The Foggy Dew

This is a haunting, melodious Irish tune that my family found, and the lyrics were so beautiful that I thought they could go on their own—maybe read like a poem, or something; that's why I thought I might share the lyrics on the blog.

The Foggy Dew
by Canon Charles O'Doyle.
(Written about the Easter Uprising of 1916).

As down the glen one Easter morn
To a city fair rode I,
There armed lines of marching men
In squadrons pass me by.
No pipe did hum, no battle drum
Did sound its loud tattoo
But the Angelus' bells o'er the Liffey swells
Rang out in the foggy dew.

Right proudly high in Dublin town
Hung they out the flag of war.
'Twas better to die 'neath an Irish sky
Than at Suvla or Sud el Bar.
And from the plains of Royal Meath
Strong men came hurrying through;
While Brittania's Huns with their long-ranged guns
Sailed in through the foggy dew.

O' the night fell black and the rifles' crack
Made "Perfidious Abion" reel
'Mid the leaden rail, seven tongues of flame
Did shine o'er the lines of steel
By each shining blade a prayer was said
That to Ireland her sons be true,
And when morning broke still the war-flag shook
Out its fold in the foggy dew.

'Twas England bade our wild geese go
That small nations might be free.
But their lonely graves are by Suvla's waves
On the fringe of the gray North Sea.
But had they died by Pearse's side
Or fought with Cathal Brugha,
Their names we'd keep where the Fenians sleep
'Neath the shroud of the foggy dew.

The bravest fell, and the requiem bell
Rang mournfully and clear
For those who died at Easter-tide
In the springing of the year.
While the world did gaze with deep amaze
At those fearless men but few
Who bore the fight that freedom's light
Might shine through the foggy dew.

And back through the glen I rode again
And my heart with grief was sore
For I parted then with valiant men
Whom I never shall see more
But to and fro in my dreams I go
And I kneel and pray for you
For slavery fled, O glorious dead,
When you fell in the foggy dew.

(Posted by Ruby).

Princess Olivia Rose

This afternoon Mother had to go to the store to do some shopping, and Olivia wasn't too happy about that. So, I introduced the idea of her getting dressed up, like a princess, with mommy's beads and everything. Well, did she ever like that idea! So we did it, and I'm going to post a lot of pictures of her, because she never checks our blog, and she'll never know how adorable we all think she
is!























































































































































































Posted by Ruby

Poem #2

Alright.... Now who wrote this one?

There once was a widow named Ruth,
Who was still in the prime of her youth.
She moved with her mom
And soon found a job
Through which she caught Boaz forsooth!

Posted by Anonymous

The Guessing Game

Alright, we're going to play a game. I'm going to put a poem down here, and you leave your comment saying who you think its author is.

The Bride

Come, come, my love, my life,
Come now and be my wife;
Come with your sweet, round face
Shining through with glorious grace.

Now approach the altar near—
Your clear, blue eyes shed not a tear—
Here you come, all clothed in white,
Your presence a flood of radiant light.

Here I stand and remember that day
On which we were wed, and people did say
We were the sweetest couple that ever was seen,
But now you lay there, under the green.

Twice a night I grieve for you
Three times a day I weep for you.
But weeping and grieving won't bring back that face—
So wonderful, so beautiful, all shining with grace!

Posted by Anonymous

Big Hats

Imogene's Antlers comes to mind...

(Posted by Chloe)

A Rather Conspicuous Pair

(Posted by Ruby)

All About Cats

Early in the month of August, 2006, Nana took Olivia on a walk, and when they came back, there was a small, deserted kitten on our steps. We took it in, and named him Winston (after Winston Churchill). At the time he looked like a little runt, but now he's outgrown his "kitten-hood" friend, Katarina (after Katarina von Bora), who was bigger than him when they were young, and has shown the other cats that he's the boss, but they don't really care. [Editors Note: Katarina was a large black kitten who showed up at our house two days before Winston did... Unfortunately, she died an unnatural death back in May, from something that's still unidentified.] Here is Winston a few weeks after we found him, and very wet after his monthly bath in the sink...


















And here he is a few days ago....


















Also featuring....



















Katarina...Winston's Ex-playmate. :'(

And Alexander (the Great)











Hmm....how to word this? He's a pure-bred blue-point Birman. Bored.










Olivia and Ophelia.....and yes, we get their names confused all the time ("did anyone clean up Olivia's hairball yet?"). ;-)



(Posted by Ruby, with Dad additions...).

Acrostics

Here's how to spell over the phone ;) :

"Last name is HOPKINS...that's

H--as in Hydrogenated
O--as in Ornithology
P--as in Pulchritude
K--as in Kaleidoscope
I --as in Indefatigable
N--as in Narcolepsy
S--as in Scoliosis

...Yes you heard me right! Thank you! Bye!"

(Posted by Chloe)

Ruby's Birthday!

We're terribly sorry that we are so behind in posting! but last Thursday, August 30th, was Ruby's 14th birthday. It is tradition that Daddy takes the child of honor out for breakfast on the special day, and that the same child gets to choose what he/she wants to have for his/her birthday dinner.
























The funny thing is that when Dad and Ruby went to a really nice restaurant for breakfast, the waiter (obviously age-guessing-challenged) who was seating them looked at Ruby and asked, "Crayons?" Dad replied, laughing, "No, but if you have some Dickens, I bet she'll finish it before we order."


















Proud parents, lovely daughter, scrumptious cake, tall candles, inedible flowers.


















We had been given tickets to a Cleveland Indians game that evening, while preparations were being made for the Cleveland Air Show the next day...


















...so, in addition to these photos from the nosebleed section, we were privileged to see a C-17 do some practice runs around the stadium.


















The Indians won, we cheered (even though we bleed Pirates black and gold--and red), and all had a good time. Except the Seattle Mariners...

(Posted by Chloe and Daddy)

Putting Our Costumes To Good Use

A friend of ours came over the other night to take family pictures! Something that hasn't happened since '05. This means that y'all will be getting a newsletter this year. He was here the 2.5 hour time period that usually feeds us dinner, so understandably the little children were a little fidgety. Our Grandmother had been wanting to take us out for dinner, and she decided that that night would be on opportune time. As we had just been taking pictures in our costumes, we wore them to the restaurant (...most of us did at least). Providentially, the first people we saw came up to us and asked if we had been in Jamestown...and it turns out that they were from that area! :) It was about 9pm, the latest we've ever eaten dinner, and the restaurant was emptying out. It made for a comparatively quiet meal.



















Does this picture make any sense??



















The fam! We look surprisingly happy for being famished :). (Tirzah apologizes for closing her eyes, and I apologize for blocking Luther.)

(Posted by Chloe)