I remember I once heard my Grandfather say, That some sixty years since he was going that way, When they shew'd him the spot Where the gibbet--was not-- On which Matcham's corse had been hung up to rot; It had fall'n down--but how long before, he'd forgot; And they told him, I think, at the Bear in Devizes, The town where the Sessions are held,--or the 'Sizes, That Matcham confess'd, And made a clean breast To the May'r; but that, after he'd had a night's rest, And the storm had subsided, he "pooh-pooh'd" his friend, Swearing all was a lie from beginning to end; Said "he'd only been drunk-- That his spirits had sunk At the thunder--the storm put him into a funk,-- That, in fact, he had nothing at all on his conscience, And found out, in short, he'd been talking great nonsense."-- But now one Mr. Jones Comes forth and depones That, fifteen years since, he had heard certain groans On his way to Stone Henge (to examine the stones Described in a work of the late Sir John Soane's,) That he'd followed the moans, And, led by their tones, Found a Raven a-picking a Drummer-boy's bones!-- --Then the Colonel wrote word From the King's Forty-third, That the story was certainly true which they'd heard, For, that one of their drummers, and one Sergeant Matcham, Had "brushed with the dibs," and they never could catch 'em. So Justice was sure, though a long time she'd lagg'd, And the Sergeant, in spite of his "Gammon," got "scragg'd;" And people averred That an ugly black bird, The Raven, 'twas hinted, of whom we have heard, Though the story, I own, appears rather absurd, Was seen (Gervase Matcham not being interr'd), To roost all that night on the murderer's gibbet; An odd thing, if so, and it may be a fib--it, However, 's a thing Nature's laws don't prohibit. --Next morning, they add, that "black gentleman" flies out, Having picked Matcham's nose off, and gobbled his eyes out! MORAL. _Avis au Voyageur._ _Imprimis._ If you contemplate walking o'er Salisbury Plain, Consult Mr. Murphy, or Moore, and refrain From selecting a day when it's likely to rain! 2^o. When trav'lling, don't "flash" Your notes or your cash Before other people--it's foolish and rash! 3^o. At dinner be cautious, and note well your party;-- There's little to dread where the appetite's hearty,-- But mind and look well to your purse and your throttle When you see a man shirking, and passing his bottle! 4^o. If you chance to be needy, Your coat and hat seedy, In war-time especially, never go out When you've reason to think there's a press-gang about! 5^o. Don't chatter, nor tell people all that you think, Nor blab secrets,--especially when you're in drink,-- But keep your own counsel in all that you do! --Or a Counsel may, some day or other, keep you.