• MR. THOMAS GASCOIGNE. 
necessary for his journey, but were also a subservient receptacle for 
potatoes, and every oilier eatable which might chance to fall in his 
way, and which he did not fail to carry home with him. 
During his absence on one of his tours to Derby, about five years 
before his death, his house was broken open, and robbed of bills and 
cash to the amount of 5001. which was but a small sum compared 
with what was secreted in the house, and that escaped the scrutiniz- 
ing search of the robbers. His punctuality as a paymaster for his 
rent, and that which necessity compelled him to purchase, was very 
strict, as was also his accuracy as a book-keeper ; for at the time of 
the robbery, he had carefully booked the number of every note, the 
name of the person who signed and entered them, and the date ; he 
likewise kept an account of his expenditure, many weeks in which 
appeared to be only a penny and twopence, as he chiefiy subsisted 
on what he picked up in the streets, particularly on market days, by 
which means he became well known to all who frequented the market, 
as he always wore a long coat, which, with his stockings, could not 
be said to contain a particle of the original, they being so patched 
and darned with worsted. A ton of coals would serve him seven 
years, in the use of which he was very sparing and economical ; for 
in making his fire he first put a few sticks and coals, then a tier of 
stones, next a few more coals, and at top another tier of stones, which 
in time became red hot ; but it was only to bake his bread that he 
made a fire, at which times he also roasted potatoes sufficient to serve 
him till he again baked. His house was a miserable abode, and had 
more the appearance of a receptacle of filth, than the residence of a 
human being ; it was indeed unfit for “mortal ken,” the walls not having 
been whitewashed, nor the floor washed, for more than twenty years. 
In one corner lay a heap of stones for his fire; in another, hundreds of 
pieces of leather, such as old soles, which he had gathered for the 
purpose of mending his own. 
Many other instances of his parsimonious disposition might be 
named, but they would occupy too much of our space. The princi- 
pal part of his furniture consisted of an old clock, a table, bed, and 
several old chairs, all of which had been the property of his father; 
none of them appeared to have been cleaned for a number of years, 
or even removed from their situation, being covered and surrounded 
with dust to a great thickness. Mr. Gascoigne lived and died a 
bachelor: the full amount of his property is not known, but supposed 
to be some thousands, the whole of which went to his two nephews. 
Mr. G’s. patched coat, an ancient saddle which he used when in the 
excise, and several other antiquities of the same description, it was 
said, would make a valuable addition to the curiosities in the British 
Museum. In an electioneering squib, printed in 1802, are the follow- 
ing lines, which shew the state of the coat at that time, and of a truth 
he continued to wear it ever after : — 
“ Had I been this fam’d poet. I’d have wrote 
’Bout Gascoigne’s bald old hat, or worsted coat ; 
No man dare undertake to count the stitches. 
Or take the grease in nine days from his breeches.” 
