The Bricklayer:--

I tell this tale which is strictly true, Just by way of convincing you How very little since things were made Things have altered in the building trade.

A year ago, come the middle o' March, We was building flats near the Marble Arch, When a thin young man with coal-black hair Came up to watch us working there.

Now there wasn't a trick in brick or stone That this young man hadn't seen or known; Nor there wasn't a tool from trowel to maul But this young man could use 'em all!

Then up and spoke the plumbyers bold, Which was laying the pipes for the hot and cold: 'Since you with us have made so free, Will you kindly say what your name might be?'

The young man kindly answered them: 'It might be Lot or Methusalem, Or it might be Moses (a man I hate), Whereas it is Pharaoh surnamed the Great.

'Your glazing is new and your plumbing's strange, But otherwise I perceive no change, And in less than a month if you do as I bid I'd learn you to build me a Pyramid.'

II.