{"id":11,"date":"2013-05-27T15:51:00","date_gmt":"2013-05-27T14:51:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2023-11-13T04:42:19","modified_gmt":"2023-11-13T04:42:19","slug":"to-castillo-john-castillo-the-bard-of-the-dales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsrainbow.com\/sonnetsonpoets\/2013\/05\/27\/to-castillo-john-castillo-the-bard-of-the-dales\/","title":{"rendered":"To Castillo (John Castillo – The Bard of the Dales)"},"content":{"rendered":"

To Castillo  (John Castillo  – The Bard of the Dales)<\/b><\/p>\n

\n<\/a><\/b><\/div>\n

\n
<\/b>
\nAlthough our creeds might vary, Castillo,
\nAnd our amusements might not be the same,
\n(For thou wouldst look with horror on my love
\nOf the fine dramas with which Sophocles,
\nEuripides, and Terrence moved the souls 5
\nOf Greeks and Romans in the days of old;
\nAnd those of Marlow, Shakspere, and the rest
\nOf England\u2019s noblest dramatists, would scorn
\nTo dance around the Maypole with a maid
\nFair as the lily and as spotless too; 10
\nYet as thou loved my Cleveland\u2019s hills and dales,
\nAnd had compassion for her people\u2019s souls,
\nAnd strove to gain them from their wicked ways;
\nThough thou too oft might in confusion blend
\nMere innocent enjoyments with their abuse; 15
\nI love thee, noble if mistaken soul!
\nAnd would much rather err with Puritans\u2014
\nEarnest, thou much too solemn\u2014than defile
\nMy spirit in the brutalizing pools
\nOf sensual debasements. And I would fain 20
\nPay thee such honour as thou merited,
\nAmong our Cleveland poets, though thy rank
\nBe not the highest: thou hast gained the hearts
\nOf numbers whom no other bard has won;
\nAnd as the vocal songsters of the grove 25
\nVary in compass and in melody,
\nYet all are welcome to the naturalist,
\nSo in our poesy: not Homer\u2019s strains,
\nNot Dante\u2019s visits to the nether realms,
\nNor Milton soaring to eternal day, 30
\nAre for all readers. Humble lays like thine
\nSolace the lab\u2019ring dalesman in his toil,
\nHelp him to bear the numerous ills of life,
\nAnd teach his soul to look from earth to heaven.<\/p>\n

George Markham Tweddell <\/b>(writing as..
\n\u2018Peter Proletarius<\/b>.\u2019<\/p>\n

Tweddell Published and edited one of the collections of John Castillo<\/b> –
\n[Castillo\u2019s Dialect Poems ed. Geo. M. Tweddell (1878)]<\/p>\n

http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/John_Castillo<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

Tweddell wrote about John Castillo in his Bards and Authors of Cleveland and South Durham 1872 which you can download from the Tweddell Hub here – http:\/\/georgemarkhamtweddell.blogspot.co.uk\/2012\/12\/bards-and-authors-of-cleveland-and.html<\/a><\/b>
\n
<\/b>
\nAnd by WH Burnett in Old Cleveland – here http:\/\/georgemarkhamtweddell.blogspot.co.uk\/2012\/12\/old-cleveland-local-writers-and-local.html<\/a><\/p>\n

A classic work on John Castillo is John Castillo Quinlan, Father D [1968] ‘John Castillo Bard of the Dales’ {Whitby, Horne and Sons Ltd<\/p>\n

This balladic poem by Castillo – to the tune of The Rose Tralee <\/i>shows the depopulation of a village on the North Yorkshire moors as people emigrated via Whitby Harbour to America.<\/p>\n

Reflections On Absent Friends, Gone To America<\/b>
The sun had gone down o’er yon lofty mountain,
The last golden streamer had left the tall tree;
The dwelling below seemed forsaken and gloomy,
Its inmates were tossing upon the wide sea.
The rose tree was nodding the lasses had nourish’d,
Which oft had supplied them with Sunday’s perfume;
The wall-flower in sorrowful modesty flourish’d,
And wept o’er the beautiful daisy in bloom!
In the track by the river the green grass is springing,
On whose flowery bank they were oft wont to stray;
No more the still grove with sweet echoes is ringing,
To the voice of the milk maid, or children at play.
The dog in the night time now howls discontented,
Of its master and mistress but lately bereft;
I listen’d and look’d to the place they frequented,
Of them not a sigh, nor a whisper is left.
How strong the emotions of friendship were glowing,
When towed by the steamer the ocean they braved;
Their force was evinced by the tears that were flowing,
As the hat, or the hand, or the handkerchief waved.
From the shores of old England we anxiously view’d them,
A cargo most precious, and dear to our sight;
Far o’er the blue surface affection pursued them,
Till the ship was conceal’d by the curtain of night.
They have left us,\u2014their absence wakes mournful reflection,
As the fast sailing Arundel bears them away;
We can only consign them to heavenly protection,
To Him, whom the winds and the waters obey.
He who roves through the wood may quickly discover,
Their affection in tokens which there he will see;
Where with sorrowful heart each friend or each lover,
May sigh o’er their names in the bark of the tree. <\/p>\n

John Castillo<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To Castillo  (John Castillo  – The Bard of the Dales) Although our creeds might vary, Castillo, And our amusements might not be the same, (For thou wouldst look with horror on my love Of the fine dramas with which Sophocles, Euripides, and Terrence moved the souls 5 Of Greeks and Romans in the days of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":46,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsrainbow.com\/sonnetsonpoets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsrainbow.com\/sonnetsonpoets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsrainbow.com\/sonnetsonpoets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsrainbow.com\/sonnetsonpoets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsrainbow.com\/sonnetsonpoets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsrainbow.com\/sonnetsonpoets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsrainbow.com\/sonnetsonpoets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11\/revisions\/47"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsrainbow.com\/sonnetsonpoets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsrainbow.com\/sonnetsonpoets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsrainbow.com\/sonnetsonpoets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsrainbow.com\/sonnetsonpoets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}