Born in Blantyre

Born in Blantyre
by James Cornfield 2005

A miner’s row where I was born,
was the first thing that I seen that morn,
of nineteen hundred and twenty eight,
and ever since then its been my fate,
to live here in Blantyre town,
with those I love, all around.

These extended families of mine,
have lived here for a long, long time,
they came here (1870) in days of yore,
to dig for coal, their given chore,
for they were Colliers, every man,
tis’ sad to be , the last Collier of this clan.

Blantyre has changed, yet still the same,
it’s still the place that I call hame,
and tho’ I’ve wandered far and near,
its always to Blantyre I pay my fare,
back to the place where I was begat,
where this family Cornfield, still hand their hat.

But tho’ I still hanker for those far off days,
when coal was everything in this place,
with Mother, Father and siblings all aboot,
golden days of childhood, there’s no doubt,
but Iris, June, John, James, Lynn, Lori and Leigh,
John, Chris, Alix, Jamie, Emily and Evie, are my family tree.

Pictured in 1904 by John Jeffrey Waddell is a sketch of Milheugh Bridge, Blantyre