"Here in my wicker chair I sitt, From folly far, and far from witt, Content to live, devoid of care, With country folks and country fare; To listen to my landlord's tale, And drink his health in Yorkshire ale; Then smoak and read the _York Courant_; I'm happy and 'tis all I want. Though few my tythes, and light my purse, I thank my God it is no worse." Here is another Yorkshire example, written towards the close of the last century; it is from an old wayside inn near Harewood-bridge, on the Leeds and Harrogate road:-- "Gaily I lived, as Ease and Nature taught, And passed my little Life without a thought; I wonder, then, why Death, that tyrant grim, Should think of me, who never thought of him." Under the foregoing, the following was written: "Ah! why forget that Death should think of thee; If thou art Mortal, such must surely be; Then rouse up reason, view thy hast'ning end, And lose no time to make God thy Friend." In the old coaching days, the Dog and Doublet, at Sandon, Staffordshire, was a popular house. A guest wrote on one of its window panes the following recommendation:-- "Most travellers to whom these roads are known, Would rather stay at Sandon than at Stone! Good chaises, horses, treatment, and good wines, They always meet with at James Ballantine's." A penniless poet wrote on a tavern window-pane the lines:-- "O Chalk! to me, and to the poor, a friend, On Thee my life and happiness depend; On Thee with joy, with gratitude I think, For, by thy bounty, I both eat and drink." "Chalk" is a slang word for credit. Innkeepers kept their accounts on the back of a door, written with chalk. The following epigram was written under a pane disfigured with autographs:-- "Should you ever chance to see, A man's name writ on a glass, Be sure he owns a diamond, And his parent owns an ass." On the accession of Her Majesty, this _jeu d'esprit_ was inscribed on an inn window:-- "The Queen's with us, the Whigs exulting say; For when she found us in, she let us stay. It may be so; but give me leave to doubt How long she'll keep you when she finds you out." The following lines dated 1793, were written on a window-pane at the Hotel des Pays Bas, Spa Belgium:-- "I love but one, and only one, Ah, Damon, thou art he! Love thou but one, and only one, And let that one be me!" Early in the present century, it was customary for the actors to write their names on the panes in one of the windows of the York Theatre. On the glass of the same window were found inscribed these lines. "The rich man's name embellished stands on brass; The player simply scribbles his on glass, Appropriate tablet to the wayward fate-- A brittle shining, evanescent state: The fragile glass destroyed--farewell the name; The actor's glass consumed--farewell his fame."