e May Be Small, But He Ain't No Two-Bit Hamster! -- (Northampton, England, Thursday 22nd August 2002) A schoolboy who took his hamster on a bus journey to visit his grandmother was charged a 10p fare for the pet. Jordan Underwood, 10, from King's Heath, Northampton, was stunned when after paying his own 55p fare, the bus driver demanded an extra 10p to allow Nibbles on board. Bus company First Northampton has reportedly launched an investigation into the incident. The animal was a gift from his 83-year-old grandmother to keep him company during the school holidays. Jordan said: "I got on the bus and the man was saying what a lovely hamster it was. He said (the fare) was 55p and then looked at Nibbles and told me it was another 10p for him. I don't think it was fair because you don't have to pay for dog or babies and their 10 times bigger. He didn't even use a seat because I put him on the floor and he was in a cage so he wasn't going to chew anything." Jordan added Nibbles was "shocked" by the ordeal and they would both continue to use the buses but hoped that they didn't meet the same driver again. His father, Todd, said: "There is a serious side to this, because he is only a little boy, and he might not have had enough money to get the bus back."


The Bus From Mewling Mews by Amos
(Tune: The Rising of the Moon)

Oh, then tell me Gertie Gerbil, now, have you heard the news?
We hamster are invited on the bus at Mewling Mews!
We may travel free of charge now, or so the papers say,
But your cell phone must be silent, and your Walkman must not play!

On the bus at Mewling Mews,
On the bus at Mewling Mews!
The hamsters are invited
On the bus at Mewling Mews!

Oh then tell me Hamster Horwich, what good is that to me?
I don't care if they charge me, and I don't care if it's free.
For my owner is a meathead, with apathetic views,
And he never will go traveling, on the bus from Mewling Mews!

On the bus from Mewling Mews,
On the bus from Mewling Mews!
He never will go traveling,
On the bus from Mewling Mews!

Though I yearn for high adventure and a trip on open roads,
He leaves me in a stinking cage, as though I were a toad!
He treats me like a lump of coal, I must explain to youse,
So I fear I cannot join you on the bus at Mewling Mews!

On the bus at Mewling Mews!
On the bus at Mewling Mews!
I fear I cannot join you
On the bus at Mewling Mews!

Oh, t'was fast approaching midnight, at Gertie's row-house pen,
When fat Edmund he was snoring, over telly in the den.
Then ten thousand tiny feet were heard, but not one pair of shoes,
And the hamsters kidnapped Gertie to the bus at Mewling Mews!

To the bus at Mewling Mews!
To the bus at Mewling Mews!
Five thousand angry hamsters
Board the bus at Mewling Mews!

Oh the motorman was very kind, for he'd been taught the rules
And his mum had never raised him for an independent fool,
So he let five thousands hamsters on, without a single fee
And he showed them all a merry time,
On the road to Killmashee!

On the bus from Mewling Mews!
On the bus from Mewling Mews!
Five thousand happy hamsters,
On the bus from Mewling Mews!