Mouse Hunt - Sligo Poets

Sligo Times 20 January 1912

THE MOUSE HUNT.

A Christmas Episode.

We were seated in the “Cosey,”
   By the firelight’s cheery glow
And Maud was talking blithely
   of the time of mistletoe,–
Out upon a Christmas call,
   Scampering across the carpet
Disappeared outside the hall.

   With a cry of sudden terror
Maud sought refuge on a chair
   Whilst I hunted for the monster–
’Tis the brave deserve the fair.
   Searched I, every nook and crevice
Peeped I, too, behind a screen,
   But the frisky little rodent
Anywhere, could not be seen.

Then circling round the seat on which
   The frightened maiden stood,
And I glanced at the mistletoe
   Suspended over-head,
I dropped the mouse-hunt but I caught
   Sweet, dainty Maud, instead.

This Christmas poem is unattributed and an internet search found no reference to it so it is possible that it was composed by a local poet. However it does seem more like the sort of thing to be found in the Christmas number of an English publication with its references to Maud and mistletoe.

There appears to have been some errors in the transcription of the poem. The first stanza seems to be missing a line 5 and the last stanza is missing two lines.