JOHNNY ON THE MARIONETTES.

Temuka Leader, Volume I, Issue 91, 30 October 1878, Page 3

JOHNNY ON THE MARIONETTES.

Oh yes, I saw the Marrynets, ’n I ■can tell you all about ’em. The furst t>f ’em was Christy Minstrels and they was all a lot of dumis, with black faces and big mouths, and red lips and fine ■'close on. One of ’em had a tamberine and he danst about and played and shirk is ed fustrate, and he mostly opened his mouth right when he spoke, wich the others didn’t very well.. Another’n had a bones, and he pretended to rattle ’em, but I don’t reken he did, cos the noise was too big for them little bones, and one feller had a bewgle. He was no good at all. He sat like a fool the whole time, and never d id nothing excep put his trumpet up’n down, ’n one in the middle with the violin he played away and moved his mouth and wasn’t so bad, but I didn’t hear is fiddle at all. He was only pretendin’ to play, and so was the feller at the back with the base vial. Bones and Tambo was the fellers. They could talk and laff and dance A 1. That was the last of the first part, and then there was a whole lot of dumis cum on separate and did things. The fust was a pretty-faced dumy, ’n he had a fine ■pole. He lied down on the floor and danced the pole about with is feet. I cuddent do it. I tried with the blind Toller this mornin’, and it fell on my hose and then through the winder, ’n I said the nor’-wester blode it down. Then a chap with great long mustaches cum in ; he had 2 gold balls, and he 'chucked ’em about amazin and catched ’em better ’n Bannermari could. An’ a dumy with stilts on cum in, ’n he had a bottle. He took a drink, ’n it made him sneese, and then he got drunk and fell down, ’n there was a great swell Turk, and he cum all to peses and every hit of ’im turned to little fellers and 'danced about furst-rate. That .was very queer, wa’nt it? The skellyton was the last of this part, and it was a rum one. It was just a., lot of bones like men’s bones, but praps they was boys’ bones, ’cos they wasn’t big enuf 'for men’s. They mite a bin a gals bones tho’. And it danced like a man and then cum ‘to peses -and danst about ; the bed cum of and weht up outer site and cum back agin in its rite place ’thout anybody tuchin It. That was the end ‘of the 2nd part, and mose of the men went out for a smoke. Then a man cum and turned out the lamps a little and did sumthin’ to sumthin’ that was •at one side, and then he got under a pese of carpet rite in front and hid ’iself. Wen the curtain went up agin this man made, a fine red lite as red as blood shine on the stage, and everything was as red as red, and three dumy fellers in fine close shook their arms and talked and sung about “ a few days more.” The red lite went out and the man was under the carpet came out and turned up the lamps ’n went away. . There was such a lot of this ‘third part, ‘ • the pahtymine it was, you know. I can’t tell you all about it. There was a farey queen and 6 little fareys, they danst splendid, but the queen didn’t dans., she only looked a swell, and talked-'and sung and walked about; she had a crown ‘-on, an'd <a long stick in her ’and, and ‘there was a wolf, but he wasn’t much like them in the pictures, cos his head was moar like a pig’s, and he walkt on his 2 hind legs—real wolves don’t walk like that, I no ; but he was only a dumy, an’ so it don’t matter much. He made us laff wen he wagged his tail. The last ov ’im was he was shot, but it didn’t kill im, and i don’t no what good the shooting did. He was not a real wolf cos he talked, I can’t understand him at all. One swell sung a song first-rate, it was, “ We don’t want to fite, but by jingo if we do, weev got the ships, weev got the men, weev got the money too ; we don’t want to fite, but wile we’re britons troo, the Rushans shall not have Constantirro-o-o-pte.” I lernt that while ’e was singing it. You shud here im. People . sed he had a fine base voice, so it was, it was just like a bull. And there was S solgers, and one of ’em was Irish, and he made everybody laff with the way he cheeked the captin. And there was a old grandmother and a little girl in a red hood and cloke, that was Red Riding Hood, and lots of swells wanted her for a wife, and so did the ole wolf, but they didn’t get her. And their was a old jack what could talk furst-rate, .and he bit the old granmother and sumbody els. Then there was a clown and another, dumy man with a big nose, and they was funny if you like. They stole some sossyjes from a bucher-shop, and cheeked the butcher (wich is the rite way to spell it). They went up in . a baloon and the baloon busted and they both fell down flop. The uther ole man didn’t make no row, but the clown he yeld awful wen ’e was cumin down, and they was both run over by a donkey cart and pitched out, and a ole bull rusht ’em, and sent ’em up ever so I. Wen they got alrite agen they went to look far bored and login, and they got a , place with ony one bed in it, and" they had sech larks kikin one another outer bed, and a gost cum and cats, and there was sech a row. A polis cum in to see what was up, and a big wite bull dog cum in and bit the bobby and pulled ’im rite out of the ’ouso. No, that wasn’t it, the bull dog did that sum other time. The bobby got under the r ' bed, and got a good hamerin this time, v The last was a lot of pretty peetures. The man got under the carpet agin and ’ made the lites red and yellow, and lots of culas, and everybody clapped their hands and stampt their feet and sed it was all furst-rate. They kep on saen that all the time. I’m goin to ask mother to let me go to ant janes in

Timaru to stay for a liollyday, then Tie go and see’em agen. Wy didn’t you go. You awter gone. There was such lots of pepel went. I coudn’t makem out at all how they spoke till father tole me it was real people that spoke and kep out of site and pulled strings to mak ’em dance and snap their teeth and do all sorts of things. I saw the strings sometimes. Wen I tole Joe Smith I would hev some wen I grod up he sed I wuddent want any, cos ide be a marrynet myself, a ban gin. on one string with a black cap on like hallickwin. I tole him I wouldn’t, se im hanged furst, So long.