James McIntyre

        England had triplets at a birth,
        Coleridge, Southey and Wordsworth,
        And these three are widely famed,
        And the "Lake Poets" they were named.
        With joy they did pursue their themes,
        'Mong England's lakes and hills and streams,
        From there with gladness they could view
        The distant Scottish mountains blue.

        Canadians oft by light of moon
        Love to go a hunting coon,
        But this our tale it is no yarn,
        While chopping down tree Henry Karn
        Found therein a hollow chamber
        Full of coons who there did clamber,
        It made them a home superior,
        Warm and snug in the interior.

        And he did count therein eleven
        Who long had found it a safe haven,
        But it is sad to read their fate,
        For out of them he slaughtered eight.
        But trouble to him now occurs
        What shall he do with those fine furs,
        Shall he grand overcoat display
        Or make them into robe for sleigh.

The following lines were read at the festival after the stone had been laid by Grand Master Col. Moffat, of a church on the Culloden road, with Masonic honors.


        In this quiet spot this day of June,
        Which will not be forgotten soon,
        For when your little church on hill
        You overflowingly did fill,
        You then resolved there should arise
        Church worthy of your enterprise,
        You've laid foundation broad and deep,
        And showers of blessings may you reap.

        Craft of King Hiram and Saint John
        Have come to lay the corner stone,
        At the call of our Grand Master
        Who was invited by your pastor,
        With silver trowel all so fair
        He laid foundation on the square,
  ...

The Credit Valley Railway Company having placed a car at the service of the council we were kindly invited to accompany them to Toronto.


        Whene'er we take a tour abroad
        We love to travel o'er new road,
        Where scenery to us is new
        And landscape pleasing to the view,
        When invited for to rally
        And take a trip on Credit Valley,
        We resolved for to afford
        A day with Council and School Board,
        For to view the rural charms
        Of hills and dales and fertile farms,
        With joy we saw the sunbeams gleam
        On Grand River beauteous stream,
        And those perpendicular walls
        Of rock, like old baronial halls,
        We saw the great lake ebb and flow,
        And quee...

At the announcement that Britain was to declare war Kossuth the Hungarian Patriot declared in an address in England that the British Lion was a sea dog but helpless on land.


        When the British Lion offered aid to the Turk,
        Round many lips a sneer of serious doubt did lurk,
        They said he was at home on sea, but when on land
        He would be as a ship wrecked upon the strand,
        Or like some huge ungainly crocodile
        Upon the marshy banks of sluggish Nile,
        Who could move gaily on the deep
        But on dry land could scarcely creep,
        But up the Alma heights he rushed like greyhound after hare,
        And in a moment by the throat he seized the Russian bear,
        Which begged so hard for mercy his life he did it spare,

        The sweet milkmaid of early days
        Her own household she ably sways,
        And her daughters now milk the cows,
        And her sons they now guide the plows.

        These pleasing changes on a farm
        Doth give to rural life a charm,
        Let occupation none upbraid,
        But honor plowman and milkmaid.

        For Burns with glory did endow
        And wove a garland round the plow,
        The source from which all wealth doth spring
        And happiness to all doth bring.

        Our muse it doth refuse to sing
        Of cheese made early in the spring,
        When cows give milk from spring fodder
        You cannot make a good cheddar.

        The quality is often vile
        Of cheese that is ...

        For to save life one great solver
        Would be to prohibit the revolver,
        Weapon of coward and of bully,
        Who slaughter friends in their folly.

        Let now no man or any boy,
        With loaded arms ever toy,
        Showing off their manly vigor,
        Pointing to friend and pulling trigger.

        And sending bullet through their brain,
        And then exclaim in mournful strain,
        When friends with grief they are goaded,
        I did not know that it was loaded.

        Fire arms oft' times do bring woes,
        And they kill more friends than foes,
        Hunting now o'er fertile fields,
        'Tis seldom that it profit yields.

With a glance at Sir John A. Macdonald and Blake, the two living leaders, 1884.

        Joseph Howe, none higher stood than thou,
        Thou wert a man with lofty brow;
        D'Arcy McGee, so brilliant and free,
        From green isle you came o'er the sea.

        George Cartier to the French ever dear,
        So high you stood without a peer;
        John Sandfield for long you did build
        Power under economy's shield.

        George Brown, thou man of renown,
        Confederation you did crown;
        You now are all free from the strife
        The wrangle and jangle of political life.

        But if a glance at this world you take
        You will there see John A. and Blake,
        But Sir John the greatest power doth wi...

        The Thurso baker Robert Dick[E]
        Armed with his hammer and his pick,
        Dame nature's secrets did reveal,
        Which she for ages did conceal.

