POETRY.
A BALLAD OF PLACE-NAMES.
I'vz stood beneath the fall of Glora ;
I've roamed amid the bents at Brora ; I've seen the level meads expand At Matlaske and at Irming- land ; But there are places by the score With names as magical or more, Phat,when I see them on a page, My fancy all at once engage, And make me long to journey there And fancy with the fact com- pare.
If then, before I close my span, I find Aladdin's talisman, I shall not wing at once my way To green Cashmere or far Cathay, Nor have I confidently planned A flight to silken Samarcand, To Mandalay or to Mombasa, To Labrador,Ladakh,or Lhasa — No, curiosity for me Begins at home. I mean to see The places near at hand instead, Whose names make music in my head.
Therefore shall I prefer to Arno Caerleon-on-Usk or Carno ; And ere exploring tractsApulian Hie me to Meldreth and Luxulyan, Or spend a quiet hour or more, At Ambergate or Appledore ; Or watch by night the wizard moon Shine down upon the Crook of Lune ; Or follow on their liquid road The Windrush and the Even- lode.
Another day I'll make my goal Cressage or Garth or Delabole, Or scale the summit of Mount Brandon, Or listen to the bells of Shandon, Or trace the Waveney to its springs, Or boldly call upon Seven Kings, Or track the windings of the Bure, Or take the air in Glenmalure.
Anon, with Edward Lear for guide, My magic carpet I'll bestride, And in a most meloobious vein Repair to Pleck or Plodder Lane; Or go in search of Aunt Jobiska At Scrooby, Rumbling Bridge, or Risca ; Or hunt th' elusive Quangle Wangle At Tillietudlem or Triangle; Or stalk the Pobble from afar At Potto, Penybont, or Par; Or fly in search of soothing tipple To Grogport, Mottisfont, or Ripple; Or dig for hidden Spanish coin At Ore, or Orbliston, or Oyne ; Or with the Jumblies' lovely daughters Go punting on the Mimram's waters.
Then when my footgear needs recruital I'll fly to Springside or to Bootle; And when the scheme of things is scurvy I'll take a little trip to Turvey ; And when aphasia lays me low Recuperate at Spooner Row.
Another day I'll don the tartan And hurry off to Boat of Garten. Starting before my fast is broken, I'll break it first at Thorpe-le- Soken ; Then, when I've spent an hour or so Watching the yachts at Wiven- hoe, And called upon some friends of mine At Elmers End and Essendine, I'll lunch at Flushdyke or at Flordon And take my tea at Invergordon, Returning, when the moon is high, By Angmering and Ardingly.
On other days I must not fail To visit Wath-in-Nidderdale, Vowchurch, Val Cracis, Velvet Hall, Moira,and Muir of Ord,and Sall, Yalding, and Yarm, and Simon- side, Strome Ferry, Wendover, and Ide.
Think not, 0 fond fastidious swain, That old Romance stone-dead was slain By railroads, for the thought is vain.
These names, or all but two or three, Find shelter in the A.B.C.
C. L. G.
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