He came in for a cooish,
The oul’ man with a cap,
An’ he sat on the settle,
The cat ...
Ballads of the Ballamooar
Poems in Category: Ballads of the Ballamooar
Traditional Manx lore, legend, and country life. Poems full of energy, affection and ingenuity describe the Manx farming folk and their tales in the earlier part of the 20th century. Published in the Mona’s Herald throughout 1963.
Excerpts of all poems in this category are arranged alphabetically by title below. To read the full poem click the excerpt title or the “Read whole entry” link.
For an alphabetical list of titles of these poems Click here
Crebbin’s Cows
O meadow lea where in childhood free
O’er your grass I’ve wandered, a happy boy,
From my earliest years I ...
Fallen Tree
O mammoth trunk,
To earth you’ve sunk,
Your roots flung in the air;
Your leafy crown
In weeds brought down...
From South Barool
South Barool ! Aw, the sight from the top o’er the lan’,
I’m thinkin’ is turrble an’ wunnerful gran’ ;...
Haunted House
See the house : how grim it stands
In its lonely solitude !
Feel the ghostly clammy hands
Repelling you...
I Remember a Maiden
I remember a maiden.
Her face invades my dream.
Her hair was black as the midnight wave,
Her eyes were ...
Lowly Company
Sometimes a yellow slug
Creeps up the pipe
To where the hole is for the plug.
It looks like a ...
Milkmaid Liza
Liza sits upon the milking stool,
Her bent head pressed against the cow;
Between her fingers, deft and cool,
The ...
Nettles
The nettles grow thickly where man has been,
Lapping the walls with an ocean of green;
Nodding and rustling in ...
Pulling Grass
Somehow the joy of pulling grass
Is amongst other joys without a peer,
Strange as it seems.
A wayside hedge ...
Rain
There is rain on the window and rain on the door;
The garden is swimming in yellows and greens.
Whoever ...
Reverie
Amid the city’s bustle, haste and noise
In lecture room alone I sit, with hands
Upon my brow, and turn ...
Stiff-Cart Ride
Clip clop, up and down
We jerk and roll to Castletown;
Ruts, mounds, holes and stones
Give a shaking to ...
Stinnerry
Oh, the sun, the glorious sun,
When o’er dusky shade hath won,
Colouring where the flowers run,
Ripening the berry;...
The Ballamooar
The Ballamooar is a farm of mountain, field and stone,
And there was dwelling happily our widowed aunt, alone;
Alone ...
The Crippled Singer
She sang in the garden
An old island song,
Her sister and warden
Her chair pushed along.
Her voice was ...
The Empty House
There is an empty house
Beyond the lane,
And there no cat or mouse
Will come again;
The family is ...
The Flying Coachman
The ringing of the hoof-beats startles the air
And echoes are beating like drums from the hills;
The maniac coachman, ...
The Man of the Hills
The man of the hills is a remarkable fellow ;
His whiskers are white and his molars are yellow ;...
The Old Gossip
Painfully feeble to all intent,
Wondrously wrinkled and old and bent,
Wearing a sun-bonnet day in, day out
Our Ellen ...
The Preacher
On Sunday evening we to chapel go
Along the road, and sit six in a row,
And listen to the ...
The Preacher and the Phynnoderee
The preacher was in a merry mood;
The fire was warm, the talk was good,
And he was full of ...
The Spectre of Colby Glen
They will not walk up Colby Glen,
The knowing ones, when it is dark,
That would disturb the Little Men...
The Tramp’s Bed
What can this be here in this dusty loft,
What the light finds when I unclose the door;
This frame, ...
When All Is Quiet
When all is quiet where there has been laughter,
And the last voice has faded down the lane,
The house ...