THE MAID, THE BOY, AND THE BANNS.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 187, 30 June 1916, Page 3 (Supplement)

THE MAID, THE BOY, AND THE BANNS.

The maid was sharp, bn. the boy wag shy, And time went on in cycles, And oft when strolling, they passed by The vicar of St. Michael's. The maid was quick, but the boy was slow And one day she invited The boy into the church to go; So they both roamed in. delighted. The announcements which the vicar read out, Were neither strange nor funny, Till he came to the one which spoke about The banns of matrimony. When lo! the name of the wily maid And the bashful boy were given, And the latter looked as if afraid Of bombs from the clouds of heaven. 'Olio!" said lie "Alia!" said she; "Please do not get excited, For five long years plus two or three, Your troth to me you've plighted. "Po long I've played the waiting game, To this course it has led me. Just say the word, I can change the nameThere's another chap will wed mo."' Cut things have been, and may be. worse Than the subject of my ditty— To be married, even if by force, To a damsel sweet and pretty. The maiden's wit was a lucky hit, Though it caused unseemly laugnter —■ The two were one, and the life begun Was "happy ever after." —-Hugh R. M'Coll.