Although _Ruddigore_ is, in itself, a burlesque, it occurred to Mr. Toole that some fun might be got out of a caricature of it, and accordingly Messrs. Taylor and Percy Reeve composed a “musical parody” entitled _Ruddy George_, which was produced at Toole’s Theatre. Much talent for mimicry was displayed by the principal performers, and especially by Mr. E. D. Ward, as Robin Redbreast (after George Grossmith) and Mr. Skelton, as Sir Gaspard, in a droll imitation of Rutland Barrington’s portentious manner. The burlesque was, however, most successful in so far as it caricatured the idiosyncracies and eccentricities of Sir Arthur Sullivan’s music. In imitation of the scene in Act II. of the original, where the portraits of Sir Ruthven’s forefathers descend from their frames, kitcat panel likenesses of Mr. Gilbert, Sir Arthur Sullivan, and Mr. D’Oyly Carte suddenly become endowed with life, and utter some mild, and rather pointless jests. ――――:o:―――― KO-KO ON “THE COW AND THREE ACRES.” (_The Mikado._) The Rads all the yokels to gain, tra la! Gave promise of land and a cow. They argued, “They’re all half-insane, tra la! “Majority we shall obtain, tra la! By the help of the sons of the plough.” And that’s what they meant, as you’ll quite understand, When they promised a cow and three acres of land, And told-’em-a-lie-or-two, told-’em-a-lie-or-two―― Promised a cow and some land. They’ve voted for them, and so now, tra la! My advice to the “clods” is “Away! And tell ’em you’re sick of the plough,” tra la! That you’ve come for your acres and cow, tra la! And they’ll turn round to you and they’ll say, “My friends, we would give you the acres and cow, But, alas! we’ve not got them――at least, not just now. But we’ve told-you-a-lie-or-two, told-you-a-lie-or-two―― Live by the sweat of your brow!” _The Sporting Times._ 1886. ――――:o:―――― ODE TO A LONDON FOG. Roll on, thick haze, roll on! Through each familiar way Roll on! What though I must go out to-day? What though my lungs are rather queer? What though asthmatic ills I fear? What though my wheeziness is clear? Never _you_ mind! Roll on! Roll on, thick haze, roll on! Through street and square and lane Roll on! It’s true I cough and cough again; It’s true I gasp and puff and blow; It’s true my trip may lay me low―― But that’s not your affair, you know. Never _you_ mind! Roll on! _Funny Folks Annual._ 1885. ――――:o:――――