Their dimensions alive, and their density dead, He measur’d and weigh’d with the eyes of his head, From the tip of the tongue to the tip of the tail, In ells and in inches, exact as a scale, The girt of the sirloin, the centre and crop, The breadth of the brisket, the bottom and top; By practice made perfect, precise, and expert, Surpris’d all the people in mayor Millar’s mart.
A caravan crowded, came here from the east, With _Bengal_ bred bipeds, and _Bot’ney Bay_ beasts; Stage-tumblers, and walkers upon the slack wire, And dancing dogs deck’d out in harlequin ’tire; Eke, eight _British_ badgers brought back in a box, The big and the beautiful _Berwickshire_ ox; With all tricks by slight hand of nature and art, To add to the eclat of mayor Millar’s mart.
Close by the mayor’s mansion, expos’d are in pens, A local collection of cocks and of hens; Ducks, turkies, and pigeons in sunkets are seen, And pack-sacks presented with grey geese and green: With well cul’d canaries confin’d close in cages, And song birds of all sorts and sizes and ages; Whose quavering chorus both cheer and divert The cohorts convened at mayor Millar’s mart.
Here potters, with panniers of Stafford and Delph, And chests of choice china to shine on the shelf; Here’s hampers of hardware--plate--polish’d and plain, With all tin utensils of varnish and stain: Here’s statues of stucco, Dutch trinkets, and toys, And bawlers of ballads, of nonsense, and noise! Here cadgers of commerce, commodities cart, With hucksters and hawkers, to mayor Millar’s mart.
From _Morpeth_, _Newcastle_, and _London_ likewise, The puffers of paste here expose _penny pies_! With cheese cakes and custards and other confects, Of rare aromatics, and summer selects: Scarce kickshaws more costly can be chew’d with chaps, Yet somewhat less sav’ry than _Silas Swain’s_[69] snaps, Which powerful perfumes to the palates impart, Of alamode essence in mayor Millar’s mart.
Hotels for highflyers, and Inns little worse, With good entertainment for man and for horse; Here’s baskets of butter, beef, bacon, bread, beer, With fleshers, fishmongers, and other choice cheer, To buoy up the belly, and burnish the back; Who have ready rhino need nothing to lack;-- Fairs formerly fam’d now begin to loss heart, Since all Adam’s offspring prefer Millar’s mart.