Found in something called the Broughton Scrap Book Vol 1, in the William Salt Library in Stafford.
The First one "Moule Cop" is a cutting
from the Potteries Gazette dated 9th. November 1822, and is signed C. H.
Arise ye bards! Your harps attune
The praises of old Moule
to sing.
Muses bestow th'
inspiring boon
And harmonize each trembling string.
Shall man of taste and science, say,
Deny the meed of commendation
To great utility, nor pay
The just demand of admiration.
Moule's daily tribute is convey'd
To aid the potter's chemic skill:
Then let the kindness be repaid
And eulogize the favourite hill.
While clamb'ring up Moule's craggy side
Have ye ne'er thought, just such is life:
The summit gain'd, the prospect wide
Has recompens'd the toilsome strife.
The botanist here feasts his mind,
Geoligists find ample food,
The artist's taste may be sublim'd,
The moralist plan future good.
Moule does an ample field disclose;
Philanthropy! Exert thy powers!
Where brambles grow, there plant the rose,
And thorns transform to myrtle bowers.
While agriculture tills the soil
Let fair instruction thither haste.
The reign of ignorance despoil
And cultivate the moral waste.
( I presume the daily tribute Mow paid
to the potter's chemic skill was proably the sand
used in the pottery industry.) The Other poem is entitled "To the Auld
Man o'Mow" and is unsigned and undated, but
pasted into the album at about the same time. I wonder if it is in Scots
dialect because the poems of Robert Burns were popular around then?
Philip Leese