Sligo Poets 1912-1923

The Mouse Hunt

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. Both the first and last stanza appear to lack a line.

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.