misunderstanding o’er a bottle; Rough Joe was in his cups, or rather had given his twine an extra twist, and Nimble Dick had just received a load (not of barley) but of John Blewnose’s best. Rough Joe having something to do with rope, fancied he was calculated to rig; now rigging is too knotty a point for Joe, and altho’ he squared his yards as if used to pitch into ’em, yet it was evident to all present that Joe’s rigging was too coarse to stand long. Nimble Dick, who by the bye, has lately signalised himself in several skirmishes, one in particular, wherein he unfortunately fell foul of a lee shore; on this occasion he was all afloat, and advised Rough Joe to get off his jawing tack, but instead of altering his course, he struck not his flag, but his fist straight ahead into the chops of his would-be pilot, which of course no chap could stand, so clearing the deck and doffing their dabbs, they duly prepared for a broadside, with plenty of seasover room. Joe rushing to work like a tiger, pawed, pinned, and played away, but ’twas all over, his puff was gone, and his friend the Nailer cried out bellowes to mend. ‘Its a spike to a sparrowbill.’ Dick, seeing his advantage, fought home, sent in a finisher that proved a closer to the Rough one, for his eye struck fire so vividly that a wag begged permission to light his cigar from the effect. All was now up. Joe weighed anchor, wished all rigging, and the lawyer to-boot, in a hotter place, and in answer to numerous inquiries, he replied ‘I’ll ha’ no more.’ We wish for the honour of the town they were better men; they ought to be so considering their condition.”

“N.B.—The profits arising from the sale of these are intended for the purchase of a pair of Asses’ Ears, to be carried in the procession of all our future Mayors.”—Vide Gornal Journal.

Future Mayors looked in vain for the asses’ ears, but alas for broken promises the ears never turned up; and as the author of the above recital doubtless was the owner of a pair of ears, it was at last charitably supposed that the ears were not forthcoming without the ass; and an exhibition of the ass would expose the author of this “squib” to what a donkey often gets—“a good thrashing.” Rough Joe and nimble Dick having no remedy, shook hands, and became better friends than ever.

June 24, 1826. “Five Guineas Reward.—Whereas late on the evening of the 19th some person or persons did wantonly break and pull down the lamp irons in front of the Independent Chapel, King Street. A certain young man of the name of F——s, and two of his foolish associates, were seen committing various depredations on that evening, compared with such persons colliers and miners are complete gentlemen.”

The constant practices of horse-play then so much in vogue with the young gentlemen of the period arose in a great measure from the very lax administration of public duty by the “Night Watches,” for the “Jarvy” of that period preferred a quiet snooze in his watch box to the solemn, lonely realities of a midnight perambulation of our then unlighted streets, lanes, and alleys; better days have dawned upon us, making our worthy citizens proof against such senseless follies.

Died, August 9th, 1826 (aged 60 years), Mr. Edward Guest, of New Street, Nail Master. This gentleman was a very zealous Churchman in his time, and it was mainly through the Rev. Dr. Brookes, Vicar of Dudley, and himself, that the old Parish Church (of St. Thomas) was pulled down and the present edifice erected on its site. Mr. Edward Guest was Churchwarden from 1815 to 1821, during the erection, and he had many discordant feelings to assuage, and regrets to palliate, arising from desecrations of the dead and disturbances in the old Church and Church yard. A mysterious disappearance of stone slabs and gravestones occurred at this time, and it has often been rumoured since “those good old times,” that a certain court yard at Dixon’s Green, is laid with grave slabs, “spirited away” from the Parish Church yard, and “Here lieth the remains” &c., on slabs is to be seen misrepresenting the supposed dust of departed souls, and doing duty in a private court yard as a footpath. Where, “Sacred to the Memory of Mary Jane——,” is a myth and a snare, for the slabs cover nothing but earthworms and mother earth. Who was the sacrilegeous sinner? August 14th, 1828. We find that a Ratepayer issued a placard, giving a copy of the Acts of 37, Geo. III. and 5, Geo. IV., in reference to unjust “Scales and Weights,” and says, “A demand has been made upon the Overseers of this Parish for £193 5s. for Scales and Weights, Interests, &c. In order that you may form a legal opinion upon this subject, and be the better prepared to discuss its merits at the examination of the Overseers’ Accounts, the annexed extracts, from the two Acts of Parliament, are submitted for your consideration by a Ratepayer.” The gist of the Ratepayer’s anxiety appeared to be, that it was wrong to charge the Ratepayers (through the medium of the Overseers) with the expenses of searching out evil doers (employers of short weights and measures), for the Acts enforce not only fines to the offenders, but that their weights and measures “shall be seized and broken up, and rendered useless,” and the materials thereof sold; and the money arising from such sale, with the fines, shall be paid to the County Treasurer. The fact, that £193 5s. having been expended in Dudley for that year would lead us to the conclusion that rather an extensive raid had been then made upon this class of public cheats, and the money was well expended if the evil was stopped, and the poorer classes afterwards got their legal weight and measure.

THE NEW CONNEXION METHODIST CHAPEL, WOLVERHAMPTON STREET.

1829. This commodious Chapel was built and opened in 1829. The cost of the structure and land was £4100, and in 1866 the Chapel was considerably enlarged and beautified at an additional cost of £2094. Previous to the erection of this long-needed edifice, this section of the Wesleyan Congregation worshipped in a small Chapel in Chapel Street. This zealous body (of New Connexion Wesleyans) has largely increased of late years. They have also an excellent School in Rose Hill in connection with their tenets.

Died Nov. 24th, 1829, Mr. Squire Knight, Chemist and Druggist, of this town, (Aged 87 years.) This was a remarkable self-made man. Born of poor parents at Coseley in 1742, he succeeded in educating himself to an eminent degree, and in early life he was a Medical Botanist, collecting medicinal herbs himself and selling them in the Market Place on Saturdays. He eventually opened a Druggist’s shop in Queen Street, where he passed a long and eventful life. Mr. Knight belonged to the Wesleyan Methodists, and became an energetic local preacher. On the occasion of the Rev. Jno. Wesley, M. A., his brother Charles Wesley, and a Dr. Patterson’s visits in their itinerancy and preachings in the Black Country to the Collier population, they were joyfully entertained by Mr. Squire Knight. Mr. Knight was not only a diligent student of medicines, but he was also an amateur Astronomer, and left behind him at his death some very carefully prepared observations on the starry regions. Mr. Knight was both a successful and a benevolent old townsman, and much esteemed for his uprightness and integrity, and was followed to the grave by an immense concourse of people.

ST. ANDREW’S CHURCH, NETHERTON.

1830. July 16th. This new Church was consecrated and opened by the Lord Bishop Folliott this day. It was built at the cost of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. The