Dear Old Home Town
The wee place where I started life
Is bonnie Newport town in Fife
How often roamed, in boyhood days
Its pebbled beach and grassy braes,
Though now past three score years and ten
In dreams I linger there again.
And see once more that grocer's shop
Where business kept me on the hop;
Those friendly customers of old
Bring memories worth more than gold.
The schoolday haunts are with me still
Old James' Square and Gowrie Hill,
The granary that used to rear,
Above the ancient ruined pier,
The Knowie too and Charlie's Wood,
Where 'Tarzan' romped with 'Robin Hood'.
Some names that strangers spoke with awe -
Like Washer Willie's, Pluck the Craw,
Eelscraig Rock and Twinkletree -
A croft forever dear to me ---
The gaslit streets of long ago,
The shops with Christmas cheer aglow,
The Sunday School, so fresh and clean,
The broad Tay and its shining scene.
Cruel progress keeps bulldozing on,
And many landmarks sadly gone
Remind me of them in the past,
With memories held true and fast,
So dear old home town, prosper yet -
Your charm I never shall forget.
John A C Duncan
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