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HENRY CAREY.

HENRY CAREY, an English poet and playwright, born about 1696; died in London (?), 1743. As the author of "Sally in our Alley" his claim to the notice of posterity is a strong one, and 'Namby Pamby" is another of his good songs. His farces, among them "Hanging and Marriage," are not so lively.

SALLY IN OUR ALLEY.

Or all the girls that are so smart
There's none like pretty Sally;
She is the darling of my heart,
And she lives in our alley.
There is no lady in the land
Is half so sweet as Sally :
She is the darling of my heart,
And she lives in our alley.

Her father he makes cabbage-nets,

And through the streets does cry 'em;

Her mother she sells laces long

To such as please to buy 'em :

But sure such folks could ne'er beget
So sweet a girl as Sally!

She is the darling of my heart,
And she lives in our alley.

When she is by, I leave my work,
I love her so sincerely:
My master comes like any Turk,
And bangs me most severely;
But let him bang his bellyful,
I'll bear it all for Sally:
She is the darling of my heart,
And she lives in our alley.

Of all the days that's in the week,
I dearly love but one day,

And that's the day that comes betwixt

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My master carries me to church,
And often am I blamed
Because I leave him in the lurch
As soon as text is named;

I leave the church in sermon-time
And slink away to Sally:
She is the darling of my heart,
And she lives in our alley.

When Christmas comes about again,
Oh then I shall have money:
I'll hoard it up, and box it all,
I'll give it to my honey.

I would it were ten thousand pound,
I'd give it all to Sally:

She is the darling of my heart,
And she lives in our alley.

My master and the neighbors all
Make game of me and Sally;
And but for her, I'd better be

A slave and row a galley:

But when my seven long years are out, Oh then I'll marry Sally;

Oh then we'll wed, and then we'll bedBut not in our alley.

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WILL CARLETON.

WILL CARLETON, an American poet, journalist, and lecturer, was born at Hudson, Mich., Oct. 21, 1845. He was educated at Hillsdale College, in his native State; after which he lived for a time in Chicago, and then removed to Brooklyn. He visited Europe in 1878 and in 1885, and traveled much in Canada and in the western and northern parts of the United States, where his lectures were well received. His ballads of domestic life have been very popular. His books include: "Poems" (1871); "Farm Legends" (1875); "City Ballads" (1885); and "City Legends" (1889).

BETSEY AND I ARE OUT.1

(From "Farm Ballads.")

DRAW up the papers, lawyer, and make 'em good and stout;
Things at home are crossways, and Betsey and I are out.
We, who have worked together so long as man and wife,
Must pull in single harness the rest of our nat❜ral life.
"What is the matter?" say you. I swan it's hard to tell!
Most of the years behind us we've passed by very well;
I have no other woman, she has no other man
Only we've lived together as long as we ever can.

So I have talked with Betsey, and Betsey has talked with me,
So we've agreed together that we can't never agree;
Not that we've catched each other in any terrible crime;
We've been a-gathering this for years, a little at a time.
There was a stock of temper we both had for a start,
Though we never suspected 'twould take us two apart;
I had my various failings, bred in the flesh and bone;
And Betsey, like all good women, had a temper of her own.
First thing I remember whereon we disagreed

Was something concerning heaven - a difference in our creed;
We arg'ed the thing at breakfast, we arg'ed the thing at tea,
And the more we arg'ed the question the more we didn't agree.
And the next that I remember was when we lost a cow;
She had kicked the bucket for certain, the question was only - How?
1 Copyright, 1875, by Harper & Brothers. Used by permission.

I had my own opinion, and Betsey another had;
And when we were done a-talkin', we both of us was mad.

And the next that I remember, it started in a joke;
But full for a week it lasted, and neither of us spoke.

And the next was when I scolded because she broke a bowl;
And she said I was mean and stingy, and hadn't any soul.
And so that bowl kept pourin' dissensions in our cup;
And so that blamed old cow was always a-comin' up;
And so that heaven we arg'ed no nearer to us got,
But it gave us a taste of somethin' a thousand times as hot.
And so the thing kept workin', and all the self-same way:
Always somethin' to arg'e, and somethin' sharp to say;
And down on us came the neighbors, a couple of dozen strong,
And lent their kindest sarvice for to help the thing along.

And there has been days together and many a weary week
We was both of us cross and crabbed, and both too proud to speak;
And I have been thinkin' and thinkin', the whole of the winter and

fall,

If I can't live kind with a woman, why, then, I won't at all.

And so I have talked with Betsey, and Betsey has talked with me,
And we have agreed together that we can't never agree;
And what is hers shall be hers, and what is mine shall be mine;
And I'll put it in the agreement, and take it to her to sign.

Write on the paper, lawyer- the very first paragraph —
Of all the farm and live-stock that she shall have her half;
For she has helped to earn it, through many a weary day:
And it's nothing more than justice that Betsey has her pay.
Give her the house and homestead: a man can thrive and roam,
But women are skeery critters, unless they have a home;
And I have always determined, and never failed to say,
That my wife never should want a home if I was taken away.

There is a little hard cash that's drawin' tol'rable pay:
Just a few thousand dollars laid by for a rainy day;
Safe in the hands of good men, and easy to get at;
Put in another clause there, and give her half of that.

Yes, I see you smile, Sir, at my givin' her so much;
Yes, divorces is cheap, Sir, but I take no stock in such!
True and fair I married her, when she was blithe and young;
And Betsey was al'ays good to me - exceptin' with her tongue.

Once, when I was young as you, and not so smart, perhaps,
For me she mittened a lawyer, and several other chaps;

And all of them fellers was flustered, and fairly taken down,
And I for a time was counted the luckiest man in town.

Once when I had a fever - I won't forget it soon

I was hot as a basted turkey and crazy as a loon!
Never an hour went by me when she was out of sight –
She nursed me true and tender, and stuck to me day and night.

And if ever a house was tidy, and ever a kitchen clean,
Her house and kitchen was tidy as any I ever seen;

And I don't complain of Betsey, or any of her acts,

Exceptin' as when we've quarreled, and twitted each other on facts.

So draw up the papers, lawyer: and I'll go home to-night,
And read the agreement to her, and see if it's all right;
And then, in the mornin', I'll sell to a tradin' man I know,

And kiss the child that was left to us, and out in the world I'll go.

And one thing put in the paper, that first to me didn't occur:
That when I am dead at last she bring me back to her;
And lay me under the maples I planted years ago,
When she and I was happy; before we quarreled so.

And when she dies I wish that she would be laid by me;
And, lyin' together in silence, perhaps we might agree;
And if ever we meet in heaven, I wouldn't think it queer
If we loved each other the better for what we quarreled here.

GONE WITH A HANDSOMER MAN.1

JOHN.

I'VE worked in the field all day, a-plowin' the "stony streak";
I've scolded my team till I'm hoarse; I've tramped till my legs are

weak;

I've choked a dozen swears (so's not to tell Jane fibs)

When the plow-p'int struck a stone and the handles punched my

ribs.

I've put my team in the barn, and rubbed their sweaty coats;
I've fed 'em a heap of hay and half a bushel of oats;
And to see the way they eat makes me like eatin' feel,
And Jane won't say to-night that I don't make out a meal.

Well said the door is locked! but here she's left the key,
Under the step, in a place known only to her and me;
I wonder who's dyin' or dead, that she's hustled off pell-mell:
But here on the table's a note, and probably this will tell.

1 By permission of Harper & Brothers.

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