|
31 Dec 02 - 08:03 PM (#856336) Subject: Lyr Add: A Horse's Letter to Ex-Police Constable.. From: GUEST,Q A HORSE'S LETTER to Ex-Police Constable 365 John Pegg (George H. Hutt) Dear Mr. Pegg, you've proved our friend, No one can deny, By oft detecting cruelty While others pass it by. Your life has been devoted to The ailments of my race, And when the tongue was devoid of speech, Yours kindly took its place. Before we had your kindly aid Our pleading proved in vain, And often with a heavy load We've struggled on in pain. While drivers in their ignorance Have vowed that we did shirk, And though we have been weak and ill Have urged on to work. 'Tis you and only such as you Who mark the mute appeal, Of us poor helpless quadrupeds When indisposed we feel. I've had the horrid toothache, Pegg, And fast I could not go, But as a medicine received A cruel, stinging blow. Again I've stood hour after hour Till corns have made me kick, And blamed for vicious temper been Belaboured with a stick. Sometimes a drunkard held the reins, And muddled, did not think That I as well as he required A cool refreshing drink. He loitered, tippling on the way, Till working hours were past, Then homeward thrashed me, and all night Left me, unclean, to fast. But dear old Pegg, you found it out, And when 'twas brought to light, You had the rascal punished well, While Sangster set me right. Now nearly thirty years you've been An agent of the law, And through your tact oft saved us pain By finding out the flaw. Ans though we are but helpless brutes, Without the power of speech, Yet in our gratefulness, dear Pegg, A moral we can teach. So horses, mules, and asses, too, Their wishes to you give By neighing "Honhy, honhy, hon!" Which means "Long may you live." May those who have the care of us With your kind acts agree, Then animals of every class Will better treated be. John Pegg, "Who, during his 29 years of service in the City of London Police Force obtained 1,300 Convictions for Cruelty to Horses, etc." If anyone is familiar with the amazing record of John Pegg, and the approximate date, please comment. Who was "Sangster? This poem (19th C.) published without date. Bodleian Library, Johnson Ballads 2564. |
|
31 Dec 09 - 03:27 PM (#2800317) Subject: RE: Lyr Add: A HORSE'S LETTER From: GUEST,Christopher T. George Greetings George H. Hutt, known as "The Police Poet" was the gaoler of Bishopsgate Police Station within the area patroled by the City of London Police. As such, in the early morning hours of 30 September 1888, he let the shortly to be fourth Jack the Ripper victim Catherine Eddowes out of gaol before she was murdered in Mitre Square, Aldgate. Hutt is known to have written numerous letters to the press, including one condemning the anti-semitism that grew out of the Ripper crimes, the East End of London at the time having a large immigrant Jewish population, and rumors circulated that the Ripper could have been a Jew. Hutt wrote a poem called "Saved by a Dog" about a dog who saved a woman cook's life in Leeds in 1893 and another poem about the marriage of Princess Victoria Mary (May) of Teck and George, Duke of York (the future George V) that same year, for which he received an acknowledgement from the Royal family. In the pages of Ripperologist we have been running a series on City of London policemen of the Jack the Ripper period, and George H. Hutt is one of them. He joined the City Police in 1879. He left the City Police in 1889 and then served as a constable for Smithfield Meat Market. Best regards Christopher T. George Editor, Ripperologist Ripperologist website http://chrisgeorge.netpublish.net/ |
|
31 Dec 09 - 05:03 PM (#2800397) Subject: RE: Lyr Add: A HORSE'S LETTER From: katlaughing Q, thanks for posting the lyrics/poem. Do you have a tune for it? Christopher T. George, thank you, very much, for posting info on the author. I look forward to checking out your website. Welcome to the Mudcat. All the best, kat |
|
02 Jan 10 - 10:24 AM (#2801459) Subject: RE: Lyr Add: A HORSE'S LETTER From: GUEST,leeneia This is totally unmusical, but may be of interest to those involved with horses. Recently I read a library book by a horse owner who says that shoeing horses is a bad idea and there is no scientific justification for it. He said that a shoe prevents the hoof from flexing under the animal's weight, and horses suffer various foot problems as a result. Now whenever I see a horse, I wonder if it would be better off unshod. I don't own a horse; this is just curiosity. What do horse owners think? The book was call "For love of a horse" or something like that. |
|
03 Jan 10 - 11:25 AM (#2802160) Subject: RE: Lyr Add: A Horse's Letter From: GUEST,Christopher T. George Hi kat and leeneia Thanks for the welcome, kat. As leeneia says, it seems that this work by George H. Hutt seems was intended to be a poem rather than a ballad to be sung with music. I have learned that it was evidently put out in book form in 1892 and it is actually listed on Amazon. See http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/search-handle-url?_encoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books-uk&field-author=George%20Henry%20Hutt All the best Chris |
|
03 Jan 10 - 07:24 PM (#2802549) Subject: RE: Lyr Add: A Horse's Letter From: Melani I have just taken up riding again after a very long lapse of many years, and what I don't know about horses would fill volumes. But I believe that to shoe or not to shoe depends on the individual horse and what that horse is doing. I rode today, and there was much discussion of various horses needing their hooves trimmed. |
|
03 Jan 10 - 08:45 PM (#2802588) Subject: RE: Lyr Add: A Horse's Letter From: GUEST,leeneia Hello, Melani. Thanks for answering. I'm glad to hear people are giving the matter some thought. |
|
03 Jan 10 - 09:50 PM (#2802614) Subject: RE: Lyr Add: A Horse's Letter From: katlaughing My Rog, a horseperson, says if you use them a lot, esp. on pavement, their hooves will wear out too quickly, so shoes help to protect, BUT if you don't use them that much in that way, they are better left unshod. He says a barefoot horse will do better on ice than one with shoes, unless they are super-caulked (special shoes for ice). Shoes are also used sometimes for corrective reasons. When we lived on the prairie of Wyoming, we never put shoes on our horse. |
|
03 Jan 10 - 11:09 PM (#2802673) Subject: RE: Lyr Add: A Horse's Letter From: Effsee A bit curious as to why PC Hutt chose to use a nom de plume! |
|
05 Jan 10 - 01:57 PM (#2804136) Subject: RE: Lyr Add: A Horse's Letter From: GUEST Hello Effsee I think P.C. Hutt did use his real name. It's on the original poem as posted above and in the book advertised on Amazon his full name "George Henry Hutt" is given. It's just that he had the nickname "The Police Poet." Chris |