THE PIRATICAL MATE OF THE BETSY JANE.

Waikato Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1580, 19 August 1882, Page 6

THE PIRATICAL MATE OF THE BETSY JANE.

It was the schooner Betsy Jane, For Boston from Quinoee, " ' I And the skipper had, hobbled down, below To take his rye whiskee. Red was his nose as a carrot tip, His breath of potations told, And the only use for water he swore, Was to float his vessel bold. , The skipper he turned up from belovr With a new light in his eye ; l And he looked aloft and he looked^low, And he gazed at the evening sky. " A good fair wind and an easy sea; ' And a fust-rate mate I've got ; ' ' I'll finish that bottle of bourbon," Be said, And the vessel he soon forgot. Oh, woe for the skipper who filled 10 full! The mate was a pirate bold, And he took a, deep oath on a marlinspike, That his aim was gore and sold. He had read of the deeds of Morgan and Teach, . i And he revelled in Captain Kidd, And he had spent a year 'on Squantum beach In searching for treasures hid. He laughed to scorn the winds and waves— " I'm the Sea King, and I'll fix This vessel up as a pirate craft" — (She was loaded then with bricks). Oh, the chaste full moon looked down that night. On a lad of royal mien Who stood at the helm of. the Betsy Jane, Aged just about thirteen. He aimed to rival the Boy Buccaneer, And he cautiously .looked around, And matured his plans as the vessels sailed From Quincy to Boston Town, He ■would take the Betsy Jane to sea— Hoj ho for the Spanish Main ! And the Florida Keys and theßahamesCe, And hurred for the Betsy Jane J He -\\ ould make the skipper walk the plank, And a plank he accordingly fixed ; He won lil stand on the end and tilt it up— Oh, he knew the pirates' tricks. So he called the skipper up from below, And he gently led the way Where the plank was leading from the side To the waters of the bay. Full half a foot o'er the raging sea The end of the plank, was fixed — The Betsy Jane sailed very low (She was loaded deep with bricks). And the pirate armed with a marlinspike Drove the captain to his doom : He tumbled him over into the sea, Abaft to the. main jibboom. Then loudly laughed the pirate bold, And again lie laughed in glee, "Through Shirley Gut and Betsy Jane Will sail aw.xy to sea !" But alas for the schenes or the pirate bold ! The skipper on board had climed And with the rope's end in his hand He gently came behind. The laughter came to a sudden end, The pirate's reign is o'er, When he rose from athwart the captain's knee, He seemed to feel quite sore. The Betsy Jane sailed on her way, From Quincy to Boston Town, But 'twas fifteen days ere the pirate bold Found comfort in sitting down. — Maiden Headlight

A heavy gold bracelet in the shape of a, snake, with a large sapphire set in the head, co&ting £400, was the wedding present to Helene of Waldeck from the corporation and people of Windsor. Cruelty to Animals. — At a finishing establishment for the preparation of young gentleman for the army, Lord Herbert Vane Tempest (a name insepar-, ably connected with hoi'se-play), theHon R. 0. Hill, the Hon William Lambton, and two other young gentlemen, not so aristocratic, but equally brutal, have been amusing themselves with torturing a cat. Seeing the poor creature enter a six-inch drain, it 1 struck these five embryo officers and gentlemen that it would be fun to send a dog in after it, and that failing, to burn it out. Their strategy was successful, and it was worried to death. Their defence before . the Magistrate was that they were ignorant , that the animal was a cat, and it is needless to say, considering the " position "of the defendants, that the Great Unpaid On* dismissed the case. It is satisfactory .;to learn, however, that an attempt on the part of the defendants to square the matter and prevent its being, made public, by the payment of £15 to 'the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, was a failure, and their cheque wa3 paid back to them in. open Court. Compare with the above ; the\ case-, at Derby, out of which so ■ much has, .been made in proof of the brutality of: the lower classes. , A hanger T on of the publichouses, one of those wretched , creatures who are to be bought body, and' soul for, a quartern of gin— has been giving, a private performance for the , enjoyment of his patrons.. ; For a few pence he was induced to , cut iup i his ' o wn , fur • dap ,< aud * swallow ii.» r Nekt he devoured'/ a,»&6vfSr ', paper < and jthen, on promise /of ditlarge reward,- he { swallowed some .copperivQij " the top of that. f -:He,is ' now- ivfr hospitajy and like to die;' ■} It • is. a> hideous inarration,.but 'thisi'poprijwretchlhad.at -leajst , pdvertyjf or hisi excuse; mo idid hteflidrrible feat iptvblvetany "act^oi "criielty "excepfeito \ himself. W the \