THE STANLEY POEM

  By Exile

Reminiscing can come easy,

When you have time on your hands,

Reminiscing can come easy,

When you visit foreign lands,

And so it was in Portugal in 1995,

I cast my mind,

To days gone by,

And thanked God I was alive,

Thoughts took me back to childhood,

All those people, many gone,

Such a feeling of nostalgia,

Never mind, “On Stanley On”,

The more I drank, the more I thought,

The more I pictured faces,

With pen in hand I scribbled down,

The families and the places,

The names came flooding back to me ,

‘till well into the night,

Their names in lines of rhyming verse,

I felt compelled to write,

Tolly, Toshy, Tony, Tully,

Trotsky, Donny-Wully, Cully,

Walls, Hall and Doctor Paddy,

Miss McIntosh, Schoolmaster Daddy,

The Gourlays, Scoobie, Doug and Ron,

The Hasher, bandy Sandy Wann,

Henry, Trevor and Vernor Reiche,

Mary Smith and Franky Smeekie,

Jessie, Freddie and Jimmy Pirie,

Bert Slessor and Hugh Kerr Currie,

The Campbells, Jimmy, Bob and Fay,

Jock Balnaves and Daddy Kay,

Willy Buchan, Stuart and Watty,

Jimmy Hancock and his wife ‘Lotte,

Wee Dunky, Big Sconie,

Whistling Norman and Butcher Tony,

Eck, Davy, Geordie, Bob,

Drummer Smith and Manager Fob,

Joe Simon, Geordie Pratt,

Jimmy Reid and The Bat,

Olive, Frank, Jean and Lush,

Peter Jack and Jeannie Brush,

The Dixon family Margaret, Jean

Alvin, Stan, Norma, Doreen,

PC, Tom and Misses Cant,

Annie Bowman and Misses Grant,

Big Ag, Jessie, Donald, Buff,

Geordie Cramb and Co-opy Duff,

Lawrence, Garland, Joe and Tote,

Willie Bowf and Captain Scott,

Andy Mitchell ,Watty Firth,

Bella Campbell, PD Smith,

Harry Daw-Baw, Margaret Carr,

Archie Stewart and Choochie Dunbar,

Big Bob, Barney, The Bat, The Beeler,

Cubby, Campbell, Camsie, Keeler,

Bicket, Gudget, Davie Stein,

Miss MacDonald and Ernie Green,

The Rosses, Stella Drew and Tony,

Rollo, Jean and Annie Loaney,

The Williamsons, Arthur, Snooks and Gus,

The Tank, The Brooner, Jock Bailey The Bus,

Geordie Buchanan his laddie Grahamie,

Millie Stewart and her son Raymie,

Bobby Gannon, his brother Billy,

Joe the Pole and Tinker Willy,

Kenny Scott and Jocky Tyler,

The Petrie brothers, Gibb and Smiler,

Jimmy Whytock, Jimmy Blyth,

Gordon Lennon and Nurse Forsyth,

‘Purler’ and ‘Porter’, both called Jock,

Ian, Sandy,and Alan Peacock,

Sandra Fraser, Sandy Scrim,

Jimmy McMorran and a dog called Tim,

Mamie, Phemie, Madge and Maude,

Terry, Jerry, Andy, Claude,

Pauline, Anne, Vince and Mike,

Colin Craig, Tam Ford and Pike,

Raymond, Pamela and Brian Blair,

Tam and Allan the Powderhall pair,

Billy Minnett, Wee Mac and Mo,

Margaret, Mary and Angelo,

Jimmy, Anne and father Harry,

Johnny Cura, Mary Ferrari,

The Fifer Geordie Wetherspoon,

The Scotland manager Bobby Broon,

 Kate, Mary, Norrie, Bob,

Norman Hood and Jimmy Robb,

The Simpsons Peter, Evan, Catriona,

Luncarty Young and wife Georgina,

Jock and Dave The Shepherd pair,

Olive Chisholm the organ player,

Davy Fleming, Jimmy Caw,

Minister Reid and Jimmy Shaw,

The Wee Free Kirk, and the English High

