Ammon Wrigley - "Town and Country"

The following is a transcription of a work by Saddleworth poet Ammon Wrigley (1861-1946).

Town and Country

“I couldn’t live on your hills”, she said,
“They’re bare and cold to me,
Give me the town, the pleasant shops,
And pretty gowns to see”.
“If I should climb your dirty moors
I know they’d hurt my feet,
I'd rather go with folks at eve
Shop gazing through the street”.
“The picture houses thronged at night,
The film stars lovely things,
With powdered cheeks and painted lips
Are angels without wings”.
“The dance halls full of pretty girls,
The music, life and swing;
And you go out of doors to hear
A silly skylark sing”.
“You country folks are half asleep
No matter what you think;
You've no fine rooms where folks like me
Smoke cigarettes and drink”.
“And as for colour, see the shops
Ablaze with ribbons bright,
And all you see are dreary fields
And stone walls black as night”.
“Your coloured ribbons, miss”, I said,
“Are woven in a loom;
“Tis God who weaves on Alderman,
When heather is in bloom.”
“There is a kind of beauty dear,
God never takes to town;
When bracken’s gold in Wessenden,
And Lingreave’s russet brown”.
“He has a shop at Easter Gate,
And one at South Clough Head;
And one not far from Isle of Skye
When cloudberries are red’.
“God does not offer gowns for sale
He gives to all who care;
You cannot put them on your back,
They’re for your soul to wear”.
“You'll see Him in the April fields
When they are flower strewn;
And in the hawthorns on a hedge
On blossom days in June”.
“You to your streets and fashion shops,
Your painted film stars too;
But I who love the lonely hills,
Will never change with you”.