PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.
Volume 93, October 8, 1887.
edited by Sir Francis Burnand

"Now, Lake-men, claim your right of way, and see the businessdone,

Come with your crowbar, spade, and pick;—and sure the battle'swon,

For bolts and bars show Spedding's racethat you don't care a fig,

And prove that right's no match for might when rallied roundLatrigg."

So shouted Routh-Fitzpatrick, andLake-men with a cheer,

To Fawe Park Gates from Keswick's peaceful slopes were drawingnear,

When high upon the topmost wall as if to break the spell,

There uprose the Solicitor of Mrs. SpencerBell.

He spoke and as his voice he raised his arms he waved around,

"Beware," he cried, "what you're about, for this is privateground.

With sundry pains and penalties you'll surely be repaid,

Who dare to-day set hand to move this lawful barricade!"

But Routh-Fitzpatrick heeded not hisprotest, nor replied;

So Mrs. Bell's Solicitor, he promptlystood aside,

And watched the next proceedings with a disapproving frown,

For up went crow-bar, pick, and axe, and gate and bar wentdown.

Yes, 'neath the sturdy Lake-men's blows the barriers gave way,

And lo! in rushed the joyous thronging crowd without delay;

And some on foot, and some in drags, and some in waggonsstowed,

Held on their way triumphantly down the disputed road.

So onward towards Silver Hill advanced the active host,

And cleared each wire fence away, and levelled every post;

And when with crowbar, pick, and axe, they'd made their purposeplain,

To Nichol Ending they returned in triumph once again.

Then Secretary Jenkinson uprose andspoke a word,

And said how by the sights that day his manly breast wasstirred,

And how that, if on Saturday as they had now begun

They held their own, they might regard the fight already won.

And then a telegram from Mr. Plimsoll heread out,

The which the Lake-men greeted with a hearty answering shout;

And Mrs. Bell's Solicitor retired fromthe field,

But with an ugly look that seemed to say, "We'll never yield!"

And so commenced the fray that day, and though we know, ofcourse,

As everybody tells us, there's no remedy in force,

Still, if the Lake-men's pick and axe this matter sets at rest,

We must admit how ills to cure at Keswick they know best.

But which side wins or loses in the still impending fight,

Whether force of public freedom, or trick of legal right,

The eager world on-looking may have watched a deadlier fray,...