        In Banff has genius found regard
        In the person of an Edward,[F]
        Who now does rank among the first
        In the world as naturalist.

        At London Thames is a broad stream,
        Which was the scene of a sad theme,
        A fragile steamer there did play,
        O'ercrowded on a Queen's Birthday,
        While all on board was bright and gay,
        But soon 'neath the cold waters lay,
        Naught but forms of lifeless clay,
        Which made, alas! sad month of May.

        By the side of a moss
        Lived young Donald Ross,
        Among the heathery hills
        And the mountain rills,
        In a snug little cot
        Content with his lot
        He never knew sorrow
        With his wife and wee Flora.

        But an order went forth
        O'er the land of the north,
        To burn many a home
        So the wild deer might roam,
        With grief he then did toss
        Every night Donald Ross,
        And sad seemed the morrow
        For his wife and sma' Flora.

        O it was a cruel deed
        But nobles do not heed
        The sorrows of the poor
        Drove on a barren moor,
        Where he wove a wreath
        Of the blooming heath,
        For to c...

        Genius of Dryden and of Pope,
        Both did take a mighty scope,
        The first he virgil did translate,
        The second showed us Troys fate.
        On English themes they oft did sing
        And high their muses flight did wing.

        Once on a time there lived a duck,
            And by its fishing it did thrive;
        So one day it longed to suck
            An oyster and for one did dive.

        The oyster near shore lay open,
            The duck, its gizzard for to fill,
        Resolved that he would pop in
            Between the shells his sharp bill.

        And then he would have glorious treat,
            But oyster closed on it its shell,
        And duck it got no oyster meat,
            But worse than that the duck befell.

        This oyster was so very large,
            It held the duck's head under water,
        And towed small oysters like a barge,
            Each one clung to it like squatter.

        Duck it died of too much moistu...

        Wilmot of fish culutre fame,
        To this tale he lends his name,
        A pair of eagles built their nest
        On a lofty pine tree's crest.

        And therein they regular rear
        A brood of young year after year,
        One day he saw one leave its nest,
        When for food it was in quest.

        It did wing its flight on high,
        And then on water cast its eye,
        When it quickly did discover
        A great salmon in the river.

        Like lightning flash down it doth sweep
        And its talons it buries deep,
        In salmon of enormous size
        He trys to rise in air with prize.

        But all in vain he quickly found
        He could not carry thirty pound,
        And had ...

        A lad brought up in Highland vale
        Who did believe each fairy tale,
        Which his grannie oft' to him told,
        And of witches and of warlocks bold,
        And he himself would often pour
        For hours reading wizard lore.
        One night his mother to the town
        In a hurry sent him down,
        So o'er his pony he did stride,
        And to the town did fearful ride,
        He thought that demons they would rush
        On him from every rock and bush,
        And as he rode through the quarry
        It did great increase his flurry,
        He felt that fiends with fiercest hate
        Would surely there seal fast his fate.

        But town he reached and 'neath his vest
        He parcel pressed close to hi...

        O'er various counties of the north,
        When cruel order did go forth,
        For to destroy many a home,
        So that the wild deer free might roam;
        The men of Sutherland and Ross,
        The broad Atlantic they did cross,
        Each seeking for a fertile farm,
        These rolling lands for them had charm;
        They ne'er desired again to roam,
        Each happy in his woodland home,
        Where middle branch of Thames doth flow
        They built the village of Embro,
        And it the hill tops now doth crown
        Like its grand namesake Edina Town,
        And good flour mills you here do find
        And oats also they here do grind.

        England has given us the names
        To adorn Canadian Thames,
        And charms to them she has lent
        In Oxford, Middlesex and Kent,
        She Essex kisseth in her mouth,
        And Scottish names, one north, one south,
        And London now it justly claims
        'Tis capital of vale of Thames,
        And her strong castellated tower
        Doth on the river frowning lower,
        And Chatham is the river's port,
        There slaves for freedom did resort,
        And they did industrious toil,
        And now many own the soil,
        Stratford now shall be our theme,
        On Avon tributary stream,
        And its clear waters it doth launch
        Into the Thames northern branch,
        Near that substantial ston...

Tercentenary ode on Shakespeare read by the author at the anniversary concert, 1864.


        Three centuries have passed away
        Since that most famous April day,
        When the sweet, gentle Will was born,
        Whose name the age will e're adorn.

        That great Elizabethan age
        Does not leave on history's page,
        A name so bright he stands like Saul,
        A head and shoulders over all.

        Delineator of mankind,
        Who shows the workings of the mind,
        And in review in nature's glass,
        Portrays the thoughts of every class.

        That man is dull who will not laugh
        At the drolleries of Falstaff,
        And few that could not shed a tear
        At sorrows of poor old K...