Cornelis de Heem (via Ocean’s Bridge with thanks)
Found – a typed manuscript with inked corrections in the hand of its author ‘Evoe’ i.e .E.V. Knox. Probably a contribution by him to Punch, or possibly read out by him at a feast or function. He attended many and was often called upon to entertain. No date, but posssibly late 1940s, the annotations being in biro. In format and sound it has echoes of the British Grenadiers song (‘..some talk of Alexander and some of Hercules..’) or Lear’s The walrus and the Carpenter. Take it away Evoe–
Of Fishes and Food
OYSTERIA
The oysters of Great Britain
Were bought to Julius Caesar;
He bolted them in unbitten
And smiled like Mona Lisa.
The Emperor Augustus
Preferred them put in patties.
His cook, whose name was Justus,
Could never serve him satis.
The Emperor Tiberius,
A man debased and selfish,
Was never wholly serious
Except about these shellfish.