William Allingham (March 19, 1824 or 1828 – November 18, 1889) was an Irish man of letters and poet. He was born at Ballyshannon, Donegal, and was the son of the manager of a local bank who was of English descent. He obtained a post in the custom-house of his native town and held several similar posts in Ireland and England until 1870, when he had retired from the service, and became sub-editor of Fraser’s Magazine, which he edited from 1874 to 1879, in succession to James Froude.
In 1874 Allingham married Helen Paterson, known under her married name as a water-colour painter. He died at Hampstead in 1889, and his ashes are interred at St. Anne’s in his native Ballyshannon. You can read more about him in Wikipedia
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The Fairies
Up the airy mountain,
Down the rushy glen,
We darent go a-hunting
For fear of little men;
Wee folk, good folk,
Trooping all together;
Green jacket, red cap,
And white owls feather!
Down along the rocky shore
Some make their home,
They live on crispy pancakes
Of yellow tide-foam;
Some in the reeds
Of the black mountain lake,
With frogs for their watch-dogs,
All night awake.
William Allingham
This week’s Poetry Friday round up is at Literary Safari
History – thank you for this
Thank you for the history lesson of Allinhham and the poem on fairies. The poem is quite descriptive and I can almost see the wee folks.
Blessings this weekend,
Steve C,
sic
HSM
Copenator Crew leader
http://www.copenator.bravehost.com/OperationProvision.html
Re: History – thank you for this
Glad you enjoyed it.
Such a contrast between his buttoned-up life and his fanciful poem. I like to see that. This one sings!
-cloudscome
TadMack says:
Oh, this is an old goody! You’ve also got some great quotes on your site!
Re: TadMack says:
Thanks, Tad. I do love quotes!
Oh, this is a good one! Love the “crispy pancakes of yellow tide foam.” Thanks!
Isn’t that the greatest line? It’s what jumped out at me when I read it.
Ooh, so this where the “we daren’t go a-hunting, for fear of little men” comes from. Where do I know that from–a movie, I think?
Like his wispy language–airy mountain, rushy glen. Fun!
Oh gosh – I could never remember bits of something from a movie. Hats off to you. I thought it was a fun one. I love going through the really old poems and finding one that still seems to work for me today.
I just googled it. It’s Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory! It was Gene Wilder I was hearing in my head:>)
That’s one of my all time fave. poems….!