sisters at the Wake, as it is frequently called. Who has read Bloomfield's simple ballad of "Richard and Kate, or Fair Day," and not been touched as the poet recalled scenes which he doubtless witnessed, and which drew out the best feelings of his heart? Richard, an aged Suffolk labourer, sets off with Kate, his good old wife, to the Fair:—
"At length arriv'd amidst the throng,
Grandchildren bawling hemm'd them round,
And dragg'd them by the skirts along
Where gingerbread bestrew'd the ground.
And soon the aged couple spy'd
Their lusty sons and daughters dear;
When Richard, thus exulting, cried—
'Didn't I tell you they'd be here?'"
After . enjoying themselves watching the various scenes of amusement, a happy family party, in which
"Twas good to see the honest strife,
Which should contribute most to please;"
his faithful Kate warns her partner that it is time to depart.
"The children want an hour, ye see,
To talk a bit before we go."
Then they wander into the fields, the little ones toppling on the green and bowling their fairings down the hill.
"Richard with pride beheld the scene,
Nor could he for his life sit still.······
(Then raising high his mug and voice)
'An old man's weakness don't despise!
I love you well, my girls and boys;
God bless you all;'—so said his eyes—
For, as he spoke, a big round drop
Fell bounding on his ample sleeve;
A witness which he could not stop,
A witness which all hearts believe."
