Title : An A. B. C. of every-day people
Good, bad & indifferent
Author : G. E. Farrow
Illustrator : John Hassall
Release date : February 26, 2023 [eBook #70150]
Language : English
Original publication : United Kingdom: Dean & Son
Credits : David Edwards, PrimeNumber and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by the University of Florida Digital Collections.)
GOOD, BAD & INDIFFERENT.
BY
G. E. FARROW
AUTHOR OF “THE WALLYPUG OF WHY”
“THE LITTLE PANJANDRUM’S DODO”
ETC. ETC.
ILLUSTRATED
BY JOHN HASSALL.
London DEAN & SON 160 A Fleet S T . E.C.
[Page 1]
A the AMIABLE
[Page 2]
A the Amiable!
A h! what an a miable party is A ,
He holds out his hand in a genial way;
He is hearty and hale,
And he loves a good sail.
What a capital friend on a fine summer’s day!
[Page 3]
B THE BUMPTIOUS
[Page 4]
B the Bumptious.
B oastful, and b umptious Bohemian B ,
He plays on the fiddle most beautifully;
But is really so vain,
That some people complain
That his fiddling is nothing but fiddle-de-dee.
[Page 5]
C THE CONTENTED
[Page 6]
C the Contented.
C heerful, c ontented, and smiling is C ,
A good-natured, pleasant old lady is she;
And even her cat,
Tho’ he isn’t too fat,
Appears to be grinning most amiably.
[Page 7]
D THE DOLEFUL
[Page 8]
D the Doleful.
D ear! Dear! What a d readfully d olorous D ,
The picture of misery surely is he;
When he asks for a penny,
And doesn’t get any,
His language is not what his language should be.
[Page 9]
E THE ENERGETIC
[Page 10]
E the Energetic.
Behold, e nergetic and eager-eyed E ,
Who has no time to stand upon ceremony;
He’s all hurry and hustle,
And scurry and bustle,
About something or other continually.
[Page 11]
F THE FEEBLE
[Page 12]
F the Feeble.
F idgety, f retful, and f ractious is F .
For feeble and fragile, and frail is old F;
Not a tooth in his head,
And now, it is said,
The old fellow’s becoming remarkably deaf.
[Page 13]
G THE GENEROUS
[Page 14]
G the Generous.
This is g ood-natured and g enerous G .
A kind little fellow, you’ll doubtless agree;
See him willingly share
That extremely large pear,
How very surprised Pretty Polly must be.
[Page 15]
H THE HAUGHTY
[Page 16]
H the Haughty.
H oity-toity! Here’s h igh-minded h aughty Miss H .
To be so self-satisfied’s naughty, Miss H,
With your nose in the air,
And your insolent stare,
I can’t think what you’ll look like at forty, Miss H.
[Page 17]
I THE INDUSTRIOUS
[Page 18]
I the Industrious.
You can’t help but admire this i ndustrious I ,
Who is studying hard, tho’ there’s nobody by.
He’s so lost in his book,
He has no time to look
At the ink he has spilt; and it’s getting quite dry.
[Page 19]
J THE JOLLY
[Page 20]
J the Jolly.
This is the j ovial, j ocular J ,
Who’s enjoying at Margate a fine holiday.
He makes everyone laugh,
With his fun and his chaff.
You’ve met somebody like him before, I dare say.
[Page 21]
K THE KNAVISH
[Page 22]
K the Knavish.
I’d k nock o’er the k nuckles this k navish young K :
He’s been picking a pocket and now runs away.
But Policeman X 2
Has this person in view,
And will certainly catch the young rascal some day.
[Page 23]
L THE LIVELY
[Page 24]
L the Lively.
L issome and l ively is l ight-footed L ,
Who dances the sailor’s hornpipe very well.
From morning to night,
He is merry and bright,
Is this jolly Jack Tar, one may easily tell.
[Page 25]
M THE MEEK
[Page 26]
M the Meek.
Down-trodden, brow-beaten, m eek little M ,
This torrent of fault-finding nothing can stem.
If her mistress were kinder,
No doubt she would find her
The best of good servants, a regular gem.
[Page 27]
This is good-natured and n eighbourly N ,
Who over the wall has been talking since ten.
To the lady next door,
(Who’s perhaps rather poor)
She’s lending her very best flat-iron again.
[Page 28]
N THE NEIGHBOURLY
[Page 29]
An o bliging o fficial is good P’liceman O .
He holds up his hand, and the coachman says “Whoa!”
His smile is seraphic,
When stopping the traffic,
To let a small lady cross over, you know.
[Page 30]
O THE OBLIGING
[Page 31]
P erky and p roud is p articular P .
She wouldn’t converse with a policeman, not she!
But I have heard it said,
That a soldier in red
By her is regarded more favourably.
[Page 32]
P THE PERKY
[Page 33]
This is the q uerulous, q uarrelsome Q .
Nothing will please her, whatever you do;
And from morning till night,
This or that isn’t right,
And whatever you tell her, she says isn’t true.
[Page 34]
Q THE QUARRELSOME
[Page 35]
Proper and highly r espectable R .
About your appearance most particular.
The man with the broom
Steps aside to make room,
And wonders, poor fellow, whoever you are.
[Page 36]
R THE RESPECTABLE
[Page 37]
In his cooking most highly s uccessful is S ,
And his smiling face doth satisfaction express.
He says, “Very good stew!”
And so, doubtless, would you.
This person’s a Chef, as you see by his dress.
[Page 38]
S THE SATISFIED
[Page 39]
T erribly t imid is t remulous T ,
Who appears to be sitting uncomfortably.
He looks nervous and ill,
And will certainly spill
All his tea. He has spilt some already, I see.
[Page 40]
T THE TIMID
[Page 41]
U nfortunate and most u nwilling is U .
The poor little chap’s in a terrible stew,
When he’s had the tooth out
He’ll be better, no doubt,
And a new tooth will grow where the other one grew.
[Page 42]
U THE UNHAPPY
[Page 43]
Utterly v acant and lost is poor V ,
He’s forgotten the date of the wedding you see.
He’s forgotten the ring,
And in fact everything;
A remarkable kind of a bridegroom is he.
[Page 44]
V THE VACANT
[Page 45]
Perfectly w illing is antique Miss W ,
Tho’ I fear very much that nobody will trouble you.
Few are anxious to kiss
Such an elderly miss;
It is sad, but a fact, you poor ancient Miss W.
[Page 46]
W THE WILLING
[Page 47]
This is the highly excitable X .
The result of the poll, or some land we annex,
Drives him quite off his head;
And I have heard it said
That such conduct his wife doth exceedingly vex.
[Page 48]
X THE EXCITABLE
[Page 49]
This is the girlish and y outhful Miss Y ,
Who’ll bestow a sweet smile as she passes you by.
To look younger than ever
Is her constant endeavour;
Though her age you will probably guess, if you try.
[Page 50]
Y THE YOUTHFUL
[Page 51]
This is the z ealous z oologist Z
Examining an hippopotamus’ head.
There’s no cause for alarm,
It can do you no harm,
For the creature, of course, is decidedly dead.
[Page 52]
Z THE ZEALOUS ZOOLOGIST