_A Gourmand's Ditty._
THERE'S a pleasure in Rhubarb, fresh, early and red,
When it comes with the flush of the newly born year,
There's a joy in the tasty Asparagus head
That is met with in soup, be it thick,--be it clear!
There's delight in the oyster; a peace that ne'er fails
In the placid enjoyment the Plover's egg brings,
A sense of calm peace in your nicely cooked quails,
But oh! there's one dish that will crown all these things;
For what, with such rapture the palate can please
As the first welcome helping of Early Green Peas!
You may bring me Clyde salmon, three shillings the pound,
Red mullet in envelope, done to a turn,
The young spring potatoe, dug fresh from the ground,
The daintiest cream from a Devonshire churn:
You may offer me salad that's almost divine,
With a chicken so plump it should gladden the heart;
You may say, "Wash that down with the best brands of wine,
And follow it up with young gooseberry tart!"
My reply is but this, "Ah! withhold all of these!
But yield me the rapture of Early Green Peas!"
* * * * *
THE FIVE O'CLOCK TEA BONNET COMPANY.--Under the above title a
Fashionable Company has been inaugurated by several high-born, but
impecunious Ladies, who, importing a model bonnet from Paris, and
reproducing it in British materials, with more or less success,
hope, by a judicious association of the shopkeeping instinct with
the _recherche_ gloze of the best social circles, to dispose of their
stock to a _clientele_, consisting of the many toadying and snobbish
friends who would be caught by the idea of purchasing their bonnets at
an establishment where their orders would be taken by an impoverished
Lady of title, and delivered at their residences, possibly, by the
daughter of a Baronet or Nobleman, in reduced circumstances. The rooms
of the New Company that will be shortly opened at the West End, in the
immediate vicinity of Bond Street, though supplied with a counter
on which a few of the choicest exhibits of the establishment can be
displayed, will be in all other respects furnished after the fashion
of a Modern Upper-class May-Fair Drawing-room, to which intending
Purchasers will need no voucher of admission beyond that furnished by
their own visiting-card, on presentation of which they will be greeted
as friends, making an afternoon call, by the Fore-lady, who may be
temporarily presiding over the Show-room. Indeed, the key-note to the
_raison d'etre_ of the FIVE O'CLOCK TEA BONNET COMPANY will be found
in the happy combination of High-class social intercourse, with
a satisfactory adhesion to the principles of ordinary West-End
shopkeeping. No special prices will be attached to the articles sold,
but they may be regarded on the whole, considering the advantageous
social circumstances under which they are established, as generally a
little in advance of those asked at the leading Professional West-End
Establishments of a similar kind. A generous margin in this direction
must, therefore, be looked for in the account. Bills, if required,
when contracted by well-known Leaders of Society, may stand over for
years, but a very handsome interest will, of course, be expected, in
the event of a long-delayed settlement.
* * * * *
PUNCH AND "JUDAH."--_Mr. P._ defers his criticism on HENRY AUTHOR
JONES'S new play at the Shaftesbury ... until he has gone through the
formality of seeing it. From most accounts, it is evidently well worth
a visit.
* * * * *
--> NOTICE.--Rejected Communications or Contributions, whether MS.,
Printed Matter, Drawings, or Pictures of any description, will in no
case be returned, not even when accompanied by a Stamped and Addressed
Envelope, Cover, or Wrapper. To this rule there will be no exception.
* * * * *
Transcriber's Note:
This book contains a lot of dialect.