Page:Miss Kilmansegg and her precious leg; a golden legend (IA misskilmansegghe00hood).pdf/13

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AND HER PRECIOUS LEG.

But his income would bear carousing;
Such acres he had of pasture and heath,
With herbage so rich from the ore beneath,
The very ewe's and lambkin's teeth
Were turn'd into gold by browsing.

He gave, without any extra thrift,
A flock of sheep for a birthday gift
To each son of his loins, or daughter
And his debts—if debts he had—at will
He liquidated by giving each bill
A dip in Pactolian water.
 

'Twas said that even his pigs of lead,
By crossing with some by Midas bred,
Made a perfect mine of his piggery.
And as for cattle, one yearling bull
Was worth all Smithfield-market full
Of the Golden Bulls of Pope Gregory.

The high-bred horses within his stud,
Like human creatures of birth and blood,

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