THE LAY OF THE DONDNEY BROTHERS

Coats at {230}five-and-forty shillings! trousers ten-and-six a

pair!

Summer waistcoats, three a sov'reign, light and comfort-

able wear!

Taglionis, black or coloured, Chesterfield and velveteen!

The old English shooting-jacket--doeskins, such as ne'er

were seen!

Army cloaks and riding-habits, Alberts at a trifling cost!

Do you want an annual contract? Write to DOUDNEYS'

by the post.

DOUDNEY BROTHERS! DOUDNEY BROTHERS! Not the men

that drive the van,

Plastered o'er with advertisements, heralding some paltry

plan,

How, by base mechanic stinting, and by pinching of their

backs,

Slim attorneys' clerks may manage to retrieve their

Income-tax:

But the old established business--where the best of clothes

are given

At the very lowest prices--Fleet Street, Number Ninety-

seven.

Wouldst {231}thou know the works of DOUDNEY? Hie thee

to the thronged Arcade,

To the Park upon a Sunday, to the terrible Parade.

There, amid the bayonets bristling, and the flashing of the

steel,

When the household troops in squadrons round the bold

field-marshals wheel,

Shouldst thou see an aged warrior in a plain blue morning

frock,

Peering at the proud battalions o'er the margin of his

stock,--

Should thy throbbing heart then tell thee, that the veteran

worn and grey

Curbed the course of Bonaparte, rolled the thunders of

Assaye--

Let it tell thee, stranger, likewise, that the goodly garb

he wears

Started into shape and being from the DOUDNEY BROTHERS'

shears!

Seek thou next the rooms of Willis--mark, where

D'Orsay's Count is bending,

See the trouser's undulation from his graceful hip

descending;

Hath the earth another trouser so compact and love-

compelling?

Thou canst find it, stranger, only, if thou seek'st the

DOUDNEYS' dwelling!

Hark, {232}from Windsor's royal palace, what sweet voice

enchants the ear?

"Goodness, what a lovely waistcoat! Oh, who made it,

Albert dear?

'Tis the very prettiest pattern! You must get a dozen

others!"

And the Prince, in rapture, answers--"'Tis the work of

DOUDNEY BROTHERS!"

The Book of Ballads Eleventh Edition, 1870 · 第 74 / 86 题