A\S5 
 
 Shone s and the Bones
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES 
 
 IN MEMORY OF 
 
 PAUL TURNER, U.S.M.C.R. 
 
 KILLED IN ACTION, SAIPAN 
 
 JUNE, 1944
 
 AND THE 
 
 1861.
 
 SHONES 
 
 AND THE 
 
 IB
 
 SHONES AND THE BONES. 
 
 In Roxborough some mould'ring bones, 
 Unmarked by monumental stones, 
 Had lain for seventy years at least, 
 Unnoticed both by man and beast, 
 And not a soul had seemed to care 
 Whose or whence these old bones were ; 
 When vague reports began to spread 
 Respecting the neglected dead : 
 That our most glorious revolution 
 Supplied for them the best solution, 
 And that their owners, it was plain, 
 By British hands had there been slain. 
 
 This tale soon reached, as it appears, 
 Our friend Oorayshur Shones's ears ; 
 Warm feelings in his breast arise, 
 And patriot fires light up his eyes.
 
 " What !" cries th' enthusiastic Shones, 
 
 " No monument o'er these old bones ! 
 
 We will have huge sepulchral stones, 
 
 Pyramids, obelisks and cones, 
 
 As surely as my name is Shones. 
 
 My breast is rent with dismal groans, 
 
 Thinking of these neglected bones. 
 
 Beyond the shadow of a doubt 
 
 Some Whigs have here been put to rout 
 
 Belonging to brave Lee's brave legion, 
 
 (I've heard it once was in this region,) 
 
 And here they've been allowed to rot, 
 
 Without a stone to mark the spot ! 
 
 'Tis fit the present year atones 
 
 For the vile slight to these old bones ; 
 
 Old Eoxborough shall now correct 
 
 Older Virginia's long neglect ; 
 
 We'll have a glorious demonstration, 
 
 Volunteers, fireworks, an oration, 
 
 Which I will speak, as I'm a sinner, 
 
 And brother Charles shall find the dinner. 
 
 (All know the wine-vault and the larder 
 
 Add much to patriotic ardor.) 
 
 The Richmond Whig and the Enquirer 
 
 (Of which I am a great admirer,)
 
 Shall forthwith edify the nation, 
 By publishing my whole oration." 
 
 'Twas soon arranged it thus should be ; 
 
 (Americans enjoy a spree.) 
 
 The military were invited, 
 
 And sent word they should be delighted 
 
 To bear their full part in the meeting, 
 
 (Meaning the drinking and the eating) ; 
 
 The country girls and country beaux 
 
 Laid in supplies of brand-new clothes, 
 
 And Koxborough was all agog 
 
 To hear the speech and eat the prog. 
 
 The ever-glorious Twenty-second 
 Of February, Shones had reckoned 
 The fittest day for the event, 
 And every body seemed content. 
 
 The morning came, but in the gloom 
 Of clouded skies Shones read his doom, 
 And, direr still, before two hours 
 The rain came down in pelting showers ; 
 The spot where patriots shed their blood 
 Was two feet deep in slush and mud.
 
 The hour comes, the trains arrive, 
 
 The passengers scarce seem alive ; 
 
 Rain streams from bonnets, caps and hats, 
 
 The soldiery look like drowned rats ; 
 
 The beaux bewail their clothes, the girls 
 
 Lament the sad state of their curls ; 
 
 And Shones arises and postpones 
 
 The honors meant for the old bones, 
 
 But begs the company to wait 
 
 The inner man to recreate ; 
 
 Within the school-house they would find 
 
 Some drink and victuals to their mind. 
 
 In rushed the crowd, with hungry stomachs, 
 And made quick work with creams and jellies : 
 Fish, flesh and fowl soon disappeared, 
 In half an hour the board was cleared ; 
 Such lager, brandy and champaigne, 
 Roxborough ne'er shall see again. 
 Though all were soaking to the skin, 
 They soon were just as soaked within ; 
 Justice was done to the collation, 
 And no one missed the great oration. , 
 
 It was postponed three months, but some 
 Think that the time will never come
 
 For laying the foundation stones 
 Or listening to Oorayshur Shones 
 Descanting on the martyr*s*bones. 
 
 There lately came from Illinois 
 
 An aged man who'd been a boy 
 
 In Roxborough sixty years ago, 
 
 Who, hearing of the intended show, 
 
 Declared it all a great mistake, 
 
 A bubble he would quickly break 
 
 With the plain truth. The facts were these 
 
 Five or six colored F. F. Y.'s, 
 
 In seventeen hundred eighty-eight, 
 
 Disgusted with their servile state, 
 
 Kesolving north to emigrate 
 
 In Freedom's search, took to their scrapers, 
 
 Were advertised in all the papers, 
 
 With wood-cuts setting forth the figures 
 
 Of these incorrigible niggers. 
 
 In Roxborough they spent their days, 
 
 Untouched by censure or by praise, 
 
 And little thought their humble bones 
 
 Would exercise Oorayshur Shones.
 
 NOTE. 
 
 The monument being finally erected, was adorned with the 
 following appropriate and highly classical inscription. 
 
 THE UNION 
 
 ESTO PERPETUA.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
 Los Angeles 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 
 
 a L9-5Um-ll,'50 (2554)444
 
 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 372139 4 
 
 PS 
 
 991 
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