Spanish Smugglers.

Golden Bay Argus, Volume VII, Issue 68, 19 September 1901, Page 2

Spanish Smugglers.

Not many years ago (writes a soldier correspondent of "Cassell's Saturday Journal") I was stationed at the North Front Camp, Gibraltar. For some weeks previous to Christmas of that year I had noticed a flock of about thirty geese being driven in from Spain in the morning, and regularly driven back before evening gun-fire. As the Christmas season was at hand, I could not understand how they failed to rind purchasers. One morning the captain of my company waylaid the ' goose-rancher' on his daily journey to market and offered to buy the stock at five shillings each. The merchant stood out for six shillings; consequently there was no sale. During the day the captain resolved to give the extra shilling, and, holding up the ' goose-herd' on his return, offered to take the consignment at six shillings a head. Great was his surprise to be met with a refusal, accompanied with 'Goose no for sale, Senor!' The reason of this 'goose-march' seemed hidden in mystery, till a sharp fox-terrier dashed into the midst of the flock, when they scudded away with uplifted wings, revealing a half-pound package of tobacco under each wing, to the great delight of the lynx-eyed Customs officer, and a crowd of British soldiers. These birds had been defrauding the Spanish revenue at the rate of £3 a day, as tobacco costs eightpeuce a pound in Gibraltar, but it is worth three shillings and sixpence in Spain. The goose-herd was consigned to durance vile, while those toothsome bipeds occupied a prominent place at "Tommy's" festive board. Origin of the National Anthem. Mr. R. Davey, writing to the "Morning -Ft'iMF;" M , a_)'~T"" J 'lV"may liO *t»t'' itflutunb ftl ix time when a necessary change in the wording of our National Anthem is about to take place to recall its probable origin. The discovery in the church chest at Gayton, in Northumberland, in the last century, of an anthem, set to musical notes in the old square form, with the baritone clef on the third line —genuine signs of antiquity—proves beyond a doubt that the original version was used at the marriage of Henry VII. and Elizabeth of York, for it bears the date 1486, the year of that remarkable event which united the Houses of York and Lancaster. The words bear a striking resemblance to those now in use : "God save King Henrie whereso'er he be, And for Queene Elibabeth now pray wee And for all her noble projjenye. God save the Church of Ohnst from any follie, And for Queene Elizabeth now pray wee. This disposes of the statement so often made that it was composed by Dr. John Bull, organist to Queen Elizabeth, who lived between 1503 and 1622. He certainly, however, wrote another anthem beginning 'God save Great James our King,' but not with exactly the same music. Another claimant is Dr. Henry Carey, an English poet and musician, who died in 1743, who composed an anthem with nearly identical music and words for George 11., its first performance taking place at a dinner given by the Mercers' Company in 1740 in honour of that King's birthday. The words and music were published in the ' Harmonia Anglicana' in 1742, and again in the 'Gentleman's Magazine' in 1745. The words and harmonies, however, were varied on the occasion of William IV., and lastly on that of Queen Victoria." An Earthquake in London. Those people who believe that England is exempt from earthquake will be surprised to hear that in the time of Horace Walpole London received a shock of what that witty writer terms ' a fit of shivering between one and two in the morning.' Some old houses were thrown down, windows were smashed, and much valuable old china broken. A great many people grew frightened and fled out of London, for nowhere had the effects of the earthquake reached beyond the tenmile radius. Walpole, who is one of our best letterwriters, playfully says : 'Do not be surprised if by next post you hear that a burning mountain has sprung up in Smithfield.' There were two shocks with a month's interval between. At first nobody believed it to be an earthquake. A clergyman going into White's Club found the fashionable loungers making bets as to whether it was an earthquake or powder mills blown up. ' I protest,' he said, ' they are such an impious set of people that I believe that if the last trumpet were to sound they would bet puppet-show against Judgment.' Not Always the Case. & 1 You told me this well was eighty feet deep,' said the man who had bought the farm. 'I measured it this morning, and found it to be only thirty-seven. I have always been told that truth lies at the bottom of a well, but that doesn't seem to be the case with this one.' 'I don't know,' observed the man who had sold the farm. 'lt does seem to have lied a little about the bottom of this well.' Wisdom of Solomon. There was some sense in the remark of a Scotchman, who, on reading the saying of Solomon, ' Snow is beautiful in its season,' exclaimed—'Aye, nae doot it was beautiful to 3'ou, sittin' wi' the wines and lasses o' Jerusalem aside you ; but had you been a puir stonemason you'd hae said nae sic thine 1'