"The Cowslip" III

III.

Filial Love.

Miss Jane's mamma was very ill,

And felt such pain she could not sleep,

And Jane would quietly sit still,

Or sometimes through the curtains peep.

And often as she left the bed,

The tear of sweet affection fell,

And going from the room she said,

"I wish my dear mamma was well."

"The Cowslip" II

II.

The Truant.

Children, who delight to ramble,

When it is not holiday,

And o'er hedge and ditch to scramble,

All for love of truant play:

Must have tasks and lessons double

To make up for time misspent,

And, besides this double trouble,

Must have proper punishment.

"The Cowslip" I

While perusing the local charity shops with a couple of friends and my boyfriend, we went into Oxfam, which regrettably has a rather large shelf unit full of antiquarian books. I don't go in there often, because I have a feeling if I did, I'd be considerably thinner and have a much lighter wallet than I already do (it's featherweight, believe me).

Anyway, I was on my knees in front of that shelf before the tinkly bell above the door had fallen silent, and I picked out a slim volume of cautionary tales for children dating from 1900. Before I had a chance to thank him, my wonderful other half had whisked it away to the counter with a flash of plastic and a 'happy birthday' (it's not for two weeks!). And so, here is the first cutely similar to mine tale:

I.

The New Book

A neat little book, full of pictures, was bought

For a good little girl who was glad to be taught.

She read all the tales, and then said to her mother,

I'll lend this new book to my dear little brother.

He shall look at the pictures, and find O and I,

I'm sure he won't tear it, he's such a good boy.

Oh, no! brother Henry knows better indeed;

Although he's too young, yet, to spell or to read.

The first two lines reminded me of me; however I'd never lend this book to my little brother in a million years...

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Three Brothers and a Mayor

I've had these three chaps a while now... they came in a set and I can see why - two of them are distinctly brothers - even though the centre photograph is different from the other two and maybe taken somewhere else, the facial features are different - but what about the fella on the right? His picture was obviously taken in the same time and place as the one on the left, at least, and yet he looks completely different... unfortunately unless relatives are traced we'll probably never know who they were, or why so serious...

But the different, centre photo reveals a clue - I'm afraid I'm no dab hand at deciphering vintage handwriting, but here I've done my best:

Taken at South

Shore - ** Sep ***

1909 -

I was staying at the Brighton, with C + W*****

As far as I can find out, South Shore is in Massachusetts, but as for the Brighton - if that's what it says - I can find nothing. Please, if you have a better suggestion of what this says, leave a comment!

This guy, however, who I found inside a book as I recall at Sherborne tip, is from considerably later - the only clue to his identity being the words: "Michael Mayor 1977/78" written on the back. How ironic would this be if that was actually his name? Please - if you recognise him, leave a comment, and we might be able to reunite this photo with his family or office.