Yikes!

This commemorative tankard has sat on the dining room mantelpiece since long before I came here. It is English fired pasteware, made in Sunderland around 1830 - 1850 and the wording on the front says, "View of a cast iron bridge over the River Wear built by R. Burdon Esq." "Span 236 Feet Height 100 feet. Begun 21 Sept. 1793. Open 9 Augt 1796"

On the back is the old poem "The Sailor's Tear".

The Sailor's Tear

He leap'd into the boat,
As it lay upon the strand:
But, oh! his heart was far away,
With friends upon the land,
He thought of those he lov'd the best.
A wife and infant dear.
And feeling fill'd the sailor's breast
The sailor's eye - a tear.

It's Rod: