AN
A. B. C.
OF
EVERY-DAY PEOPLE

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.

A the AMIABLE

A the Amiable!

Ah! what an amiable 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!

B THE BUMPTIOUS

B the Bumptious.

Boastful, and bumptious 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.

C THE CONTENTED

C the Contented.

Cheerful, contented, 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.

D THE DOLEFUL

D the Doleful.

Dear! Dear! What a dreadfully dolorous 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.

E THE ENERGETIC

E the Energetic.

Behold, energetic 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.

F THE FEEBLE

F the Feeble.

Fidgety, fretful, and fractious 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.

G THE GENEROUS

G the Generous.

This is good-natured and generous G.

A kind little fellow, you’ll doubtless agree;

See him willingly share

That extremely large pear,

How very surprised Pretty Polly must be.

H THE HAUGHTY

H the Haughty.

Hoity-toity! Here’s high-minded haughty 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.

I THE INDUSTRIOUS

I the Industrious.

You can’t help but admire this industrious 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.

J THE JOLLY

J the Jolly.

This is the jovial, jocular 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.

K THE KNAVISH

K the Knavish.

I’d knock o’er the knuckles this knavish young K:

He’s been picking a pocket and now runs away.

But Policeman X2

Has this person in view,

And will certainly catch the young rascal some day.

L THE LIVELY

L the Lively.

Lissome and lively is light-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.

M THE MEEK

M the Meek.

Down-trodden, brow-beaten, meek 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.

N the Neighbourly.

This is good-natured and neighbourly 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.

N THE NEIGHBOURLY

O the Obliging.

An obliging official 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.

O THE OBLIGING

P the Perky.

Perky and proud is particular 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.

P THE PERKY

Q the Quarrelsome.

This is the querulous, quarrelsome 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.

Q THE QUARRELSOME

R the Respectable.

Proper and highly respectable R.

About your appearance most particular.

The man with the broom

Steps aside to make room,

And wonders, poor fellow, whoever you are.

R THE RESPECTABLE

S the Satisfied.

In his cooking most highly successful 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.

S THE SATISFIED

T the Timid.

Terribly timid is tremulous 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.

T THE TIMID

U the Unhappy.

Unfortunate and most unwilling 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.

U THE UNHAPPY

V the Vacant.

Utterly vacant 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.

V THE VACANT

W the Willing.

Perfectly willing 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.

W THE WILLING

X the Excitable.

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.

X THE EXCITABLE

Y the Youthful.

This is the girlish and youthful 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.

Y THE YOUTHFUL

Z the Zealous Zoologist.

This is the zealous zoologist 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.

Z THE ZEALOUS ZOOLOGIST