The Difficulty of describing Town-Scenery.-A Comparison with certain Views in the Country.-The River and Quay.-The Shipping and Business.-Ship-Building.-Sea-Boys and Port-Views.-Village and Town Scenery again compared. Walks from Town.-Cottage and adjoining Heath, &c.-House of Sunday Entertainment.-The Sea: A Summer and Winter View.-A Shipwreck at Night, and its Effects on Shore.-Evening Amusements in the Borough.-An Apology for the imperfect View which can be given of these Subjects,
"DESCRIBE the Borough"-though our idle Tribe
May love Description, can we so describe,
That you shall fairly Streets and Buildings trace,
And all that gives distinction to a place ?
This cannot be; yet mov'd by your request,
A part I paintlet Fancy form the rest.
Cities and Towns, the various haunts of men,
Require the pencil; they defy the pen :
Could he, who sang so well the Grecian Fleet,
So well have sung of Alley, Lane, or Street?
Can measur'd lines these various Buildings show,
The Town-Hall Turning, or the Prospect Row ?
Can I the seats of Wealth and Want explore,
And lenghthen out my Lays from door to door?
Then let thy Fancy aid me-I repair
From this tall Mansion of our last-year's Mayor,
Till we the Out-skirts of the Borough reach,
And these half-buried Buildings next the Beach;
Where hang at open doors, the Net and Cork,
While squallid Sea-Dames mend the meshy work;
Till comes the hour, when fishing through the tide,
The weary Husband throws his Freight aside;
A living mass, which now demands the Wife,
Th' alternate labours of their humble Life.
Can Scenes like these withdraw thee from thy Wood, Thy upland Forest or thy Valley's Flood? Seek then thy Garden's shrubby bound, and look, As it steals by, upon the bordering Brook ; That winding streamlet, limpid, lingering, slow, Where the Reeds whisper when the Zephyrs blow; Where in the midst, upon her throne of green,
Sits the large Lily* as the Water's Queen ;
And makes the Current, forc'd awhile to stay,
Murmur and bubble as it shoots away;
Draw then the strongest contrast to that stream,
And our broad River will before thee seem.
With ceaseless motion comes and goes the Tide,
Flowing, it fills the Channel vast and wide;'
Then back to Sea, with strong majestic sweep
It rolls, in ebb yet terrible and deep :
* The white Water-Lily. Nymphæa alba.
Here Sampire-Banks and Salt-wort + bound the Flood,
There Stakes and Sea-weeds withering on the Mud;
And higher up, a ridge of all things base,
Which some strong tide has roll'd upon the place.
Thy gentle River boasts its pigmy Boat,
Urg'd on by pains, half grounded, half afloat;
While at her Stern an Angler takes his stand,
And marks the Fish he purposes to land;
From that clear space, where in the cheerful ray
Of the warm Sun the scaly People play.
Far other Craft our prouder River shows,
Hoys, Pinks and Sloops; Brigs, Brigantines and Snows:
Nor Angler we on our wide stream descry,
But one poor Dredger where his Oysters lie:
He cold and wet and driving with the Tide,
Beats his weak arms against his tarry side,
Then drains the remnant of diluted gin,
To aid the warmth that languishes within ;
Renewing oft his poor attempts to beat
His tingling fingers into gathering heat.
He shall again be seen when Evening comes,
And social Parties crowd their favourite rooms;
Where, on the Table Pipes and Papers lie,
The steaming Bowl or foaming Tankard by ;
'Tis then, with all these comforts spread around,
They hear the painful Dredger's welcome sound;
* The jointed Glasswort. Salicornia, is here meant not the true Sampire, the Crithmum maritimum,
†The Salsola of Botanists.
And few themselves the savoury boon deny,
The food that feeds, the living luxury.
Yon is our Quay! those smaller Hoys from Town,
Its various Wares, for Country-Use, bring down;
Those laden Waggons, in return, impart
The Country-Produce to the City Mart:
Hark! to the Clamour in that miry Road,
Bounded and narrow'd by yon Vessels' Load;
The lumbering Wealth she empties round the place,
Package and Parcel, Hogshead, Chest and Case:
While the loud Seaman and the angry Hind,
Mingling in Business, bellow to the Wind.
Near these a Crew amphibious in the Docks,
Rear, for the Sea, those Castles on the Stocks:
See! the long Keel, which soon the Waves must hide,
See! the strong Ribs which form the roomy Side,
Bolts yielding slowly to the sturdiest stroke,
And Planks which curve and crackle in the smoke.
Around the whole rise cloudy Wreathes, and far
Bear the warm pungence of o'er-boiling Tar.
Dabbling on shore half-naked Sea-Boys crowd,
Swim round a Ship, or swing upon the Shrowd;
Or in a Boat purloin'd, with Paddles play,
And grow familiar with the Watery Way:
* The curvature of planks for the sides of a ship, &c. is, I am informed,, now generally made by the power of steam. Fire is nevertheless still used for boats and vessels of the smaller kind.
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