No.21

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SONG
by John Clare  

Soft falls the sweet evening
Bright shines the one star
The night clouds they're leaning
On mountains afar
The moon in dim brightness
The fern in its lightness
Tinge the valley with whiteness
Both near and afar

O soft falls the evening
Around those sweet glens
The hill's shadows leaning
Half over the glen
There meet me my deary
I'm lonely and weary
And nothing can cheer me
So meet me agen

The gate it clap'd slightly
The noise it was small
The footstep fell lightly
And she pass'd the stone wall
And is it my deary
I'm no longer weary
But happy and cheery
For in thee I meet all

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Here are three examples of newspaper adverts from the Victorian age.

 a mild disinfectant soap used for household cleaning, 1899 

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It was in December 1930 that work began at John Brown's Shipyard, Clydebank in the construction of a huge liner known as "Hull No. 534." Much time was lost because of the Great Depression but the launching eventually took place on 26th September 1934. The river Clyde had been dredged and widened to take the biggest ship ever launched there. 

The King and Queen were present and despite poor weather, almost a quarter of a million spectators had gathered and heard Queen Mary say, "I am happy to name this ship Queen Mary. I wish success to her and all who sail in her."

The Queen Mary enters the Clyde

I think it was just a few weeks later that an aunt took me to see the ship that so much had been written about. But when we got to a suitable viewing place, we discovered that the vessel was moored a good distance away and for me it was a bit of an anticlimax.

On 27th May 1936 the Queen Mary sailed on her maiden voyage, winning the Blue Riband in August of that year; she lost the title to France's SS Normandie in 1937 and recaptured it in 1938, holding it until 1952 when she was beaten by the SS United States. (The Blue Riband - an unofficial accolade given to the passenger liner crossing the Atlantic Ocean in regular service with the record highest speed.) With the outbreak of the Second World War, she was converted into a troopship and ferried Allied soldiers for the duration of the war.

At the end of hostilities, she was refitted for passenger service and along with the Queen Elizabeth began a two-ship transatlantic passenger service. By the mid-1960s, the Queen Mary was ageing and, though still among the most popular transatlantic liners, was operating at a loss.

After several years of decreased profits for Cunard Line, the Queen Mary was officially retired from service in 1967. She left Southampton for the last time on 31 October 1967 and sailed to the port of Long Beach, California, United States. I understand that she is now berthed at Hamilton, Bermuda.

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This is a photo of Margaret in Chitwan National Park, Nepal

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Granny
by Spike Milligan

Through every nook and every cranny
The wind blew in on poor old Granny
Around her knees, into each ear
(And up her nose as well, I fear)

All through the night the wind grew worse
It nearly made the vicar curse
The top had fallen off the steeple
Just missing him (and other people)

It blew on man, it blew on beast
It blew on nun, it blew on priest
It blew the wig off Auntie Fanny-
But most of all, it blew on Granny! 

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"I like this job. They always stay together 
and I don't need to run around so much."

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