A

Grubftreet ELEGY

On the fuppofed Death of

PARTRIDGE

THE

Almanack-maker.

W

Anno, 1708.

ELL, 'tis as Bickerstaff has gueft,
Tho' we all took it for a Jeft:
Partridge is Dead, nay more, he died
E,er he could prove the good Squire

ly'd.
Strange, an Aftrologer fhould die,
Without one Wonder in the Sky;
Not one of all his Crony Stars,
To pay their Duty at his Hearfe!
No Meteor, no Eclipfe appear'd!
No Comet with a Flaming Beard!
P 4

The

The Sun has rofe, and gon to Bed,
Just as if Partridge were not Dead;
Nor hid himself behind the Moon,
To make a dreadful Night at Noon:
He at fit Periods walks through Aries,
Howe'er our Earthly Motion varies,
And twice a Year he'll cut the Equator,
As if there had been no fuch Matter.
SOME Wits have wondred what Analogy
There is 'twixt Cobling and Aftrology
How Partridge made his Opticks rife,
From a Shooe Sole to reach the Skies.

A Lift the Coblers Temples ties,
To keep the Hair out of their Eyes;
From whence 'tis plain the Diadem
That Princes wear derives from them;
And therefore Crowns are now-a-days
Adorn'd with Golden Stars and Rays,
Which plainly fhews the near Alliance
"Twixt Cobling and the Planets Science,
BESIDES, that flow-pac'd Sign Bo-otes
As 'tis mifcall'd, we know not who 'tis ;
But Partridge ended all Difputes,

He knew his Trade, and call'd it † Boots.
THE Horned Moon which heretofore
Upon their Shooes the Romans wore,
Whofe widenefs kept their Toes from Corns,
And whence we claim our Shooing Horns,
Shews how the Art of Cobling bears

A near Refemblance to the Spheres,
A Scrap of Parchment hung by Geometry,
A great Refinement in Barometry;

*Partridge was a Cobler. † See his Almanack.

Can

Can like the Stars foretel the Weather;
And what is Parchment elfe but Leather?
Which an Aftrologer might use,
Either for Almanacks or Shooes.

THUS Partridge, by his Wit and Parts,
At once did Practice both thefe Arts:
And as the Boading Owl, (or rather
The Bat because her Wings are Leather)
Steals from her Private Cell by Night,
And flies about the Candle-Light;
So Learned Partridge could as well
Creep in the Dark from Leathern Cell.
And in his Fancy fly as far,
To peep upon a twinkling Star.

BESIDES, he could confound the Spheres,
And fet the Planets by the Ears:

To fhew his Skill, he Mars would joyn
To Venus in Afpet Mali'n,

Then call in Mercury for Aid,

And cure the Wounds that Venus made,

GREAT Scholars have in Lucian read,

When Philip King of Greece was dead,
His Soul and Spirit did divide,
And each Part took a diff'rent fide;
One rofe a Star, the other fell

Beneath, and mended Shooes in Hell.
THUS Partridge ftill fhines in each Art,
The Cobling and Star-Gazing Part,
And is Inftall'd as good a Star,

As any of the Cafars are.

TRÍUMPHANŤ Star! fome Pity fhew,
On Coblers Militant below,

Whom roguish Boys in ftormy Nights
Torment, by piffing out their Lights;
Or thro' a Chink convey their Smoke,
Inclos'd Artificers to Choke.

Thou,

THOU, high-exalted in thy Sphere,
May't follow ftill thy Calling there.
To thee the Bull will lend his Hide,
By Phoebus newly Tann'd and Dry'd.
For thee the Argos Hulk will Tax,
And fcrape her Pitchy Sides for Wax.
Then Ariadne kindly lends

Her braided Hair to make thee Ends;
The Point of Sagittarius Dart
Turns to an Awl, by Heavenly Art;
And Vulcan wheedled by his Wife,
Will forge for thee a Paring Knife.
For want of Room by Virge's Side,
Shee'll ftrain a Point and fit * aftride
To take thee kindly in between,
And then the Signs will be Thirteen.

*Tibi brachia contrabet Ingens Scorpius, &c.

The

H

The Epitaph.

ERE, Five Foot deep, lies on his Back
A Cobler, Starmonger, and Quack,
Who to the Stars in pure Good-will,
Does to his best look upward fill.
Weep all ye Customers that use

His Pills, his Almanacks, or Shooes.
And you that did your Fortunes feek,
Step to his Grave but once a Week,
This Earth, which bears his Body's Print,
You'l find has fo much Virtue in't,
That I durft pawn my Ears, 'twill tell
What e'or concearns you full as well
In Phyfick, Stolen Goods, or Love,
As he himself could, when above.

Apollo