NEW REQUESTS

Val Whitehead from Bristol asked help tracing a poem about the order of the kings and queens of England. At first I thought it was the one I learnt at school many years ago which begins “William, William, Harry, Ste” but it is actually this one:

First William the Norman, Then William his son, Henry, Stephen, Henry, Then Richard and John. Next Henry the Third, Edwards One, Two and Three, And again after Richard, Three Henrys we see. Two Edwards, Third Richard, If rightly I guess, Two Henrys, Sixth Edward, Queen Mary, Queen Bess. Then Jamie the Scotsman, And Charles whom they slew, Yet received after Cromwell, Another Charles too. Next James the Second Acceded the Throne, Then good William and Mary, Together came on. Not till Anne, Georges Four, And Fourth William all passed, Came the reign of Victoria, Whose longest did last. Then Edward the Peacemaker, (He was her son), The fifth of the Georges, Was next in the run. Edward the Eighth, Gave the Crown to his brother, Now God’s sent Elizabeth, All of us love her.

Another poem that I have been able to trace was requested by Stuart Vince who remembered a few lines from a poem that he thought was entitled “Dunkirk 1940”. This is a poem written by the Welsh poet Idris Davies.

The little ships, the little ships Rushed out across the sea To save the luckless armies From death and slavery.

From Tyne and Thames and Tamar, From the Severn and the Clyde, The little ships, the little ships, Went out in all their pride.

And home they brought their warriors, Weary and ragged and worn, Back to the hills and shires And towns where they were born.

Three hundred thousand warriors, From hell to home they came, In the little ships, the little ships Of everlasting fame.

Born in the town of Rhymney, Monmouthshire, Idris Davies worked as a miner from the age of 14. When the mine closed he educated himself so that he could train as a teacher and while teaching in London he became good friends with Dylan Thomas. Davies published his first volume of poetry in 1938 and perhaps his most famous poem is “The Bells of Rhymney”, a tribute to his home town.

This request from Jane Uff (“Ola”, 47 Old Castle Road, Rodwell, Weymouth, Dorset DT4 8QE) has defeated me and I wonder if any readers can help? Jane would love to know the complete version of the Lord’s Prayer expressed in the names of Underground stations. She knows that it ends “... for Esher and Esher, Crouch End”!