Holy Maggie and Misses Mentiply,

Willy Hutton wha’ had the Mill,

Alf Lindores and Eddie Cargill,

Ted the milkman, Sandy Brodie,

Coxy, Jumbo, Puddick, Toady,

Abby Duff, Kenny Paul,

Johnny Roy and the Temperance Hall,

Jimmy Haggart the village draper,

Sold sandshoes, wellies and the morning paper,

Jimmy and Jock the Sweeps and Slaters,

Gilzean and Alec Kyle the Painters,

Jimmy, Johnny, Davy, insurance men three,

And Old Bob Donaldson wha’ “Keppit a bee”,

Norrie Nell, Les and Billy,

Booky Jim and Coalman Willy,

Misses Grant her daughter May,

The Pen Close where they used to stay,

Jimmy Devine his cousin Robbie,

Charlie Dow respected ‘Bobby’,

Pom-Pom, Biffo, Puddin’, Hopper,

Taffy Jones another ‘Copper’,

Dougie Lambert, Eddy Taylor,

Jimmy Donaldson wha’ became a sailor,

Bobby White and young George Dowie,

The Bakers Wife and Geordie Cowie,

Tayside, Strathord and The ‘Byre’,

St. Johnstones’ Ally McIntyre,

The Linn, the ‘Rex’, the Back of  The Mill,

The Curling Pond, The Cross, Sheilhill,

The Red Rocks, Dam, Pitlochry Pool,

The ‘Backs’, The ‘Green’, The Square, the school,

Beaton, Doig, Munro and Fry,

Billy Smith and Leonard Guy,

Zoe, Zandra, Misses Hall

Jimpy, Reg and Sid Bendall

The sisters Hilda, Muriel, ‘Don’,

The nurses Hector, Johnny, Ron,

Maisie, Daisie , Geordie, Bob,

Effie, Dora, Jeannie Robb,

Bob MacKinlay and ‘Bowler Bill’,

Jimmy Goodall and Jack Gill

Gloria, Audrey, Sandra Scott,

Roy McGregor and Willy Stott,

Graham, Ray, Ron Northcott,

Jock, Babs and Ally Scott,

Spud, Mean and Snider Cowan,

Willy Burns and Sam McGowan,

Billy Edney, Ian Bruce,

Geordie ‘Ingin’ and The Moose,

Sandy Winter and Fraser Ross,

Geordie Stewart, Will Cowie his boss,

Jimmy Barrett, Joe the Fatty,

Danny, Johnny, Agnes, Matty,

Fulton, Sam and Jimmy Lennon,

Harry Blair and Sandy McLennon,

Stan Carrie frae The Feus,

Billy McConnell and Cammie Hughes,

Calvin, Ray, Vernetta, Freddy,

 Puggit Stewart and Boxer Eddy,

Taffy, Torky Welch and May,

Ian, Misses Forbes and Chay,

Margaret, Babs and pianist Norrie,

Elsie, Jimmy and Misses McCrorie, 

Nurse Robertson, Nell and Pate,

Katie Berwick and wee Nan Tait,

Edna, Alma, sister Franny,

Roberta and brother Dave the ‘Janny’,

Geordie Lakie, Charlie Begg,

Ina, Ida, Isa, Peg,

Don, Ella, Mina, Molly,

Gordon, Dod And Misses Jolly,

Bob Ballingall and Templeman,

Bryce, Boyce and Runciman,  

From Gordon Grant- we drunk his beer,

To Allan Gairns, where else the rear,

  Now spare a thought for a’ they folks,

There’s many o’ them dead,

Now spare a thought for a’ they folks,

For they were hardy made,

And when ye think o’ Stanley,

Whether ye are near or far,

Dinnae stick your nose up in the air,

It made ye what ye are.  

ADDENDUM TO THE STANLEY POEM

  By Exile

Apologies to the family McNaughton,

Wha’ complained that they’d a’ been forgotten,

That never was the case at a’,

Ye were just outside the boundary wa’,

Remiss o’ me, but you’re now included,

The Stanley Poem is thus concluded.

COPYRIGHT – Calluna Publishing