The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1880-12-28 00:00:00

THE LAY OF THE LIFEBOAT.

Gurneatict all, are your glares charged ? for Fve a
toast for the winter weather.
Answer it, then, with a three times three; voice and
heart, if you please,
It is not a sorrowful theme Itlengl,lerthongh the red leaves
rot in the winter
And east winds meet ardetintrace of the north, our
throats to scourge and muscles to harden.
I Come far away from the weary foga, those winding.
sheets of our London life ;
1 Away from the prowl of the burgiaruneak, and the
thud of the brute who has kicked his wife.
I'd tell to-day of the rook-bound coast, the scream-
ing surf, and the sea-blown sand;
I And drink to the men who are off to sea, when the
sailors shout that the Lifeboat's manned.
They talk of battles, and rank and file they call the
roll, count cannon and lose;
And Tom he wears • corporal's stripe, and brave little
Jim the Victoria Cross.
They march to the front with fife and dram, and
follow the beat of the regiment's band •
They see their flag as it waves, and hear the jolly old
colonel's clear command.
But there's never a sound in the battle at sea, but the
howling storm and the scream afar ;
And it's only duty points the way when the ships break
up on the harbour-bar.
It is dark unto death on the midnight sea, and darker
still on the sleeping land ;
But only women are left on shore to cry, "They're
off l" when the Lifeboat's manned.
Certain risk and • chance reward—this is the tale that
the Lifeboat tells.
What was their prue but the lives of men, those
splendid tellows who died at Wells?
Love and pleasure was theirs at home, danger and
death they faced at sea;
Their lives were swallowed in waves of Fate when the
men they hurried to save were free.
Out they went in the terrible storm, hurricane-hard on
the Norfolk coast.
Women they weep, as women will do ; but never a
Nam quits his post
Behtini the oar, the rocket, and rope, out they west
ram the sheltering land ;
Never again will they wake to hear their comrades
shout when the lifeboat's manned,
Gentlemen all, when the storms are out, the rooftree
shakes, and the windows rattle,
Just think a little of ship; at sea, the wave's attack,
and the sailor's battle.
You close the shutters and bar the ,i,,or, in cosy home
of the sheltered city ;
You give one sigh for the Lifeboat—yes, and you offer
her crew a grain of pity.
But, on my honour, I'd like to know if pluckier men
in the world exist
Than those who buckle the lifebelt on, when wives are
left and the children kissed.
So again I ask, are you glasses charged ; will you sand
a cheer from the friends on shore.
To the man who go to their death at sea, and do their
duty I—men can't do more.
RoPs departs when the land is lost; love is blown from
the rocks and sand.
Ready to die is the motto of men—and this is the
reason the Lifeboat'. marmed.
Cuirtztiv 80017.
November 1880.

posst.mirD.
H.M.S. W ANUOR.--064,40 ilessaire haa been
appointed secs Douglas, 1.D.C., whom time has
ed.
ASOfic Rieutorte,—)r. McLean gave • lecture
on "A year, within the lactic Mole with Captain
Hares," on Friday evening in St. John's schoolroom,
in aid of the fund for St. ..7ohn's Church pulpit, and
the Rev. T. A. Miley was in the chair.
Pill Smcoam Honc—Hies Weston opened this
valuable institute on Tundoy, with • tea to over a
hundred boys, who will be regaled with cake, tea, and
amoebae, several rev. pollution from the eldps being
invited, also the chaplain of the Seamen's Mission.
TgliAridoeb Pintivaitamm—A morning perform-
mem of " A Thumping Linsey," mid "The Bonnie
rigliwife," wan given or SaWday lent, at the
Volunteer Artillery Drill Hall, in aid of the Seaman
and Marines' Orphan Homo! at Portsmouth and
Plymouth. The parts were taken by Lieut. Blanchard
Coward, R.N., Lieut. J. Brant, R.N., Lieut. W. V.
Boly, R.N., Lieut. D. L. Barrett, R.M.L.1.,
if. Stuart, Eel, Mr. H. Brown, Mr. F. Young, Miss
Wood, and Miss Stuart. The room wee tastefully
decorated with Sage, there was • large audience, and
the performances wee 'very_ good.
AOCIMUIT Ital iool,llllllDOZ.—lht Saturday
afternoon, Mr. Motive Moore, of the Castle Inn, Port-
land, warn going with Mr. Lockwood and other friends,
to take the la-t afternoon train at !indwell, when, mom
Jag the tramway in front of the Foot-bridge, his foot
caught in the rail of the tram, and be fell, and broke
•be ibis-bone of his right leg. It was a compound
fracture, and Mr. Moore, who is an elderly man, was
conveyed to the Weymouth Royal Hospital, whore his
leg wise set. He paid his "Accidental' inotrance not
lone before.
CilmirrgAs Snows—Mr. Score, of Fortunes-Well,
hod covered the front of his house with poultry and
displayed a number of pigs on a bench, the whole
being lighted up, attracted a considerable number of
The season bosThb:beume..intclitevisouwrabal:chlie fhAdworerePlT!lday6Pilailaieeyli.
il• led
icTuesdaysnc7 whichu
d aa sde •
someturnedeothern in
evening
ow
eatfo out well.
rm.goods,
B ere t
:nagur
pyiv,inianaliofhtfiL.
Mrs. Jolliffe, of Fortune's-Well, showed Christmas
has a moat reckon/se stock of the very best
la
costly fancy goods. In toys Mr. Latty and Mrs.
Comb" rival each other in the extent of their
selection, and we obearre the slowest features in the

toy_ life.
"' '
I AIM= OF A SIWOOLIXO EXPIDITION. —On Monday
night shortly before nine o'clock, the chief of the
otostguard on duty at Castletawn observed a boat
1 pulling towards the shore near the Admiralty Pier;
1 but the men in her appear to have discovered that they
were seen, and put off again, then pulled doors lower
to ilhe westward, and landed in the neighbour-
hood of the blacksmith's shop. Meantime the
coastguard had not been idle, ad they had not long
landed before they were met by the officers, on which
each man dropped what he was carrying, and
chomped. On examination the "left luggage" proved
to be three 9-gallon casks of gin, which of course were
seized. It is said there is a suspicion as to who the
men were, and rumour states that they belonged to
Weymouth ; but they got a too quickly to be
captured.
PITERTAINXIXT AT ST. Gnome's SOHOOLSOOIL. —The
-following is the programme of an entertainment at
Referee school on Thursday last :—Plano duet,
" Husarenritt," Mrs. Bumf and Mies Hansen ; song,
Mrs. McLean; song' "Th. Bay of Biscay," Mr.
Gooding; violin and piano, " Romance in A Major,"
Herr Hansen and Miss Hanson • song, "Now Isn't it
a Pity," Mrs. Hugger; reading, " The Newcastle
=scary," Mr. Reynolds ; song, "The Blue
Alsatian Mountains," Mr. Wood ; song, 'Robin
Adair," Miss Itlynolds ; song, " The Wooderfull
Well," Mr. Hogger ; gins," Hark the Curfew," Mrs
Wood, Mies Stone, and Mr. W. Attwooll ; MIL
" Twickenham Ferry," Mrs. Wood; reading, Rev. J.
B. Palmer ; song,"l have always a Welcome for
Thee," Mr. Yates ; violin solo, '' The Last Momenta,"
Herr Hansen; duet, "My Mother-in-law," Mr. and
Mrs. Hogger ; reading, "A Merry Christ ' Mr.
Cohen •mg Mr. Gooding; song "Let me Dream
Again,;' Miss Reynolds; song, "Jacks and Ji11.," Mr.
Hogger ; "God dare the Queen."