NELLIE MCLAREN – Annie MacFarlane 
Clear pure are the notes, as the blackbird sings,
True music to the silence brings,
As I sit alone on the garden seat;
The air so still, with fragrance sweet
This tiny fragment of the world at peace.

Dunmore outlined in the evening sky,

All shades of green on the trees nearby,

Like the beauty of a bridal gown

The lilac tree, its blossom crown.

Hanging in abundance white,

To the eye brings pure delight,

The cool green of the ferns I spy,

And all kinds of flowers before me lie.

Lupins coming into bloom,

Rich shall be their colour soon.

Tulips red, and yellow too,

One there, almost black in hue.

Bright blue of the hyacinths gay,

Beside the old-fashioned honesty.

The pink of pyrethrums,

And the promise of a rose to come.

A clump of double lilies white,

Blending in with colours bright.

In a corner adding grace,

The sweetness of a pansie’s face.

Columbines’ tall coloured bells,

And under them so shyly dwells,

The tiny blue forget-me-not,

Daisies and buttercups, surely they intruders be,

Still they pleasure bring to me.

Ne’er would I these flowers disown,

They have a beauty all their own.

Spilling o’er the rocker stones, in soft caress,

Colours of an old-world dress,

Shades of lavender, pink and blue,

And just to make the picture right,

A lacy trimming all in white.

Once caring hands in this garden wrought,

In tribute to a presence gone,

So many of the flowers live on,

Bringing joy to us bereft.

So with the flowers we too feel blest,

Shining down, God’s evening sun,’

A benediction on each one.

One thinks of the folk who took that long trail to their new homes in Canada and other places throughout the world, and of their hardships, their successes, aye, and on occasion, their failures. Their descendants today may wish to retrace the footsteps of their fathers and question if they will be well received? And have a place? Will they recognise anything that has been passed down to them from so many years ago? I would venture to suggest that they will be able to reach out and touch someone, or something, which will add to their dimensions.

Comrie from the South looking towards Glen Lednock