P r e 1 o d e. 



Hail Muse etc.! Bring me Peggy, 



My antient steed, now somewhat leggy; 



Not him who on Parnassus green 



Erst fed, and drank of Hippocrene; 



But such, as to supply the trade, 



At Nuremburg by scores are made. — 



I mount him, and will now indite 



A Bee-book for my own dehght, 



I'll sing of Johnny Dull: his pig, 



Made by his bees exceeding big ; 



And of his daughter fair Christine, 



Of her queer lover Dicky Dean, 



And of his nephew rogue Eugene — 



Of honey-robbers I will tell. 



And bears, and bull-frogs, ghosts as well 



All which my readers may discover 



Who con this true tale ten times over — 



Or make ten other Bee Friends buy it; 



For three and six I can supply it. 



