i88 NATURE NEAR LONDON 



Upon a cup a somewhat Chinese arrangement of 

 words is found : 



More beer score Clarke 



for my the his 



do trust pay sent 



I I must has 



shall if you maltster 



what for and the 



These parallel columns can be deciphered by begin- 

 ning at the last word, "the," on the right hand, and 

 reading up. With rude and sometimes grim humour 

 our forefathers seem to have been delighted. The tea- 

 pots of our great grandmothers are even more amusingly 

 inscribed and illustrated. At Gretna Green the black- 

 smith is performing a "Red-Hot Marriage," using his 

 anvil for the altar. 



" Oh 1 Mr. Blacksmith, ease our pains, 

 And tie us fast in wedlock's chains." 



The china decorated with vessels and alluding to naval 

 matters shows how popular was the navy, and how deeply 

 everything concerning Nelson's men had sunk into the 

 minds of the people. Some of the line of battleships 

 here represented are most clev.erly executed every sail 

 and rope and gun brought out with a clearness which 

 the best draughtsman could hardly excel. It is a little 

 hard, however, to preserve the time-honoured imputa- 

 tion upon Jack's constancy in this way on a jug : 



" A sailor's life's a pleasant life, 



He freely roams from shore to shore ; 

 In every port he finds a wife 



What can a sailor wish for more ? " 



Some enamoured potter having produced a master- 

 piece as a present to his lady destroyed the design, so 



