Wainhouse folly turned into tower of spite...
Published Date:
30 October 2008
THE recent article in Nostalgia about John Edward Wainhouse, builder of the famous folly at King Cross, Halifax, prompted someone anonymously to send in the following poem, written by Mary Spencer Brown, of Illingworth, in a booklet called Tongues in Trees.
Mary Spencer Brown, described as "quite a character", was well known in the district in the 1980s and 1990s and a stalwart member of St Mary's Church.
A whimsical man was John Wainhouse,
Who thought in Victorian way,
How nice to build a mill chimney,
Ornamental and possibly gay.
So he ordered an architect, Dugdale,
To build him a spirally stair,
A verandah, some windows and turrets;
Tha could see t'sea at Blackpool up theer.
Mr Edwards, his neighbour, wor fumin',
"What does ta think thas abaht?" shouted he,
"Tek it dahn, man", he bawled, "a'll not 'ave it,
Not a fine country fellow like me".
"Who does ta think tha aht?", sez Wainhouse,
"Thi dad wor no better than mine".
And he sat up theer ont' verandah, Laughing at Edwards' long johns aht on't line.
The feud it wor bitter and furious,
The rowin' went on years and years,
But Wainhouse's tower still stood theer
In spite of all Edwards's jeers.
It never wor used as a chimney,
Waste o' brass from beginning to end.
Both old men died when their time came
Each hating t'other who once wor a friend.
Father time has scythed down most mill chimneys,
Mills is smokeless, their heyday is done.
But Wainhouse still brightens the landscape
With his upstanding gesture to fun.
The full article contains 267 words and appears in Evening Courier newspaper.
-
Last Updated:
30 October 2008 12:48 PM
-
Source:
Evening Courier
-
Location:
Halifax
