straight to the flock, flight, covey, (we've no name
In Albion, to designate _such_ game.)
Rush'd Ayala, whose hearty psho! psho! psho!
Took the cranes off _one_ leg,--discovering _two_,
As up they rose, on rustling, sullen wing:
"Well cook?" "Why, body of my soul, sir, there's the thing,
Had you said _psho! psho!_ to your _roasted_ crane,
Belike you'd seen its hidden leg again!"
M.L.B.
* * * * *
SPOONS.
(_For the Mirror_.)
Spoons are objects of great antiquity, and our forefathers bestowed
great pains in enriching them with masterly workmanship. So much
did _taste_ and fashion rule the time then, that spoons were
distinguished as it were by so many devices. It was, and is still with
some persons, a custom to present spoons at christenings, or on visiting
"the lady in the straw;" and in both cases they were adorned with
suitable imagery. A gentleman with whom I am acquainted, and who "keeps
a cabinet of curiosities," lately showed me two very curious silver
spoons, which he informed me had remained in his family many years; but
how they became possessed of them, he could only say that he attributed
it to the custom of presenting spoons on certain occasions.
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