LOCAL OPTION.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2390, 13 November 1880, Page 4

LOCAL OPTION.

Diuna talk o’ Local Option ; What’s the option that I see ? Should they fix on its adoption, There’s nae option left to me. Kate, my wife, will then be master — She will master be an’ mair ; On my mouth to put a plaster, Or at least to cow my hair. I will never gi’en tae drinking, Tho’ at times I like a tot ; Never sat an’ tippled blinking— A’ my hame affairs forgot. But when they tak’ household voting, Wife an’ weans, just twa tae yin, Kate can easy stop my toting, An’ gar me put in the pin. Yes, I clearly see what’s coming, Tho’ I canna see the end ; Local Option ! Rule of woman, In each house, you may depend. Men will soon be wretched beings, A’ their independence tied, Subject to the wife an’ wee yins. Only fit to win their bread. Get our bite and an’ bits o’ duddies, Daurna speak about a dram, Don the harness, just like cuddies, Happy life this—no for Tam, Puir machine that’s no worth greasing When the wheels begin tae squeak; Puir man daurna wet his weason, No a day in a’ the week. This teetotal interference, Whiles I think is gaun too far, An’ micht lead, when past forbearance, Tae a savage civil war. See yon fellow join teetotal, See him rise to be ray guide, Wha in bed lay wi’ a bottle Primed and ready by his side. On the stump I’ve heard him stutter, Stiiim as saintly as a monk. Next we find him in the gutter— Fallen mortal—mortal drunk. Subject to nae kind o’ reason, This man canna staun up free ; So tac cure his moral treason, They intend to punish—me. See, they say, your fellow creature, Fallen lower than the brute, A disgrace to human nature ; Can ye sec that an’ be mute V Ye wha temperate an’ moral, .list the proper tiling can take, Could ye no,’ for a’tiie woiT, Gie it up, jist for his sake ? Wecl, I say, if I’m his model, Let him tak’ me as I am, Then will he be fit tac toddle, Nano tl 10 warn - o’ his bit dram. 0, but iie has nae resistance, When he’s in lie’s ower the heid ; What we want is your assistance, Your support in word an’ deed, Weel, if that be your intention, I can let ye haenn - mind ; As a motto I would mention, Just “ be cruel to be kind.” If unmanly on occasion—--1 f unto liimsel’ untrue ; 1 suggest a strong persuasion ; Try him wi’ aguid bamboo. Dinna talk o’ degradation. What could sic a man degrade? But there’s hope o’ elevation— Thai’s the way guid weans are made. An’ what mair than weans are drinkers ? Let them taste they canna stop — God-forgotten duty shrinkers, Some o’ them deserve a rope. If our State begins tac cobble, At our drink—to be complete, It should mak’ baith queen an’ noble Eat jist what the puir folk cat. To prescribe what we should guzzle, And enforce wi’ legal rules, Looks as though they meant to muzzle Wise men for the sake o’ fools. Liberty, thou brightest angel, Britons long have worshipped thee, But it seems the3 r mean to chan gc all, To rejoice in slaverie. Thomas Bussell.