The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb
Chapter 181 : Page 413. _The Boy and Snake_.(?) Mary Lamb. This poem was the subject of the frontisp

Page 413. _The Boy and Snake_.

(?) Mary Lamb. This poem was the subject of the frontispiece to Vol. I. of the original edition. According to a letter from Jean D.

Montgomery printed in _The County Gentleman_ in August, 1907, there is extant in Kirkcudbrights.h.i.+re a legend on which this poem is probably based. She writes thus:--

"At the farm of Newlaw, in the parish of Rerrick, in Kirkcudbrights.h.i.+re, Scotland, some people named Crosbie lived about the year 1782--at least, they had a son, Douglas, who was born there in that year. When the child grew old enough to trot about by himself his mother was in the habit of giving him his plate of porridge and milk to take outside the farm and eat every morning. He had probably done so for long enough, when one day, his mother, happening to go out, saw him seated on the ground eating his porridge in company with an adder, who, however, instead of hurting the child, merely supped up the milk. When the reptile edged a little nearer to the boy than was quite equal, Douglas slapped the adder on his head with his horn spoon, saying, "Keep yer ain side o' the plate, Grey Bairdie."

The mother was, of course, terrified, but waited until the boy had finished his meal, when she called in the neighbours and killed the adder.

Curiously enough a precisely similar story turned up in Hungary in 1907 and was telegraphed to the London press from Budapest.

Page 415. _The First Tooth_.

Mary Lamb. The last line was quoted by Lamb in his Popular Fallacy "That Home is Home": "It has been prettily said, that 'a babe is fed with milk and praise.'"

Page 416. _To a River in which a Child was Drowned_.

By Charles Lamb. It was reprinted by him in the _Works_, 1818, the text of which is here given. I imagine Lamb to have found the metre and manner of the poem in the ballad "Gentle River, Gentle River"

(translated from the Spanish "Rio Verde, Rio Verde"), which is printed in the _Percy Reliques_. Reprinted by Mylius in _The Junior Cla.s.s-Book_.

Page 416. _The First of April_.

(?) Mary Lamb.

Page 417. _Cleanliness_.

(?) Charles Lamb. In the little essay "Sat.u.r.day Night," written in 1829, Lamb disputes the truth of the adage "Cleanliness is next to G.o.dliness."

Page 418. _The Lame Brother_.

(?) Mary Lamb. John Lamb, Charles's elder brother, was lamed when a young man (much older than the brother in the verses) by a falling stone. In "Dream-Children" Lamb states that he himself was once lame-footed too, and had to be carried by John. Somewhere between the two brothers the historical truth of this poem probably resides.

Page 419. _Going into Breeches_.

(?) Charles Lamb.

Page 420. _Nursing_.

(?) Mary Lamb.

Page 421. _The Text_.

(?) Mary Lamb.

Page 422. _The End of May_.

Mary Lamb. Talfourd writes, apparently with reference to this poem: "One verse, which she did not print--the conclusion of a little poem supposed to be expressed in a letter by the son of a family who, when expecting the return of its father from sea, received news of his death,--recited by her to Mr. Martin Burney, and retained in his fond recollection, may afford a concluding example of the healthful wisdom of her lessons:--

'I can no longer feign to be A thoughtless child in infancy; I tried to write like young Marie, But I am James her brother; And I can feel--but she's too young-- Yet blessings on her prattling tongue, She sweetly soothes my mother.'"

Page 424. _Feigned Courage_.

(?) Charles Lamb.

Page 425. _The Broken Doll_.

(?) Mary Lamb.

Page 426. _The Duty of a Brother_.

(?) Mary Lamb, amended by Charles Lamb.

Page 427. _Wasps in a Garden_.

(?) Mary Lamb.

Page 428. _What is Fancy?_

(?) Mary Lamb.

Page 429. _Anger_.

(?) Charles Lamb.

Page 429. _Blindness_.

(?) Charles Lamb.

Page 430. _The Mimic Harlequin_.

(?) Mary Lamb.

Page 430. _Written in the First Leaf of a Child's Memorandum Book_.

(?) Mary Lamb.

Page 431. _Memory_.

(?) Mary Lamb.

Page 432. _The Reproof_.

(?) Mary Lamb.

Page 432. _The Two Bees_.

(?) Mary Lamb.

Page 434. _The Journey from School and to School_.