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HAMMOND, Esq. &

B.A. L. Mus.

PRINCIPAL OF THE VICTORIA COLLEGE OF MUSIC;

FELLOW OF THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF SCOTLAND, ETC,

HOU hast the power the subtlest sounds to weave
Into sweet strains of thrilling harmony;

Thou hast the will heroic to achieve

Still doughtier deeds with fitting minstrelsy.

What better tribute could a poet pay

To one who weds his words to such gay sounds

That steps he lithe and lightsome on his way,

Whilst his glad heart with winsome laughter bounds?

Music and song belovèd are by all,

And thou art powerful to portray their charms:

For Terpsichore is ready at thy call

To soothe, to thrill, or fill with wild alarms!

So I to thee this volume dedicate

To brighten, beautify, and elevate.

EDITOR.

The following Gentlemen have contributed the Biographical

Sketches of the Authors under notice :

GEORGE ACKROYD, Esq. J.P.

JOSEPH N. CUTTS, Ph.D. B.Sc.

Dr. P. H. DAVIS, F.R.H.S. F.R.G.S. F.S.A.

ALBERT E. ELLISON, M.D.S.

JOHN FIRTH.

CHAS. F. FORSHAW, LL.D.

JOSEPH GAUNT, B.A.

W. H. HATTON, F.R.H.S.

WALTER J. KAYE, M.A.

Rev. THOMAS KING, M.A.

Rev. B. MAYOU, M.A.

FRANK PEEL.

A. RAMAGE, M.D. L.F.P.S.G.

HERBERT SHACKLETON, M.R.C.S. Eng. L.R.C.P.I.

Rev. JOSEPH STRAUSS, M.A. Ph.D.

J. A. ERSKINE STUART, L.R.C.P. & S. Edin.

Rev. R. V. TAYLOR, B.A. F.R.H.S.

THOMAS WILMOT, L.R.C.P. Lond. M.R.C.S. Eng.

BUTLER WOOD.

PREFACE.

T

HERE is poetry everywhere; in the green fields where the flowers watch the rising and setting of the sun, and where the blush of beauty and the breath of song are married in a communion of the spiritual; in the blue sky with its benedictions of sunlight, starlight and moonlight, folding us, as it were, in its soft dewy arms and whispering the serenity of heaven; in the streets of the crowded city, where wealth and poverty, luxury and rags, vice and virtue, hold uninterrupted carnival. No less true is it that the love of poetry is as universal as poetry itself. It is the talismanic key that unlocks the door of every heart. It is the soul's vision of delight; the bud and flower of its primal bloom.

It is the poet's high privilege to sit above the world. Within his heart burns a fire which is quenchless, and his utterances never die. Through all time his song has floated over the world like the voice of an angelic choir chanting their hosannahs in the far-off empyrean. The poet is the herald of the coming time. He stands in the van of progress pointing the onward march of the ages. Though he be clad in 'hodden gray" like Scotia's gifted bard his sway is more than regal.

The aim of the editor of this work has been to bring together the best poems, with original biographies of their authors, who were by birth or residence connected with the Parliamentary Division of the Spen Valley. It may be that readers of the volume could be found who would hardly designate some of the contributions by the name of 'poetry.' The authors of these have evidently been inspired with the poetic afflatus in a minor degree. Some of the poems rise to the highest humour and humanity-brilliant similes and homeliest metaphors abound. Others are full of dash, and strength, and sweetness. They alone compel to admiration, by reason of the hardihood of the intellect that created them. Some approach as nearly as possible to mediocrity as they can safely descend, which makes one wish they had kept to prose or refrained from versifying altogether.

However that is a question that is not desirable to dive into too deeply. As a local work it cannot fail to be interesting, and that interest has been evinced in its appearance is amply proved by a glance at the list of subscribers—the majority of whom reside in the district peculiar to the authors dealt with.

By far the greatest interest has been centred in Herbert Knowles -the talented Gomersal poet-many of the subscribers having ordered copies of the book simply to have something in volume form to perpetuate his much-beloved memory. Alderman Woodhead, J.P., of

ALDERMAN JOSEPH WOODHEAD, M.P.

Longdenholme, the Member of Parliament for the Spen Valley, wrote as follows:

Dear Sir

May 27th, 1892.

I enclose order for ten copies of your "Poets of the Spen Valley," and trust it may prove a success in every way, as a contribution to our local literary history. If you had no other name than that of Herbert Knowles, that alone to every lover of true poetry would be sufficient to make the book attractive.

DR. FORSHAW.

With best wishes,

I am dear sir,

Faithfully yours,

JOSEPH WOODHEAD.

This high tribute to the genius of Knowles, from a gentleman of such literary eminence as Alderman Woodhead, is specially valuable, and in the procuration of subscribers has been very helpful.