poets.qxd:Layout 1 5/15/08 11:35 AM Page 1 fe ld oi rte ed n cb ey s . “FlorenceBooshasproducedafascinatinganthologyanda b o working-class learnedinterpretivestudyinonevolume.Boosispassionate os w o r k i n g - c l a s s inherclaimsforthesociallifeofpoetryandcarefulinher women poets presentationofindividualityofeachofthesewritingwomen. w o m e n p o e t s i n Thepoemsincludepoliticalballads,personallyrics,and in victorian selectionsofprosethatoftengiveinsightsintowhatpoetic vocationmeanttoworkingwomen.Boosprovidesexcellent v i c t o r i a n b r i t a i n britain introductionstoeachpoet.Thisisabeautifullaboroflove, andwilldelightscholars,generalreaders,andpoets.” v AnneJanowitz,QueenMaryUniversityofLondon iw c an to “Thisanthologyisessentialreadingforanyoneconcerned or a n a n t h o l o g y anthology withwomen’swriting.Theworkoftheseindomitablewomen rk showshumandeterminationatitsstrongestandmostmoving. ii Thesepoetselegizethetragicdeathsoftheirchildren, an celebratethebeautiesofthenaturalworld,anddeplore ng warandinjustice.Hamperedbyneglectedorinterrupted - edited by c b educationandoftendoggedbypoverty,theyovercometheir rl This electronic material is under florence s. boos disadvantageswithgreatdignity.Weshouldreadthemnow a copyright protection and is i andgivethemthepraisetheydeserve.” ts provided to a single recipient DorothyMcMillan,UniversityofGlasgow as for review purposes only. i Thoughworkingwomeninthenineteenthcenturyincluded nw manyaccomplishedandprolificpoets,theirworkhasoftenbeen :o neglectedbycriticsandreaders.Thisuniqueanthologybrings am tolightarichselectionofpoetry,muchofitpreviously unavailable,byworking-classwomenoftheVictorianera. ne n Working-ClassWomenPoetsinVictorianBritainpresentsa a widerangeoftexts,includingworksbyruraldispossessedwomen, np factorywomenpoets,andmoreeducatedandlater-centurypoets. to Italsoincludesselectionsfrommemoirsandautobiographical he reflections,maps,andimagesofthepoets,theirenvironment, ot andthejournalsinwhichtheirpoemsappeared. s l o i Florence S. Boos is Professor of gn English at the University of Iowa. y She haswrittenwidelyonVictorian literature,particularlyonthePre- Raphaelitesandonpoetrybywomen. broadview press www.broadviewpress.com edited by florence s. boos broadview press www.broadviewpress.com broadview a-front.qxd 15/05/2008 10:59 AM Page 1 Review Copy WORKING-CLASS WOMEN POETS IN VICTORIAN BRITAIN A First Modern English Edition of Les Évangiles des Quenouilles WORKING-CLASSWOMENPOETS 1 a-front.qxd 15/05/2008 10:59 AM Page 2 Review Copy Skye 2,6 (cid:127) (cid:127) Inverness 6 1Janet Hamilton Scotland 2Isabella Chisholm 3Elizabeth Duncan Campbell (cid:127) Arbroath 3 4Jane Stevenson 3,8 Dundee • 5Elizabeth Horne Smith 6Mary MacDonald MacPherson 15 Springburn 7“Marie” 8Ellen Johnston (cid:127) (cid:127) (cid:127) (cid:127) Coatbridge 1 9Ruth Wills Glasgow 8,14,15,16 (cid:127) Kilmarnock 4 5 Paisley (cid:127) Carlisle 13 10Fanny Forrester 8 Chorley 11Ethel Carnie 12Eliza Cook 13Mary Smith Great Harwood 11 (cid:127) 14Jessie Russell (cid:127) (cid:127) 15Jeannie Graham Manchester 10 Paterson 16Marion Bernstein England (cid:127) Leicester 9 Wales (cid:127) Cropredy 13 12 London(cid:127) 2 INTRODUCTION a-front.qxd 15/05/2008 10:59 AM Page 3 Review Copy WORKING-CLASS WOMEN POETS IN VICTORIAN BRITAIN An Anthology A First Modern English Edition of Les Évangiles des Quenouilles translated by Thomas K.Abbott edited by Florence S.Boos broadview press WORKING-CLASSWOMENPOETS 3 a-front.qxd 15/05/2008 10:59 AM Page 4 Review Copy ©2008 Florence Boos All rights reserved.The use of any part of this publication reproduced,transmitted in any form or by any means,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recording,or otherwise,or stored in a retrieval system,without prior written consent of the publisher—or in the case of photocopy- ing,a licence from Access Copyright (Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency),One Yonge Street,Suite 1900,Toronto,Ontario M5E 1E5—is an infringement of the copyright law. Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Working-class women poets in Victorian Britain :an anthology / edited by Florence Boos. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-55111-596-2 1. English poetry—Women authors. 2. English poetry—19th century. 3. Working class writings,English. 4. Working class women—Great Britain—Literary collections. I.Boos,Florence Saunders,1943- PR595.W67 2008 821′.80809287 C2007-907489-8 Advisory editor for this volume:Leonard Conolly Broadview Press is an independent,international publishing house,incorporated in 1985. Broadview believes in shared ownership,both with its employees and with the general public;since the year 2000 Broadview shares have traded publicly on the Toronto Venture Exchange under the symbol BDP. We welcome comments and suggestions regarding any aspect of our publications—please feel free to contact us at the addresses below or at [email protected]. North America Post Office Box 1243,Peterborough,Ontario,Canada K9J 7H5 2215 Kenmore Ave.,Buffalo,NY,USA 14207 Tel:(705) 743-8990;Fax:(705) 743-8353; email:[email protected] UK,Ireland,and continental Europe NBNInternational,Estover Road,Plymouth,UK PL6 7PY Tel:44 (0) 1752 202300 Fax:44 (0) 1752 202330 email:[email protected] Australia and New Zealand UNIREPS,University of New South Wales Sydney,NSW,Australia 2052 Tel:61 2 9664 0999;Fax:61 2 9664 5420 email:[email protected] www.broadviewpress.com This book is printed on paper containing 100% post-consumer fibre. Typesetting and assembly:True to Type Inc.,Claremont,Canada. PRINTED IN CANADA 4 INTRODUCTION a-front.qxd 15/05/2008 10:59 AM Page 5 Review Copy To Linda and Bill, “the fellowship of kindred minds” WORKING-CLASSWOMENPOETS 5 a-front.qxd 15/05/2008 10:59 AM Page 6 Review Copy 6 INTRODUCTION a-front.qxd 15/05/2008 10:59 AM Page 7 Review Copy Contents Acknowledgements (cid:127) 11 Introduction (cid:127) 13 Janet Hamilton Introduction (cid:127) 47 A Plea for the Doric (cid:127) 62 A Wheen Aul’Memories (cid:127) 63 The Feast of the “Mutches” (cid:127) 69 Oor Location (cid:127) 70 Rhymes for the Times II (cid:127) 72 Rhymes for the Times IV (cid:127) 75 Rhymes for the Times V (cid:127) 75 Grannie Visited at Blackhill,Shotts,July,1805 (cid:127) 77 Auld Mither Scotland (cid:127) 79 Grannie’s Crack About the Famine in Auld Scotlan’,1739-40 (cid:127) 81 Grannie’s Dream—A True Incident (cid:127) 84 Effie—A Ballad (cid:127) 87 Preface to Poems,Essays and Sketches (cid:127) 89 Preface to Memorial Edition,James Hamilton (cid:127) 92 Janet Hamilton at her “Ain Fireside,”Alexander Wallace (cid:127) 93 Janet Hamilton on the Education of Women (cid:127) 101 Scottish Peasant Life and Character in Days of Auld Langsyne (cid:127) 103 Sketch of a Scottish Out-door Communion Sabbath in Times Gone By (cid:127) 105 Local Changes (cid:127) 106 Sketch of a Scottish Village (cid:127) 109 From The Mental and Moral Dignity of Woman,by the Rev.Benjamin Parsons (cid:127) 110 The Rural Poets Anonymous Celtic Songs Collected by Alexander Carmichael Introduction (cid:127) 111 Peace (cid:127) 113 The Apple Tree (cid:127) 113 New Moon (cid:127) 115 My Father and Mother Will Kill Me (cid:127) 115 Isabella Chisholm Introduction (cid:127) 116 The Wicked Who Would Do Me Harm (cid:127) 117 Exorcism of the Eye (cid:127) 118 Counteracting the Evil Eye (cid:127) 119 Elizabeth Duncan Campbell Introduction (cid:127) 120 WORKING-CLASSWOMENPOETS 7 a-front.qxd 15/05/2008 10:59 AM Page 8 Review Copy The Death of Willie,My Second Son (cid:127) 126 A Prison Cell (cid:127) 127 The Crimean War (cid:127) 128 The Summer Night (cid:127) 131 The Mother’s Lament (cid:127) 133 The Life of My Childhood (cid:127) 135 Mrs.Campbell:A Criticism,by George Gilfillan (cid:127) 141 Jane Stevenson Introduction (cid:127) 146 Home (cid:127) 148 The Wandering Dog (cid:127) 150 The Fairy Dale (cid:127) 151 The Prophetess,Or Seer of Visions (cid:127) 151 Preface from Homely Musings (cid:127) 156 Elizabeth Horne Smith Introduction (cid:127) 157 The Armenian Atrocities (cid:127) 159 A Midnight Meeting with the Ghost of Burns,July,1896 (cid:127) 161 My Friend (cid:127) 164 Lines to J—— B——,Dunfermline (cid:127) 165 “In the Foremost Files.Elizabeth Horne Smith,Farmworker and Poetess.,”by the Rev.P[aul] Anton (cid:127) 166 Mary MacDonald MacPherson Introduction (cid:127) 171 Incitement of the Gaels (cid:127) 178 Farewell to the New Christmas (cid:127) 181 A Prose Translation:“Ivory and the Crofters,”Donald Meek (cid:127) 184 The Factory Poets “Marie” Introduction (cid:127) 185 The Indomitable Will (cid:127) 188 Posted Books (cid:127) 189 Sibyl,the Far-Seer (cid:127) 190 An Autumn Evening,People’s and Howitt’s Journal,1849 (cid:127) 192 Ellen Johnston Introduction (cid:127) 195 Lines to Isabel from the Factory Girl (cid:127) 204 The Factory Girl’s Reply to Edith (cid:127) 206 The Last Sark (cid:127) 208 The Maid of Dundee to Her Slumbering Muse (cid:127) 209 The Last Lay of “The Factory Girl” (cid:127) 211 Edith,from Preface to Second Edition,Autobiography,Poems and Songs (cid:127) 213 Selections from the “Autobiography of Ellen Johnston” (cid:127) 213 8 CONTENTS a-front.qxd 15/05/2008 10:59 AM Page 9 Review Copy Ruth Wills Introduction (cid:127) 219 A Lament (cid:127) 224 The Seen and the Unseen (cid:127) 227 Koziell (cid:127) 228 Zenobia (cid:127) 230 “The Factory Poetess,”from The Working Man (cid:127) 231 Application to the Royal Literary Fund,1863 (cid:127) 234 Last Will and Testament of Ruth Wills (cid:127) 236 Fanny Forrester Introduction (cid:127) 237 Dying in the City (cid:127) 243 The Lowly Bard (cid:127) 245 The Bitter Task (cid:127) 247 To “Sabina” (cid:127) 249 Application to the Royal Literary Fund from Mrs.Ellen Forrester (cid:127) 251 “Fanny Forrester,”Ben Brierley’s Journal,1875 (cid:127) 252 Ethel Carnie Introduction (cid:127) 252 A Marching Tune (cid:127) 259 Faith (cid:127) 260 An Old Woman’s Hands (cid:127) 260 A Washerwoman (cid:127) 261 Shame (cid:127) 262 A Lament (cid:127) 262 A Riding Song (cid:127) 263 “A Lancashire Fairy.An Interview with Miss Ethel Carnie” (cid:127) 264 “Paddling your Own Canoe,”Miss Nobody (cid:127) 267 “Modern Womanhood,”The Woman Worker,1909 (cid:127) 274 Letter from Ethel Carnie to Graham Wallas (cid:127) 277 Lyricists and Feminists Eliza Cook Introduction (cid:127) 279 Song of the City Artisan (cid:127) 283 The Streets (cid:127) 284 A Song:To “The People”of England (cid:127) 286 They All Belong to Me (cid:127) 288 Song of the Red Man (cid:127) 290 Lines Suggested by the Song of a Nightingale (cid:127) 292 To the Late William Jerdan (cid:127) 293 “Advice to the Ladies,”from Eliza Cook’s Journal,1850 (cid:127) 294 Letter from Eliza Cook,1838 (cid:127) 296 Letter from Eliza Cook,1864 (cid:127) 297 WORKING-CLASSWOMENPOETS 9