by ‘Barnaby Rudge’ (attribution John W. Bengough; editor, Grip magazine), 30 January 1875
Watch Maja Bannerman perform A Word to the Premier
Sworn in full fourteen months ago,
You’ve precious little done, you know ;
Grip thinks you’re most confounded slow—
MACKENZIE.
How quick each stinging sentence rung
When at Sir John hard names you flung,
And loosed on Dufferin[i] your tongue—
MACKENZIE.
Macdonald’s blunders were not small ;
Yet he did work ; you names could call,
But don’t do any work at all—
MACKENZIE.
Pacific lines[ii] might bear delay,
But you’d right soon, you used to say,
Improve St. Lawrence’ vast highway—
MACKENZIE.
On that highway no work you’ve done—
Nay, hardly anything begun ;
The Welland work of yours was none—
MACKENZIE.
If this be sample of the way
‘Tis to be done, in time it may ;
But we shan’t live to see the day—
MACKENZIE.
[i] Lord Dufferin, that is, Frederick Temple Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava (1826-1902), was Governor General, in office 1872-1878.
[ii] “Pacific lines”: a reference to the Canadian Pacific Railway, Sir John A. Macdonald’s project.
Source: ‘Barnaby Rudge’ [attrib. J.W. Bengough, ed.], Grip magazine. Toronto, Ont., 30 January 1875, 2
Published in Spirit of the Big Ditch: The Story of the Welland Canals in Pictures, Poems and Songs. Compiled, edited and annotated by Robert Ratcliffe Taylor. St. Catharines: The Historical Society of St. Catharines, 2024
The Historical Society of St. Catharines 