THE CHINA CUP.

Waikato Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1550, 10 June 1882, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE CHINA CUP.

By Susan E. Phillips.

Ate, it is bonnie, bain't it P with its colours o£ blue and red, But Fse forced to keep it set up there, on the shelf abune my head ; The bairns are allis straying in, tueing and climbing about, They'd fun ha t' cup to lake with, and brak it i' bits, na doubt. See, I'se getten snowdrops to fill it. I'd far to seek 'em an all ; I fund 'em where the winds are loud, in t' hollow again the Hall j I'd letter ha getten sea pinks, or the crimson sprays o' weed, My Will would gather among t' brash ; bub I'se auld for eiccan speed. An it's bitter down on t' Scar to-day, i' t' very teeth o' t' blast ; Eh, didst thou see how sore she pitched, the barque that just drove past ?' Doan't talk o' t' sea, it inaddles one ! thou'rt raffled i' mind I lay, To see an auld wife mess with weeds ? I'll tell thee my tale to-day. It's a year sin my Willie sailed i' t' Hose; bound for the East she was; I never thought as a few o' months could be so slow to pass. Will, my one son, who lay in my arms, as I stood out there on t' pier And saw my man as he drown ded j we'd hardlins been wed a year. T' coble foundered wi him an his mate, just upon t* edge o' t' rock ; We've none got time as t' quality has, to droop or die o' t' Bhock. I'd got my bairn and my Ben to keep ; we were ofens hard bested, But I'se niver crossed t' step o' t' house, nor begged a bite o' bread. And my boy grew up about my knees, straight as a willow wand, An alliB ready to give a help, wi t 1 might o* his strong young hand ; He took to his father's trade i' time; I knowed as that mun be, As well keep duokß frey t' watter, as Whitby lads frey t' sea. And then he mun go courting ; eh, mothers may strive and toil, It needs but the bliuk of a saucy eye, all they ha done to spoil ! Not as I'se aught agin her— she's na worst than all t 1 rest, Hafflin idle wenches, is what they are at t' best! Well, t' Rose had got her signal up, and V tide began to bear ; He gied a shilling for t' oup, an I said, " Thou nast brass to spare !" For I reckoned it wer for Annie, and I wer sore at heart, That he should be takken up wi her, and w« so soon to part. But for all I made to be so throng, he knew my eyes were dim ; For all I spak so sharp he knew I wer lapped up i' him ; He says, " I'll be seeing girls enew, whenever we touches land, I'se but one mother for all my life, and I leaves her on Whitby sand." An he takes a rose frey hia jersey; I knowed where he'd getten it, He puts the cup on t' table, again there where you sit ; He fills it, and pats t' flower in, and turns and say a to me, " Thou'lt hey a bit o' bloom in it when I comes back frey t' sea." An he whispera "Be good to Annie," aa I holds him round t* neck. Her and me stood close togither, an he watched us frey t' deck. She's none so bad as lasses go ; but mysen I tends t' cup, I'se oft hard set for a leaf o' green, but I keeps it fettled up. I'll tak it down and fill it while t' snowdrop bells are fresh ; Mind 1 it's ower smoffle to mcli wi without thy hands be nesh ! Eh, bairn, I may ha to dress it yet, wi nobbut a sprig of yew. For they say the talk on t' head o' t 1 pier is " T' Rose is overdue." Well, an she's gone I reckon I've none so long to waifcj, Till I and myboy, who is only mine, will meet at t' golden gate $ , My man may get him afore me, bub that's his right come round, He was but a babe when he kissed him last, t' morning he wer drowned. And I had him up to his twenties j il she's faithful to him stilJ, Annie may tak th© task he left when I'se gone to join my Will. Bufe an t' sea's not got him yet, whenever he may come, As long as .his mother lives he'll find his cup with its bit of bloom.

English as the Speech of thk Future. — The Buccess of the English-speaking peoples aa colonists, and their superior proHficness, are not the only reasons for thinking that the English tongue is desdned to dominate tha world. The flexibility an a terseness of the English language has made ib the language of international telegraphy, and from star tißtios just collected it appears to be the gjcieat newspaper language. In other words, *fc about equally divides the news, papers of the tyotldi with all other tongues combined. The total number of newspapers and periodicals now published is given in H. P. Hubbard's ' forthcoming ••Newspaper and Bank Directory o£ the World/ as 34,274, with a circulation of about 116,000,000 copies, the annual aggregate circulation reaching, in round numbers, lO.&QQ 000,000 copies. Europe leads with 19MJ, and. North America follow* with i? 400, the two together making ore* nine-te»t;hs p£ »H the publications in existence. Asia hag 775 ; Sputh America, 699; Australasia! $?*.,; and Africa, 132. Of all these* 16^500 are prjn^d in the English language, 7800 in German, 38£0 in French, and over 1600 in Spanish. There are 4020 daily newspapers, 18i274 tri-weekljesan^ weeklies, and 8508 issued less frequently. It kppefcrs that while the annual aggregate circulation* of publica•tionsiatha ,p|iited States is 2,600,000,000^ .that pf $mt,sntaik an3l^ljtejrtnj| is