''The
Feast was over; the board was clear'd; The flawns, and the custards had
all disappeared; And six little singing-boys ;—dear little souls ! In
nice clean faces, and nice clean stoles,
Came,
in order due, Two by two, Marching that grand refectory through, A nice
little boy held a golden ewer, Emboss'd, and filled with water as pure
As any that flows between Rheims and Namur, Which a nice little boy
stood ready to catch In a fine golden hand-basin made to match. Two
nice little boys, rather more grown, Carried Lavender-water, and
Eau-de-Cologne ; And a nice little boy had a nice cake of soap, Worthy
of washing the hands of the Pope.—
One little boy more A napkin bore, Of the best white diaper, fring'd with pink, And a Cardinal's hat marked in ' permanent ink.'
The great Lord Cardinal turns at the sight
Of these nice little boys dressed all in white ;
From his finger he draws
His costly Turquoise ;
And, not thinking at all about little Jackdaws,
Deposits it straight
By
the side of his plate, While the nice little boys on his Eminence wait;
Till, when nobody's dreaming of any such thing, That little Jackdaw
hops off with the Ring."
Here
the clever author of this most amusing Legend makes a manifest mistake
about the kind of precious stone which is invariably chosen for a
Cardinal's official ring. As we have already stated, a Sapphire is
appointed by the Romish Church for this symbolical purpose.
To the remainder of " The Jackdaw of Rheims " it is needless to refer. All readers of The Ingoldsby Legends know
how, when the ecclesiastical ring was not to be found, high nor low,
the irate Cardinal " rose with a dignified look ; he call'd for his
candle, his bell, and his book." Then, " In holy anger, and pious grief,
