"First the heel and then the toe, That's the way the polka goes; First the toe and then the heel, That's the way to dance a reel; Quick about and then away, Lightly dance the glad Strathspey. Jump a jump, and jump it big, That's the way to dance a jig; Slowly, smiling as in France, Follow through the country dance. And we'll meet Johnny Cope in the morning."
It was very amusing. Where he picked up the uncouth rhyme we do not know, and it was bootless to inquire. Having ordered him some dinner, we bade him good-bye, when we caught hold of the following verse of Lachlan's favourite ditties as we disappeared:--
"Kilt your coaties, bonnie lassie, As you wade the burnie through; Or your mother will be angry If you wet your coaties now."
Poor Lachlan, always cheerful and perfectly harmless, is a welcome guest at every fireside throughout the many districts which he periodically peregrinates. We may have something more to say of himself and his quaint scraps of songs on a future occasion.
Plague of Thistles in Australia and New Zealand--How to deal with them--Cnicus Acaulis, Great Milk Thistle, or Stemless Thistle--Fierce Fight between two Seals, "Nelson" and "Villeneuve."