Poem on Maggie Stevenson

The following is a small poem written by William Lindsay about a family friend, and fellow Scot, Mrs Margaret Stevenson (Maggie) who died 9/18/1917.

Park record 10/5/1917

Our dear old friend and neighbor's gone to meet a good reward.
Which will be granted her, before the bar of god.
We are sorry that she died away far from her cosey home,
That she worked so very hard to make in many years that's gone.
And where she had so many friends who loved her for her worth.
Who gladly would have eased her pains, while she remained on earth
But we know she'll meet her loved ones, Who have passed on before,
And they with her will now rejoice, upon that blessed shore.
For she was faithful good and true, to every trust while here,
And has earned a place among the just, in a high and holy sphere.
So let us every one take heed and every one prepare,
That when it comes our time to go, we'll all be welcomed there,
And have the blessed privilege of meeting thouse that's gone.
To dwell with them eternally within that heavenly home.

Park record 10/5/1917

As a side note, it was a walk to Maggie Stevenson's birthday party in 1914 that proved to be the last for William and Mary after Mary had suffered a stroke. In his journal he writes:

Along in May 1914 I had been taking Mary out riding in a bugg at times & we were invited to Maggie Stevensons birthday party. So I got Mary to consent to go along in the buggy. When we got there & she saw so many of her old friends all happy & cheerful she broke down & cried & I had to take her back home. She could not bear the thought of not being able to take part as she used to be one of the most cheerful in any gathering she ever was in. Of course I never took her into any gathering again away from home.

Inspiration: Robert Burns

Robert Burn's was influential to all Scots, including the Lindsay family in Wasatch County. I like the fact that they held a poet so esteemed. As a child, William visited important sites from Burn's life in Scotland. From William's Autobiography Pg 271-272...

"I only remember 2 occasions that we got off from work to visit for a day or so away from home. One time the whole family went on the train to Dumfries where Burns died and was buried. I sat in his chair and visited his grave."

Burn's home where he died.

"Every evening or especially Sunday evening they read a chapter from the Bible sang a hymn and had prayers Similar to the description given by Burn's in the Cotter's Saturday night. A very fine custom in my opinion and worthy to be emulated."

At Davie Pryde's Hall in Center Creek and later in larger gathering places in Heber, on Burn's birthday, January 25th, Scottish immigrants continued the tradition of celebrating Burns and his poetry. I'm not sure how closely it follows the traditional Burn's supper with haggis and all, but the event was a large production that in time had its own finance committee. One article described it as being "simply immense" with dancing and recitations going until 3 am. The 1891 celebration where William Lindsay recited Burn's "Cotter's Saturday night," as well as his mentioning of the poem in his journal, are evidence of William's fondness for the poem (see full text of the Cotter's Saturday Night here).

Source: Wasatch Wave: 2/3/1891
Note: To those descending from James and Agnes Watson Lindsay or Margaret Eleanor Thomas Lindsay,
the James Watson listed in the article is also a Scottish ancestor that cherished Burn's

From the 1908 celebration at James A. Dawson's home "William Lindsay gave an interesting address on the life of Bobbie Burn's and finished with the advice to "Keep our lug flaps off." Can anyone tell me what a lug flap is? Is it a watch part and is the advice to keep our watches off?

The 1909 celebration was held at the amusement hall (still standing behind the tabernacle in Heber). Apparently the Lindsay brothers were instrumental in keeping these Robert Burns parties alive. William Lindsay wanted everyone to know they were invited, "the more the merrier."

Source: Wasatch Wave. 1/22/1909

It is unclear how long these Burns celebrations went for in Heber. The Wasatch Wave has been digitized through 1922 and the last recorded celebration therein was in 1916. Each time these celebration ended with everybody singing "Auld Lang Syne."

Finally, more evidence of the love for the Cottar's Satruday night and Robert Burns is portrayed in the following passage...

"In September 1915 there was a parade & display of the different nations gotten up & a reward of $20.00 or rather a prize for the best Float representative of that nation. So the Scots decided to compete for the prize & we got up quite a nice float I was selected to ride in it representing Robert Burns's Poem The Cottar's Saturday night with a wife & four children around me. We sent to Salt Lake & got a Bagpipe player & a good Scotch Singer to come & ride in our Float & he to play the Bagpipes as the procession moved along Our float was thatched with straw. But with it all we were outdone by the Swiss people from Midway who had a real Swiss cottage & the woman with her cow & calf. However we got the second prize of $15.00 which we paid to the Piper & the Scotch singer that came from Salt Lake to help us." -William Lindsay Autobiography, pg. 335

This parade (at the Wasatch County Fair more in the Wasatch Wave here) in September sounds like an event that was likely photographed and one that would be great to have a picture of.

The Timpanogos Valley

Source:www.gohebervalley.com

Of all the vales of Utah, there's one I love the best,
Watered by Timpanogos stream & near the Wasatch crest.
Though high up in the mountains, & covered oft with snow,
I love its rugged canyons & the peaceful vale below.
I love these grand old mountains, that round this valley stand,
The cold & sparkling fountains that cool the thirsty land.
The rich & fertile valley, its crops of grain & hay,
The green grass on the hillsides, in April & in May.
I came here in my boyhood, my age was then fifteen,
Like others I had crossed the plains with plodding slow ox teams.
I'd came from Bonnie Scotland, across the deep blue sea,
To gather up to Zion, the Dear land of the free.
For sixty years I've lived here, & led a happy life,
'Twas here I grew to manhood, 'twas here I won my wife.
It was here we raised our family, our Dearest girls & boys,
It was here I've made my Dearest friends & had my greatest joys.
It is here my Dear Old Mother lies, My Dearest Mary too,
Three of my ow Dear children & many friends I knew.
And when my time on earth is done, it's here I want to rest,
Beneath these grand old mountains, near those I love the best.

William Lindsay

Written January 18th, 1923

Source: Autobiography (Selections from William Lindsay's Three Books of Rhymes)