3-070-484 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Goose Club Committee - drawn by A. E. Emslie, 1881. 'Though Michaelmas was here to slay, Not all our cacklers perished...She's watched by ever anxious friends, Who feed and keep her quiet, Because her future worth depends On present rest and diet. No mongrel cur with puppy tricks: Is suffered e'er to vex her, No thoughtless boys with stones or sticks May trouble or perplex her. So round the weedy pond she sails, All free from care and sorrow, Indulging in her worms and snails, Nor thinking of to-morrow. But ah! the morrow dawns at length, Which ends her idle pleasures; And now the goose must use her strength To step her last of measures. The goose-club men in sober guise Are here to do their duty, Their intellects to exercise On quality and beauty. The proudest waddler of the flock, The plumpest creature in it, By eyes well used to choosing stock Is "spotted" in a minute. And from the simple rank and file...Forthwith is she promoted. But could she read the book of fate, And know how near her "finish," Her spirits would be less elate, Her vanity diminish: She'd see that Christmas day was near, And cackle out "peccavi;" For then will end her brief career. In apple sauce and gravy'. J. G. Watts. From "Illustrated London News", 1881.