GUSTAVUS.[99] _A Lay of Drury Lane._ Great Smithius of Drury Lane, By cape and truncheon swore, That Bold Gustavus Brookius Should _perdu_ lie no more. By staff and cape he swore it, And named his opening night, And sent his messengers abroad, Each with a pile of orders stored, To summon all they might. East and west, and south and north, The messengers repair; Some hie them to the Regal Oak, Some to the Arms of Eyre. Shame on the false theatrical Who would refuse to come, When bold Gustavus Brookius Enters the “Drama’s Home!” The gallery-boys and pittites Are pouring in amain, And struggling in a turbid mass, The theatre doors they gain. From many a noisome alley, From many a crowded court, Great G. V. B’s supporters Have hastened to the sport. From Kingsland’s leafy quarters, From Camden’s noble town, From where Belgravia’s daughters On humble men look down; From Islington the merry, From Kensington the slow, To meet the great Gustavus The many-headed go. The patrons of the Surrey, Who e’er in shirt sleeves sit. While the refreshing foaming stout Is handed round the pit, Yield up their old allegiance, And join the swelling train, Crossing the Bridge of Waterloo, To meet at Drury Lane. Ho! fiddlers, scrape your catgut! Ho! drummers, use your strength! HE comes, whose name on every wall Measures six feet in length! Who, though perchance he cannot With Shakespeare move your souls, Will gain your heartiest plaudits By gifts of soup and coals! Come, Phelps, come crouch unto him; Come, Kean, and do the same; You, famous by your own good deeds, You, by your father’s name! Crouch to the great Gustavus, Who has become the rage, And proved himself, by feats of alms, King of the British Stage. EDMUND H. YATES. From _Mirth and Metre_. G. Routledge and Co. 1855. This little volume was written by Mr. E. H. Yates in conjunction with Frank E. Smedley, and in 1856 a similar, but far more amusing work was published by Messrs. Routledge and Co., entitled “_Our Miscellany_” (which ought to have come out, but didn’t,) edited by E. H. Yates and R. B. Brough. This contains parodies and imitations of Harrison Ainsworth, G. P. R. James, T. B. Macaulay, Alfred Tennyson, Albert Smith, Martin Tupper, Charles Dickens, Edgar Poe, Samuel Warren, H. W. Longfellow, J. G. Lockhart, Mrs. Browning, Douglas Jerrold, and other popular authors of the day. Many of these imitations are in prose. In conveying his permission for the insertion of the following in _Parodies_, Mr. Edmund Yates courteously added the information that the parodies in “Our Miscellany” which were written by Mr. Brough were signed B, the others being by Mr. Yates. The latter are not only the most numerous, but by far the most humorous and clever.