ulder, and, after ascertaining where I had been of late, quoted a
motto of the Freemasons'--"In my Father's house are many mansions, but
such as I have I give unto thee. Follow me." I went with Smith to his
house, and spent Christmas Eve there. The subject of my poem, "Gooise and
Giblet Pie," arose out of that night's proceedings:--

A Kersmas song I'll sing mi lads,
If you'll but hearken me,
An incident i' Kersmas time
I' eighteen sixty three:
Withaht a cypher i' the world
I'd scorn to tell a lie--
I dined wi' a gentleman
O' gooise an' giblet pie.

I've been i' lots o' feeds, mi' lads,
An' hed some rare tuck-ahts;
Blood-pudding days wi' killing pigs,
Minch pies an' thumping tarts.
But I wired in, an' reight an' all,
An' supped when I wor dry;
For I wor dining wi' a gentleman
O' gooise an' giblet pie.
I hardly knew what ailed me, lads,
I felt so fearful prahd;
Mi ears prick'd up, mi collar rose,
Towards a hawf-a-yard;
Mi chest stood aht, mi charley in,
Like horns stuck aht mi tie;
For I dined wi' a gentleman
O' gooise an' giblet pie.

I offen think o' t' feed, mi lads,
When t' gentleman I meet;
But nauther of us speyke a word
Abaht that glorious neet;
In fact, I hardly can mysel--
I feel so fearful shy;
For I ate a deal o' t' roasted gooise,
An' warmed his giblet pie.

THE CONCLUDING CHAPTER

It must be a long lane that has no turning. I am afraid the _Herald_
readers who have followed my Recollections will have thought Bill o' th'
Hoylus End's memory an inexhaustible one. The truth is, when I commenced
to "resurrect" my past career I had no idea that the stories and
reminiscences would extend to anything like the length they have gone to;
and even now I find that the source of supply is far from being
exhausted. But, in the circumstances, I have decided to conclude with
this week's chapter--"the last scene that ends this strange and eventful
history." In the first place, I must crave an apology from my readers for
not having been able to give events in my career in their chronological
order. As I stated at the outset, I had no diary or data whatever to go
by, and have simply reeled the stories and anecdotes off my memory. It
will thus be readily seen that I cannot have given every little
transaction or happening in my life. In my Recollections I have now and
again i