But we could hardly find any illustrations.
So we do a poem instead.
Noah and the Rabbit
by
Hugh Chesterman
"No land" said Noah,
"There - is - not - any - land.
Oh, Rabbit, Rabbit, can't you understand?"
But Rabbit shook his head:
"Say it again" he said;
"And slowly, please.
No good brown earth for burrows,
And no trees;
No wastes where vetch and rabbit-parsley grows,
No brakes, no bushes, and no turnip rows,
No holt, no upland, meadowland or weald,
No tangled hedgerow and no playtime field?"
"No land at all - just water," Noah replied,
And Rabbit sighed.
"For always, Noah?" he whispered, "will there be
Nothing henceforth for ever but the sea?
Or will there come a day
When the green earth will call me back to play?"
Noah bowed his head:
"Some day . . . some day," he said
"London Calling Christopher Wren"
by Hugh Chesterman
Clever men
Like Christopher Wren
Only occur just now and then.
No one expects
In perpetuity
Architects of his ingenuity;
No, never a cleverer dipped his pen
Than clever Sir Christopher - Christopher Wren,
With his chaste designs
On classical lines,
His elegant curves and neat inclines.
For all day long he'd measure and limn
Till the ink gave out or the light grew dim.
And if a Plan
Seemed rather baroque or too 'Queen Anne'
(As Plans well may),
He'd take a look
At his pattern book
And do it again in a different way.
Every day of the week was filled
With a church to mend or a church to build,
And never an hour went by but when
London needed Sir Christopher Wren.
'Bride's in Fleet Street lacks a spire.
Mary-le-Bow a nave and choir.'
'Please to send the plans complete
For a new Saint Stephen's, Coleman Street.'
'Pewterer's Hall is much too tall,
Kindly lower the N.W. wall.'
'Salisbury Square,
Decidedly bare
Can you put one of your churches there?'
Dome of St Paul's is not yet done,
Dean's been waiting since half-past one
London calling from ten till ten,
London calling Christopher Wren!
by Hugh Chesterman
Clever men
Like Christopher Wren
Only occur just now and then.
No one expects
In perpetuity
Architects of his ingenuity;
No, never a cleverer dipped his pen
Than clever Sir Christopher - Christopher Wren,
With his chaste designs
On classical lines,
His elegant curves and neat inclines.
For all day long he'd measure and limn
Till the ink gave out or the light grew dim.
And if a Plan
Seemed rather baroque or too 'Queen Anne'
(As Plans well may),
He'd take a look
At his pattern book
And do it again in a different way.
Every day of the week was filled
With a church to mend or a church to build,
And never an hour went by but when
London needed Sir Christopher Wren.
'Bride's in Fleet Street lacks a spire.
Mary-le-Bow a nave and choir.'
'Please to send the plans complete
For a new Saint Stephen's, Coleman Street.'
'Pewterer's Hall is much too tall,
Kindly lower the N.W. wall.'
'Salisbury Square,
Decidedly bare
Can you put one of your churches there?'
Dome of St Paul's is not yet done,
Dean's been waiting since half-past one
London calling from ten till ten,
London calling Christopher Wren!
We found lots of books or illustrated books by Hugh Chesterman.
The merry go round
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Crusaders
The pie and the tart: from, Nine one-act plays
Drums Across the Water
A year full of poems
Gammon and Spinach ... With Pictures by Hugh Chesterman
Playing with history. [One-act plays.] Illustrated by the author
The Lucky Pedlar ... Illustrated by Hugh Chesterman
Kings-and other things
The highway
Proud Sir Pim and other verses ...
