FAREWELL FROM THE SHREWSBURY" WONDER" TO THE PUBLIC.
(If 'twixt London and Shrewsbury lies your abode),
Then think of the coach that for years
More than ten miles an hour, 'till the railroad cried, wo!
All the drags may be floored; not a coach may remain,
Of the few, that now travel the highway for gain-
But folks ne'er will forget the fast Wonder, that threw
The dust in their faces, as by them it flew.
And still in the evening, when coachmen fillup
Their glasses of grog, as together they sup,
In whosoe❜er's yard I stand-Nelson, Chaplin, or Cripps,
My inside shall be with you, that night, jolly whips,
Shall join in your laughter, your jokes, and good cheer,
And return to me, smelling of backy and beer;
Too blest if it tell me, that mid the gay crowd,
Some voice hoarsely murmured-the rail-roads be blow'd.
Let steam do her worst! there are swells on the road,
Whose slap up four-in-hands, she can never explode;
Who pull up their teams, in the morn about four,
From Richmond, or Hounslow, at Limmers' door;
Long, long may such swells drags continue to build,
Like myself, that once inside, and outside, was fill'd,
You may smash, you may knock me to bits if you will,
But the name on my pannels will, Wonder, be still.
Birr Barracks, Nov. 14, 1838.