Transcription
CATALOG NUMBER F&E 66
OBJECT NAME poem
DATE
AUTHOR
RECIPIENT
MEDIUM Paper, ink
PEOPLE Washington Irving, Mrs. Edward Somerville (“E. S.”) Jaffray, Betty
W., “Fanchy” (Florence Jaffray Woodriff)
PLACES Sunnyside, duck pond
KEYWORDS copy of the The Lay of the Sunnyside Ducks
The lay of the Sunnyside Ducks
Humbly dedicated
To Mifs Florence Jaffray
By Sunnyside bower runs a little Indian brook.
As wild as wild can be;
It flows down from hills where Indians lived of old
To the might Tappan Sea
And this little brook supplies a goodly little pond
Where the Sunnyside ducks do play
*Snowy white little ducks with topknots on their heads,
And merry little ducks are they.
And high up the hill stands fair Jaffray Hall
Where a mighty chief doth dwell
And this little Indian brook flows through his lands
In its own little rugged dell.
Turn over -
* When Fanchy had her ringlet tied up on her head we all used to call her, “Mr / Irving’s topknot duck”
[END OF PAGE 1]
And the Laird of Jaffray rose in his might,
And he said to his wife one day,
“This little Indian brook is an idle little brook
And shall no longer have its way.
No longer shall it run down to Sunnyside pond
Nor eke to the Tappan Sea
I’ll stop it with a dam and pump it up hill with a ram
And make it work for a living,” said he.
“It shall run in pipes about our garden and lawn
Making jets and fountains clear
It shall run up stairs and down stairs of Jaffray Hall
And into your bath room my dear” _
Then the Sunnyside ducks they *quaked with fear
And dolefully they did cry,
“Oh laird of Jaffray spare our little brook,
Or we shall be left high and dry!
But soon it appeared that this brave little brook
Defied the Laird of Jaffrays skill;
For though he dammed the little brook, and rammed the little brook
The little brook still ran down hill.
*Quacked?
Turn over.
[END OF PAGE 2]
Then the Sunnyside ducks again plucked up heart,
And got over their quanda - ry,
And the little brook still runs down to Sunnyside pond
And the Mighty Tappan Sea!
[DIFFERENT HAND]
Betty W. says / Above is Mrs E.S. Jaffray’s writingTranscriber
Kathryn AlexanderLanguage
English
