Redcar

Redcar

Redcar! Upon thy firm, smooth sands, I love

To loiter in the pleasant Summer time,

When Phoebe drives his fiery wain aloft,

And zephyrs waft the fragrance of the vale,

Mix’d with the coolness of the old Ocean’s breath, 5

Acceptable alike to youth and age,

Joy to the hale, and healing to the ill.

See what a fleet of vessels gaily glide,

Like happy swans, upon the glassy sea,

Bringing the riches of each foreign land 10

In happy exchange for our industry.

Another day, perchance on angry waves

These ships will toss; grim Neptune in his rage,

Like raving madmen, striving to destroy

All that hath taken years of toil to make. 15

But now in calm the sea-god seems to sleep,

And Cleveland’s maidens, in the limpid waves,

Bathe their fair limbs, as Dian did of old;

Whilst the sands sparkle, as with diamonds strewn.

Peter Proletarius (George Markham Tweddell)

[Tweddell’s North of England Illustrated Annual for 1879-1880, p. 38]

Poem also in Tweddell's book Visitor's Guide toe Redcar, Coatham and Saltburn 1863, which can be download free via Google books via this page on the Tweddell Hub. http://georgemarkhamtweddell.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/redcar-coatham-and-saltburn-tweddells.html