A Trip to the Royal Winter Fair by Marjorie Clemens
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The following poem was written by Marjorie Clemens of Ravenswood School in January of 1940 as part of a student Essay Contest. It can be found at the Lambton County Archives along with a collection of essays and observations from Junior Farmers’ Trips to the Royal Winter Fair, organized by W.P. MacDonald. Essays in this collection range from the late 1920s through until the 1940s.
W.P MacDonald was the Agricultural Representative for Lambton County after graduating from the Ontario Agricultural College in 1915 through until 1956. Check out the Virtual Exhibit on W.P. MacDonald’s 2016 induction into the Lambton Agricultural Hall of Fame by visiting Lambton Heritage Museum.
There are some events recorded,
And some that never are,
The trip we made down to the Royal in history has no par.
Then every Lambton boy and girl who rated at the fair,
In speaking and exhibits too
By bus was taken there.
Some of us left from Watford town
A little after eight,
And since it was our first bus ride
Not one of us was late.
There was a bus for all the boys,
Another for the girls,
And W.P. was rushed so much
His hair fair stood in curls.
But when at last he had us placed
Our trip was well begun,
And all the sights were fresh and new,
And we were glad we’d come.
At London something happened – say I wonder could you guess?
We had our picture taken there
And saw it in the Press.
By 12 o’clock we plain could see
Toronto must be near,
And that we might somehow be late,
There was no cause to fear.
We had the finest chaperones,
And they took every care,
That each of us was sure to see
The best things at the Fair.
And we had pinned long ribbons on
With “Lambton” lettered clear,
So folks could tell from where we came
We were quite vain I fear.
We viewed the cattle, pigs and sheep,
Of every breed and size;
We heard the judges tell just why
They gave to some the prize.
We saw the horses walk upstairs
Like they were on the ground;
And every kind of fowl I’m sure
Could somewhere there be found.
And one show piggy ran away,
He’d go first left then right,
The owner shouted “Catch the pig”
But we weren’t able quite.
The smartest [Birdie] ever seen
Clucked there upon her nest,
She said the [strangest] things to us
Just how you’ve maybe guessed.
But I liked best the hero dogs,
Just plain dogs like my own,
And we were told the noble deeds
Which each had done alone.
For some had barked a quick alarm,
And saved a friend from fire;
They wagged their tails as though to say,
“We aren’t for sale or hire”.
And one had saved a little boy
Who could not swim alone
From drowning and the dog now had
A medal of his own.
We saw the silky foxes judged
They looked so quiet quite;
But they had muzzles on so they
Could neither snarl nor bite.
The faces of some sheep were hid
With tiny little curls,
Their “permanent” could easily be
The envy of the girls.
For us the marionettes all danced
In costumes of their land.
We wondered how they fixed them so
They moved at their command.
We watched the blind fold sew a seam,
And knit like you or me;
They were so certain what to do
You’d think that they could see.
The potter with the potter’s wheel
Turned out some vases rare;
We felt if we could take one home
We’d treasure it with care.
We saw a lady dying wool
Like back in Grandma’s day,
With dyes of berries, bark and roots,
And she explained the way.
A word about the apples too –
We just wished for a bite
From one of those big juicy spies,
But no one said we might.
When evening came, of course we all
Were ready for the show;
The great Colosseum filled us with
Saw awe as you can’t know.
The ladies came and took their place
In fancy evening gowns;
The men with long-tailed coats, high hats
Along beside sat down.
We watched the Nova Scotian girls and ponies in a drill;
And when they had the horses jump
It gave us all a thrill.
The cattle with their ribbons on
Were led around the ring,
And all the strange and wondrous sights –
I can’t tell everything.
It was the first for most of us
To sleep in a hotel;
The really silly things we did
It’s perhaps not best to tell.
But [morning] found us all astir,
And ready to see more,
We drove around, and we beheld
The Eaton well-known store,
The Robert Simpson building too,
The mighty edifice where
Our parliament is wont to meet
And do its business there.
Another day spent at the Fair –
I’ll tell you now of the flowers –
I think right there I could have stayed
For many many hours.
The paths between led here and there,
And little fountains played,
Such gorgeous roses bloomed, and we had
felt we’d been repaid
If only we had made the trip and seen the
flower show.
Such flowers of every colour, kind,
Their names I do not know.
The dearest little cottage stood,
With roses over run.
And there we saw the bride and groom,
Who smiled at all our fun.
Attendants all were in their place
In wedding-day attire,
And we must needs all stop awhile
The pretty scene admire.
But 4P.M. came all too soon,
We should be on our way.
And we were weary and I think we felt we’d
had a day.
We sang most every song we knew
As homeward bound we sped
I’m very sure we all were glad
To see our home and bed.
And W.P. Macdonald may
Throughout the coming years,
Take many groups of girls and boys,
And win applause and cheers.
But we the group of “38”
Alone the honour claim-
We were the very first to go
This fact we loud proclaim.
To W.P. Macdonald now
Give credit, ‘tis his due;
We gave a bunch of girls and boys
A great time it is true.
And perhaps when we have grown old,
With silver in our hair,
We’ll tell our songs and daughters of
Our first trip to the fair.
And we will not forget to name
The man who planned it so,
And W.P. Macdonald’s fame
Will grow and grow and grow.