Lyr Add: Polly's Nickstick

Subject: Lyr Add: Polly's Nickstick
From: *#1 PEASANT*
Date: 16 Jun 04 - 12:22 PM

Polly's Nickstick

Written on the Second Polytechnic Exhibition, opened Easter Monday, 1848
Tune- "X,Y,Z.

Smash, marrows! but aw's like to drop,
At summat aw mun tell, man!
Aw went te see wor Polly's shop:
Aw thowt te see hersel',man!
In Blackett Street the place aw fand,
For Poll''s awn hoose 'twas ower grand;
But in aw bowls:- when, in a box
A chep says, "Sixpence, sir! "by gox!
"Hoot, man," says aw, "yor pickin' fun!
Aw's Polly's feyther's youngest son,
Just come to see her Nickstick!"

Aw pays the lad the money doon
(For brass aw niver cares, man!),
An' suen seed picturs stuck aroon',
An' kissin' folks in pairs, man!
A little lad, wi' greyhoond bitch,
Was gan a bonny bool te pitch;
A lass wes shiverin' wi' the caud,
An' bonny legs, poor thing, she had:
Saws aw, "Maw bairn, gan hyem wi' me,
An' ye shall hae spice kyek and tea,
An' leave wor Polly's Nickstick.

A chep was snorin' 'mang the trees,'
They said 'twas Charley King, man!
Says aw, "giv' ower wi' yor lees,
Aw kens another thing, man!
For Charley's pluck for ony thieves,
And wadn't skulk amang the leaves.
So, freend, just drop yor Cockney craw,
Or mevvies aw may crack yor jaw."
So at his lug aw myed a spring,
Te tell him aw was Charley King,
The freend o' Polly's Nickstick!

Queen Bess aw spied in Puch's box,
Wi' ruffles roond her chin, man!
An' Burley, slee as ony fox;
An' Leester, luikin' thin, man!
A greet fat chep, wi' horns a pair,
Was dancin' wi' sum Hoo-hoos there;
An' Fletcher, wiv his play-hoose crack,
Wi' aud rare Benny, drest I' black;
An Shakspur, tee, that stole the bull,
Then ca'd the may'r a slaverin' cull,
A'graced wor Polly's Nickstick.

Bill Martin wagg'd me tiv his side,
Te prove his brother's skill, man!
Says he, "That king yence stopp'd the tide,
An' held the waves at will, man!
The chucks an' gravel luiks alive,
An' in yon wave a whale might dive!'
Says aw, "By gox! that's Cullercoats,
Except there is ne fisher boats;
An', smash! the sun is gan te fry
Yon cloods that luik like plucks on high,
Te feed wor Polly's Nickstick!"

Noo, fra this show aw hows away,
'Mang fishes, birds, and beasts, man!
An' certainly aw's boun' te say,
Aw had a cliver feast, man!
Pall parrots, snipes, and kangaroos,
Redshanks, an' squarrels, an' cuckoos;
White skulls o' bairns, or else baboons;
Stuff'd hedgehogs, otters and racoons;
Tape worms, an' crabs, an' turtles rare,
Sea serpents, shorks, an' tyeds was there,
Like live at Polly's Nickstick.

But when aw seed the engine grand,
That turns the 'lectric clock, man!
An' Lousyfilly's dune by hand,
Upon a weaver's block man!
Says aw, "Why, Armstrang, thou's a king,
Thou'll suen gie Hudson's steam the fling:
For louse traps here thou mykes o' wire;
Thyu wetter wonders never tire;
Thou cracks steel nuts, an' figures glass,
Thaw engine does the world surpass:
It graces Polly's Nickstick.

Buyt, Lor! te tell ye all aw seed
Wad fill a bible beuk, man!
Balloons was dancin' biv a threed,
An' folks hung biv a heuk, man!
A Can tells oot the chickens there;
Here's Cheeny folks wi' silver hair;
Fans, pipes, an' dwarfs, wi' heeds like bulls,
An' giants wi' greet iron skulls;
An' gowlden cups, an' bonny glass,
An' Clasper's skiff, an' forrin grass,
Was at wor Polly's Nickstick.

An organ grand was bummin' lood,
But nyen cud tell the tuen, man!
Aw paid maw penny wi' the crood,
Te see the glassy mune, man!
Wor Tommy's Ropes they ca'd a thing,
Like rainbows runnin' iv a ring;
An' croods o' tings wi' hairy tails,
An' ships wi' wings asteed o' sails;
Grace Darling, tee, cam if her boat,
An' saved the wreckers iv her float;
An' smash! wor Poll amang the mist
Peep'd oot, and said, "Gud neet,"-be blist!
Then vanish'd frae the Nickstick.

Aw left the place wi' sair regret,
Tho' aw had spoiled a gill, man!
But weel it's worth the brass they get,
Let folks say what they will, man!
Thins aw, "By George! aw'll up an' see
Yence mair the engine an' the spree"-
When, ganning past, aw touched a wire,
Why, smash! my neeves was a' fire-
The verra hair stud on my heed,
Away aw cuts wi' pith an' speed;
An' bools reet throo a rowley gate,
An' in a varry narvous state,
Aw left wor Polly's Nickstick.


kissin' folks = Cupid and Psyche
bonny bool te pitch =.Statue, by Gott
A lass wes shivein'…= The Outcast by J.H. Foley
Charley King= Charles the First in the Oak, by H.G. Townshend.
Queen Bess = Queen Elizabeth at the Globe Theatre, witnessing the play of "The Merry Wives of Windsor."- D. Scott, R.S.A.
king yence stopp'd….= King Canute and his Courtiers-John Martin, K.H.
Mang fishes…. = The Museum, Victoria Room
engine Grand = Mr. Armstrong's Water Pressure Engine.
Weaver's block…The Jacquard Loom,
wetter wonders… + Card Machine.
steel nuts = Shank's Screw Cutter
figures glass = Glass Engraving
chickens = Cantelo's Incubator
organ = Organ, by Nicholson
Tommy's Ropes = Chromotropes
hairy tails = Oxy-hydrogen Microscope
Grace Darling = Disolving views
a wire = Electrical Conductors.

-J.P. Robson, "Bards of the Tyne," 1849.