"Take three-fourths of a creature which many admire,
That's often confined in a castle of wire;
Three-fourths of a herb that the garden doth yield,
And a term used by husbandmen ploughing the field;
With that part of a swine which is now much in fashion,
And a town you'll discover in this brave English nation."

The answer was _Bir_d, _Min_t, _G_, and _Ham_--Birmingham, the scribe
who poetically replied, [**]inding-up by saying that it was

"A town that in trading excels half the nation,
Because, Jove be thanked, there is no Corporation!"

~Recorders.~--The first Recorder appointed for the borough was Mr.
Matthew Davenport Hill, whose name is so intimately connected with the
history of Reformatory and Industrial Schools. Mr. Arthur Robarts Adams,
Q.C., who succeeded Mr. M.D. Hill on his resignation in January, 1866,
was a native of the county, and had acted as Deputy-Recorder for some
years. He died in an apoplectic fit, while out shooting (Dec. 19, 1877),
in Bagley Wood, near Oxford, in his 65th year. The present Recorder is
Mr. John Stratford Dugdale, of Blythe Hall, Coleshill.

~Recreation Grounds.~--Early in 1854 Joseph Sturge set apart a field in
Wheeley's Lane as a public playground for children, and this must rank
as the first recreation ground. The last is the disused burial ground of
St. Mary's Church, which, after an expenditure of about L1,500 was
thrown open to the public as "St. Mary's Garden," October 16, 1882.--see
"_Parks_."

~Red Book.~--Quite a local institution is the yearly publication known
as "The Birmingham Red Book," which was first issued in 1865.

~Reformatories.~--See "_Industrial Schools_."

~Reform Leagues.~--The first local affair of this kind that we have note
of (though likely enough there had been "reform clubs" before that date)
seems to have originated at a meeting of some dozen or so gentlemen at
the Royal Hotel, Dec 14, 1829. On the 25th of Jan., 1830, a public
meeting to organise a kind of local political body was held at
Beardsworth's Repository, and it is chronicled that about 15,000 persons
were present. The result was the formation of the celebrated Birmingham
Political Union, though the full name was "The General Political Union
between the Lower and Middle Classes of the People." The Union's
"Petition of Rights" was issued Dec. 13, and the "Declaration of
Council" Dec. 20, 1830. This is not the place to enter upon a history of
the doings of the Poli