Ammon Wrigley - "To a Southern Friend"
The following is a transcription of a work by Saddleworth poet Ammon Wrigley (1861-1946).
To a Southern Friend
- You tell me down in Hereford on a spring-time morn,
- If I’ve not seen the orchards I know not I’ve been born;
- The long white miles of blossom, the April scented air,
- If I know not Hereford I know not England’s fair.
- You tell me down in Devonshire that life is just a dream
- Of song and bloom and sunshine and apple wine and cream;
- But you may sing their praises with honey in your mouth,
- I wouldn’t change our winter for summer in the south.
- Your south is like a lady in silken gown and lace,
- With dainty airs and graces and powder on her face,
- My north’s a hearty woman and merry as a lark,
- And always up and doing from early morn till dark.
- Come out along the hilltops and stretch your legs with me
- Where northern winds are longing to blow the dust off thee;
- Give me the gipsy moorland in ragged heather shawl,
- And you keep your Hereford and Devonshire and all.