"Julilly sat on her mat and cried.  She had thought and dreamed of Lester and Adam dragging their heavy chains back to Mississippi.  Now Jeb said they might be free right now in Canada.  Inside her there was a welled-up fountain of joy.  The tears came from its overflowing.
"But what's this Underground Railway?"  Liza finally asked.
"You don't know 'bout the railway?"  Jeb laughed.
"The slave catchers gave us the name.  They said run-away slaves just seem to disappear underground and that there must be a railway down there."

~ Underground to Canada, Barbara Smucker,  Clarke, Irwin & Company Limited, 1977
Barbara Smucker (1915 - 2003), was a Mennonite who lived and worked as a librarian in Waterloo, Ontario.


Jenny crack corn and I don't care,
Jenny crack corn and I don't care,
Jenny crack corn and I don't care,
My massa's gone away!

I am bound for the promised land.
I am bound for the promised land.
Oh, who will come and go with me?
I am bound for the promised land.

[Photo:  Haldimand County lbw]

My Collier Laddie

Whare live ye, my bonie lass?
   And tell me what they ca' ye;
My name, she says, is mistress Jean,
   And I follow the Collier laddie.
            My name, she says, etc.

See you not yon hills and dales
   The sun shines on sae brawlie;
They a' are mine, and they shall be thine,
   Gin ye'll leave your Collier laddie.
            They a' are mine, etc.

Ye shall gang in gay attire,
   Weel buskit up sae gaudy;
And ane to wait on every hand,
   Gin ye'll leave your Collier laddie.
             And ane to wait, etc.

Tho' ye had a' the sun shines on,
   And the earth conceals sae lowly,
I wad turn my back on you and it a',
And embrace my Collier laddie.
              I wad turn my back, etc.

I can win my five pennies in a day,
   An' spend it at night fu' brawlie;
And make my bed in the collier's neuk,
   And lie down wi' my Collier laddie.
             And make my bed, etc.

Loove for love is the bargain for me,
   Tho' the wee cot-house should haud me;
And the warld before me to win my bread,
   And fair fa' my Collier laddie!
             And the warld before me, etc.

The Poetical Works of Robert Burns With Numerous Illustrations. Collins' Clear-Type Press, London & Glasgow.

Villagers all, this frosty tide,
Let your doors swing open wide,
Though wind may follow, and snow beside,
Yet draw us in by your fire to bide;
     Joy shall be yours in the morning!

Here we stand in the cold and the sleet,
Blowing fingers and stamping feet,
Come from far away you to greet ~
You by the fire and we in the street ~
      Bidding you joy in the morning!

~ The field-mice at Mole End "singing one of the old-time carols that their fore-fathers composed in fields that were fallow and held by frost..." THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS, Kenneth Grahame, Methuen & Co. Ltd. London. 1908.

[Photo:  The Grand River, Cayuga. January 19, 2016. lbw]

THURSDAY, JANUARY 21 at 1:00 p.m.

 

KIRK DU GUID & ROBERT OTTERMAN

 

Author Kirk Du Guid interviewed two dozen Haldimand Veterans and published "in their own words",

 

Soldiers' Stories

 

Join us in the bookshop ~ Coffee & tea always on...

 

 



 

 

"It is not good for man to be too much alone unless he is really very big, with stores of knowledge to draw from and a clear brain to think with.  That's the whole problem:  a clear brain that can take thoughts and work them out, can filter -- clean out -- muddy, confused thoughts, can read meanings into things, draw meanings out of things and come to conclusions, a brain that converses with life and can, above all, enable a man to forget himself.  The tendency in being alone and not having anyone to exchange thoughts with is to be always on the fence between yourself and yourself."

~ Emily Carr (1871 - 1945) Hundreds And Thousands.  EMILY CARR COUNTRY Courtney Milne, McClelland & Stewart Ltd. 2001.

May the beauty and spirit of the season remain with you all year.

John and I would like to thank our family and friends for all your support.  We look forward to a new year, 2016.

Never a Christmas morning,

Never the old year ends ~

But someone thinks of someone,

Old days, old times,

old friends.

 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

 

 

 



THIRD THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1:00 p.m.  The literary group meets in The Neat Little Bookshop.  Everyone welcome ~the coffee and tea's always on.

THEME:  Bring a token of Christmas ~ a reading, a poem, an item, possibly a family heirloom.

OPTION:  Lunch in The Back 40.   If you did not receive a Third Thursday e-mail and wish to receive it in the future, please email us at neatlittlebookshop@gmail.com