class="i1">Before detached and all apart,
Shoulder to shoulder now each one
Feels patriot feelings in his heart,
First time we truly realize
The value of this great railway,
Its benefits each now doth prize,
Highway to Japan and Australia.
The policy it has proved wise,
Which did build this great railway,
The vast Northwest to colonize,
And bear its products far away.
Canadian flags are now unfurled
In the ports of the Chinese,
Short route to Oriental world
Gives Canada her cheap fine teas.
The Old Snake Fence
In early times the pioneer
When a few acres he did clear,
He found an ample recompense
For splitting rails and making fence.
Though it was crooked as a snake,
And zigzag style did not awake,
He thought it was a thing of beauty,
Yet in its day it did its duty.
And though the old snake fence must fall,
’Twas easy made, axe, wedge and maul,
Were all the tools the pioneer
Bequired the old rail fence to rear.
And the old pioneer could boast
Of fence that did not need a post,
To build it now is waste of timber,
And fertile lands it doth cumber.
And pine stump fence with its sharp roots
Will long endure and ward off brutes,
For the crops they ample shield
And do protect each separate field.
But old style fence doth waste much land,
Where weeds do grow and bush expand,
And thistle down doth blow from thence,
So folks build wire and the board fence.
Canadian Voyageurs on the Nile
The British soldiers on the Nile
With gratitude did kindly smile,
On the Canadian voyageurs
Who skilfully did ply their oars.
And they invoked their benison
On boatsmen led by Denison,
Neither the rapids nor the falls
Along the Nile these braves appals.
For in such toils they did partake,
On each native stream and lake,
Thoughts of their homes in visions throng,
While singing Canadian boat song.
And they all hoped again to see
The glorious land of maple tree,
From their memories they never
Forgot the land of lake and river.
While up the Nile they do advance
They dream about their own St. Lawrence,
And Manitoba’s streams and lakes,
Pleasant reflections oft awakes.
And thus each day they cheerful toil,
Ascending of old Father Nile,
Whose waters fertilize the soil,
And is the home of crocodile.
Wolseley he had exhibition
In Red River expedition,
How these voyageurs could steer,
Or with the axe a roadway clear.
Those who speak the tongue of France,
From the banks of the St. Lawrence,
At call to arms quick advance,
With rifle, bayonet and lance.
Land Clearing
The first winter which I did spend
In Canada was with a friend,
And when the snow had passed away
Quite early in the month of May.
Friend started off for a barn raising,
And told me to get stumps ablazing,
Around each stump I heaped a pile
Of roots and junks of wood so vile.
For he wished the field to clear
So it a crop of wheat would rear,
And there was one high withered pine
Which was full of turpentine.
As soon as I applied the torch,
Blaze quick did start and it did scorch
The fences, and the woods were nigh,
For the old tree it blazed on high.
I was the only man or boy
Near there that day and found employ
In saving of the house and barn,
Thus early fire fiend did me warn.
Fire started and with it a breeze
Carried the sparks ’mong leaves of trees,
I did work hard but for recompense
All was saved but a few rails of fence.
Man in spring logging oft awakes
From winter slumbers nests of snakes,
And listens to the music grand
Of bull frogs, our Canadian band.
Lines Read at a Maple Sugar Social
April, 1888.
Our first Canadian job when boy,
In the big woods we did enjoy,
Large maple bush we then did tap
And to camp carried maple sap.
We stored it in great wooden trough,
Then in big kettles sugared off,
Though often it did try our mettle
To keep up fire beneath each kettle.
For it was a serious toil
To cut the wood to kettles boil,
To-night it is a pleasant joke,
No trouble from the fire and smoke.
Of old we thought our neck was broke
By having on it a neckyoke,
And on each side a heavy pail
Suspended from the yoke by bail.
We waded through the snow and slush
And stumbled o’er the logs in bush,
But no doubt the maple’s sweeter
Than any other thing in meter.
Unless it is the lips of lass,
Which maple sugar doth surpass,
And may it be each young man’s fate
For to secure a charming mate.
For birds will soon begin to sing
And seek their mates in early spring,
When found each pair do feel they’re blest,
When they have finished their warm nest.
Let none at sugar making scoff,
Webster was rocked in a sap trough;
When boiling sap it is quite handy
To pour some in snow to make candy.
Canadian Charms
Here industry is not in vain,
For we have bounteous crops of grain,
And you behold on every field
Of grass and roots abundant yield,
But after all the greatest charm
Is the snug home upon the farm,
And stone walls now keep cattle warm.
Patriot Fighting for His Home
On the shores of the northern lakes
An infant giant now awakes,
He has long time been in a dream,
But now is roused by engine’s scream.
For mighty spirits are abroad
Traversing of each great railroad,
For it is a glorious theme
The peaceful conquest made by steam.
But should the foot of invader vile
Ever desecrate his soil,
He firm will meet him bold and brave
And give him soil Canadian grave.
Fighting for Conquest
’Tis noble for to fight for home,
But some nations fight to plunder,
For conquest o’er the world to roam,
To tear peaceful lands asunder.
For to give wealth and a great name
To some aspiring commander,
Who wishes to acquire great fame
As a modern Alexander.
Statesmen and kings a war will wage,
And many thousands strew the plain,
Covered with gore in the carnage,
Where brave and noble men are slain.
Leaving their families to mourn,
Now who can soothe the ills of life,
To them they never shall return,
No one can now cheer the poor wife.
Or the sweet little orphans dear
Think of father and of mother,
Of sweetheart, sister and of brother,
Who oft will shed the fruitless tear.
Lines Sent to Thomas Conant
