And the church bells all, both great and small,
Did toll so loud and long,

And they have barr'd the church door hard,
After the even song.

And the first night the tapers' light

Burnt steadily and clear,

But they without a hideous rout

Of angry fiends could hear;

A hideous roar at the church door,
Like a long thunder peal,

And the priests they pray'd and the choristers sung
Louder in fearful zeal.

Loud toll'd the bell, the priests pray'd well,
The tapers they burnt bright,

The monk her son, and her daughter the nun,
They told their beads all night.

The cock he crew, away they flew,
The fiends from the herald of day,
And undisturb'd the choristers sing,
And the fifty priests they pray.

The second night the tapers' light
Burnt dismally and blue,

And every one saw his neighbour's face

Like a dead man's face to view.

And yells and cries without arise

That the stoutest heart might shock,

And a deafening roar like a cataract pouring
Over a mountain rock.

The monk and nun they told their beads,

As fast as they could tell,

And aye as louder grew the noise

The faster went the bell.

Louder and louder the choristers sung

As they trembled more and more,

And the fifty priests pray'd to Heaven for aid,— They never had pray'd so before.

T

The cock he crew, away they flew
The fiends from the herald of day,
And undisturb'd the choristers sing,
And the fifty priests they pray.

The third night came, and the tapers' flame
A hideous stench did make,

And they burnt as though they had been dipt

In the burning brimstone lake.

And the loud commotion, like the rushing of ocean,
Grew momently more and more,

And strokes as of a battering ram
Did shake the strong church door

The bellmen they for very fear
Could toll the bell no longer,
And still as louder grew the strokes
Their fear it grew the stronger.

The monk and nun forgot their beads,
They fell on the ground dismay'd,
There was not a single saint in heaven
Whom they did not call to aid.

And the choristers' song, that late was so strong,
Grew a quaver of consternation,

For the church did rock, as an earthquake shock Uplifted its foundation.

And a sound was heard like the trumpet's blast
That shall one day wake the dead,

The strong church door could bear no more,
And the bolts and the bars they fled.

And the tapers' light was extinguish'd quite,
And the choristers faintly sung,

And the priests dismay'd, panted and pray'd
Till fear froze every tongue.

And in he came with eyes of flame

The devil to fetch the dead,

And all the church with his presence glow'd
Like a fiery furnace red.

He laid his hand on the iron chains,
And like flax they moulder'd asunder,
And the coffin lid that was barr'd so firm
He burst with his voice of thunder.

And he bade the Old Woman of Berkeley rise
And come with her master away,

And the cold sweat stood on the cold cold corpse,
At the voice she was forced to obey.

She rose on her feet in her winding sheet,
Her dead flesh quiver'd with fear,

And a groan like that which the old woman gave
Never did mortal hear.

She follow'd the fiend to the church door,
There stood a black horse there,

His breath was red like furnace smoke,
eyes like a meteor's glare.

His

The fiend he flung her on the horse,
And he leapt up before,

And away like the lightning's speed they went,
And she was seen no more.

They saw her no more, but her cries and shrieks
For four miles round they could hear,

And children at rest at their mother's breast,
Started and screamed with fear.

THE SURGEON'S WARNING.

THE doctor whisper'd to the nurse,
And the surgeon knew what he said,
And he grew pale at the doctor's tale,
And trembled in his sick bed.

Now fetch me my brethren, and fetch them wi
The surgeon affrighted said,

The

parson and the undertaker,

Let them hasten, or I shall be dead.

T

The parson and the undertaker

They hastily came complying,

And the surgeon's apprentices ran up stairs
When they heard that their master was dying.

The 'prentices all they enter'd the room,
By one, by two, by three,

With a sly grin came Joseph in,
First of the company.

The surgeon swore, as they enter'd his door,-
"Twas fearful his oaths to hear,-
Now send these scoundrels to the devil,
For God's sake, my brethren dear.

He foam'd at the mouth with the rage he felt,
And he wrinkled his black eyebrow,
That rascal Joe would be at me, I know,
But, zounds, let him spare me now.

Then out they sent the 'prentices,
The fit it left him weak;

He look'd at his brothers with ghastly eyes,
And faintly struggled to speak.

All kinds of carcasses I have cut up,
And the judgment now must be!
But, brothers, I took care of you,
So pray take care of me!

I have made candles of infants' fat,
The sextons have been my slaves,
I have bottled babes unborn, and dried
Hearts and livers from rifled graves.

And my 'prentices will surely come,
And carve me bone from bone,

And I, who have rifled the dead man's grave,
Shall never rest in my own.

Bury me in lead when I am dead,
My brethren, I entreat,

And see the coffin weigh'd, I beg,

Lest the plumber should be a cheat.

And let it be solder'd closely down,

Strong as strong can be, I implore, And put it in a patent coffin,

That I may rise no more.

If they carry me off in the patent coffin,
Their labour will be in vain,

Let the undertaker see it bought of the maker,
Who lives in St. Martin's lane.

And bury me in my

brother's church,

For that will safer be,

And, I implore, lock the church door,
And
pray take care of the key.

And all night long let three stout men
The vestry watch within,

To each man give a gallon of beer
And a keg of Holland's gin;

Powder, and ball, and blunderbuss,
To save me if he can,

And eke five guineas if he shoot
A resurrection man.

And let them watch me for three weeks,
My wretched corpse to save,
For then I think that I may stink

Enough to rest in my grave.

The surgeon laid him down in his bed,

His eyes grew deadly dim,

Short came his breath, and the struggle of death

Distorted every limb.

They put him in lead when he was dead,

And shrouded up so neat,

And they the leaden coffin weigh,

Lest the plumber should be a cheat.

They had it solder'd closely down,
And examined it o'er and o'er,
And they put it in a patent coffin,
That he might rise no more.