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Title: Opening Of Devonshire Park
Author: Bill o'th' Hoylus End [
More Titles by Bill o'th' Hoylus End]
SEPTEMBER 4TH, 1888.
Oh, well do we remember--
For the news it was so pleasant--
When His Grace the Duke of Devonshire
Made our famous town a present
Of a pretty little garden--
An Arcadia in its way--
And how the bells rang merrily
On that eventful day.
Oh, this lovely little garden
'Twill be to us a pleasure,
It will delight the great elite--
To them 'twill be a treasure.
And who are they who dare to say
The town it did not need one--
A pretty little lovely spot
And a happy little Eden.
In this pretty little Paradise
Of beauty and of splendour--
Search our land from end to end,
You could not find a grander;
The turtledove can make its love,
Not caring for the pigeon,
If he belongs his politics
And follows his religion.
In this pretty little garden,
When the bloom is on the heather,
Two minds with but one single thought
Can tell their tales together;
The maiden from the mansion,
And the lady from the villa,
Can wander there and shed a tear
Beneath the weeping willow.
This bonny little garden
Is fine for perambulators,
Where our handsome servant-lasses
Can wheel our lovely creatures,
And oh! how happy they will be!
As time they are beguiling,
When the mammy and the daddy
Are upon the babies smiling.
Oh! this pretty little garden,
Which every one admires,
Which pleased His Grace the Noble Duke
To give our little squires.
The news was something wonderful,
Like the shooting of a rocket,
When they heard that they had got a Park,
And were "nothing out o'pocket."
In this pretty little garden,
With all its blossom blooming
We can sit and sing the whole day long,
From the morning till the gloaming;
And tell Dame Keighley's blunders,
When her sons were naught but asses;
And could not even raise a Park,
To please the upper classes.
Then let us give the Noble Duke,
The praises of the Borough--
For if we did not thank His Grace,
We should commit an error--
And not forgetting Mr. Leach,
For he deserves rewarding,
For it is known he got the town
This pretty little garden.
[The end]
Bill o'th' Hoylus End's poem: Opening Of Devonshire Park
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