Mighty Men
Chaucer's Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale: An Annotated ... - Pagina 9
In England, Once
A maid in armour
Seven for a Secret, Etc
On Ludgate Hill: an extravagence in one act
The odd spot. [Stories for children]
Quiristers of Paule's. A Historical Phantasy, Etc
December Afternoon
The crock, the cock and the candle: a comedy in one act
Treasure Trove Readers:
'Happy Stories', illustrated by Hugh Chesterman (London: A. Wheaton, 1934)
'In Storyland', illustrated by Hugh Chesterman (London: A. Wheaton, 1934)
'New Friends and Old', illustrated by Hugh Chesterman (London: A. Wheaton, 1934)
'Tales That Are Told', illustrated by Hugh Chesterman (London: A. Wheaton, 1934)
The merry go round
Crusaders
The pie and the tart: from, Nine one-act plays
Drums Across the Water
A year full of poems
Gammon and Spinach ... With Pictures by Hugh Chesterman
Playing with history. [One-act plays.] Illustrated by the author
The Lucky Pedlar ... Illustrated by Hugh Chesterman
Kings-and other things
The highway
Proud Sir Pim and other verses ...
Mighty Men
Chaucer's Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale: An Annotated ... - Pagina 9
In England, Once
A maid in armour
Seven for a Secret, Etc
On Ludgate Hill: an extravagence in one act
The odd spot. [Stories for children]
Quiristers of Paule's. A Historical Phantasy, Etc
December Afternoon
The crock, the cock and the candle: a comedy in one act
Treasure Trove Readers:
'Happy Stories', illustrated by Hugh Chesterman (London: A. Wheaton, 1934)
'In Storyland', illustrated by Hugh Chesterman (London: A. Wheaton, 1934)
'New Friends and Old', illustrated by Hugh Chesterman (London: A. Wheaton, 1934)
'Tales That Are Told', illustrated by Hugh Chesterman (London: A. Wheaton, 1934)
The text of the short poem about King John is on this page http://thames.me.uk/s00518.htm It’s some way down the page so if anyone follows it, it might be worth doing a search for “John was a tyrant” on the webpage. This Yahoo answers page also references it https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=1006040607325 While searching I came across a more recent poem about King John written in northern English dialect (I think in the style of the late Stanley Holloway) http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/magna-carta/ I think this poem is written by Marriott Edgar. This extract is written for humour but I think accurately depicts the attitude prevalent to the “small folk” in medieval times:-
“it were all right him being a tyrant
To vassals and folks of that class,
But he tried on his tricks with the Barons an’ all,
And that’s where he made a ‘faux pas’. ”
North American people may be most familiar with Stanley Holloway from his portrayal of Eliza Doolittle’s father, a cockney dustman in the 1960s “My Fair Lady” film, but he was also known for northern (British) English rhyming monologues. I also found a site which gave information about the poet Hugh Chesterman http://jnvlieland.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/hugh-chesterman.html
“Tartar” here is a variation of “tatar” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatars – though there are of course other meanings (I think Grumpy Cat’s real name is Tartar Sauce). It might be falling out of use now but in my youth one might say about a strict teacher “She’s a bit of a tartar” like one might say “She’s a bit of a dragon” – the sense I think coming from when the Tatars were allied with Genghis Khan’s mongols. Yes, King John was Richard I’s brother.
“it were all right him being a tyrant
To vassals and folks of that class,
But he tried on his tricks with the Barons an’ all,
And that’s where he made a ‘faux pas’. ”
North American people may be most familiar with Stanley Holloway from his portrayal of Eliza Doolittle’s father, a cockney dustman in the 1960s “My Fair Lady” film, but he was also known for northern (British) English rhyming monologues. I also found a site which gave information about the poet Hugh Chesterman http://jnvlieland.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/hugh-chesterman.html
“Tartar” here is a variation of “tatar” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatars – though there are of course other meanings (I think Grumpy Cat’s real name is Tartar Sauce). It might be falling out of use now but in my youth one might say about a strict teacher “She’s a bit of a tartar” like one might say “She’s a bit of a dragon” – the sense I think coming from when the Tatars were allied with Genghis Khan’s mongols. Yes, King John was Richard I’s brother.
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