―――― THE PAUPER’S CHAUNT.[20] O we’re very well fed, so we must not repine, Though turkey we’ve _cut_, and likewise the chine But, oh! once a year we should just like to dine On the Roast Beef of Old England, Oh, the Old English Roast-Beef. O, the gruel’s delicious, the taters divine―― And our very small beer is uncommonly _fine_; But with us we think you would not like to dine, Without the Roast-Beef of Old England, Oh, the Old English Roast-Beef! Our soup’s very good, we really must own. But of what it is made arn’t very well-known; So, without any soup we would much rather dine On the Roast-Beef of Old England, Oh, the Old English Roast-Beef! Mince-pies they are nice, and plum-pudding is fine, But we’d give up them both for “ribs” or “Sir Line,” If for once in the year we could but just dine On the Roast-Beef of Old England, Oh, the Old English Roast-Beef! “Roast Beef and plum-pudding” is true Christmas fare, But they think that our _morals_ such dainties won’t bear. Oh, oh! it is plain ne’er more shall we share In the Roast-Beef of Old England, Oh, the Old English Roast-Beef! From _George Cruikshank’s Omnibus_. ―――― THE SIRLOIN SUPERSEDED. Once mighty roast beef was the Englishman’s food. It has now grown so dear that ’tis nearly tabooed. But Australian beef, potted, is cheap and is good. O, the Boiled Beef of Australia! And O, the Australian Boiled Beef! It is capital cold; it is excellent hot; And, if a large number of children you’ve got, ’Twill greatly assist you in boiling the pot. O, the Boiled Beef, &c. First-rate is Australian mutton, likewise, For curries, and rissoles and puddings, and pies. The thrifty good housewife no butcher’s meat buys. O, the Boiled Beef, &c. It will make you a hash that is fit for a king. And the young ones all like it, and that’s a great thing. So Paterfamilias it causes to sing, O, the Boiled Beef, &c. For the small boys and girls eat the fat with the lean, Don’t leave underdone, but their plates nicely clean―― Where pigs are not kept which helps make all serene. O, the Boiled Beef, &c. Australian meat from the bone being free, The more economical needs must it be. As there are no joints there’s no carving you see. O, the Boiled Beef, &c.