In 1836, the year before Queen Victoria's accession, Melbourne was called Beargrass, and consisted of thirteen houses, or rather hovels. Most were in wattle-and-dab. Lord Melbourne must have laughed when he heard that the miserable assemblage of huts had been dignified with his name. Melbourne is now the seventh city of the British Empire—London, Liverpool, Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham, and Calcutta, take precedence. A funeral was passing through the streets of a Scotch town, when the door of the last mourning coach was opened, and an elderley man, dressed in black, entered unbidden. The other occupants stared at the new comer and each other. Finally one of them addressed him : " Ye'd be weel aequaint with the gude mon in front ?" pointing in the direction of the hearse. "No." " Then its the auld wife ye ken?" "No." "Are you a friend o' Jock's who's in America ?" "No" " Then what do you mean by comin' in here ?" "O, I havena been vera weel of late, sae the doctor tellt me to tak' as much carriage exercise as I could. An' this'll just mak' the fourth time I've been tae Whin Cimetery this week."
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/LTCBG18860703.2.14
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Lyell Times and Central Buller Gazette, Volume VI, Issue 280, 3 July 1886, Page 4
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190Untitled Lyell Times and Central Buller Gazette, Volume VI, Issue 280, 3 July 1886, Page 4
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