"My Dear Native Home" by James Munce

There’s a sweet little village in Erin’s green Isle,

Where the beam of pure friendship for ever does smile-

Still dear to my heart whatsoever I roam, -

‘Tis the place of my birth, ‘tis my dear native home.

The smiles of the summer there longest remain,

And the rose sheds its odour through Daniel’s domain,*

Where the maid and her lover are welcome to roam

O’oer the beautiful walks of my dear native home.

By the clear purling stream leading to the mill,

Where the willow and evergreen hang o’er it still-

When it falls in the fish pond and spreads out in foam-

Show the grandeur and taste of my dear native home.

Its old Danish moat from afar may be seen,

With its round winding path and strong magazine-

With the flag of old England that floats o’er the dome,

Sheds a glory and grace round my dear native home.

The spire of the church in its beauty appears,

Unhurt by the malice or mildew of years;

To the sleepers around it fond memory does roam,

Who wander’d with me round my dear native home.

Sweet scene of my childhood, still dear to my heart,

I can meet you in smiles, but in tears will depart;

For the want of employment compels me to roam

Away from the shades of my dear native home.

Fair shade of Carnathon, how grand you appear!

But where are the comrades who oft wander’d here?

Do they sleep in the dust, or like me do they roam,

And sigh for one look of their dear native home?

Wherever they wander, forget they ne’er will

The stone of remembrance that stands on the hill,

Where the maids in the evening light-hearted do roam,

And sing the lov’d songs of my dear native home.

Those dear hallow’d scenes I may ne’er see again;

May peace, love, and friendship still with them remain’

Till my heart cease to beat and be laid in the tomb,

With delight I’ll look back to my dear native home.

Notes from Jeanette's Trip to No. Ireland in 2001

17 Sep 2001

"What a wonderful time we had in Northern Ireland and we have found out so much information on James Munce - I spoke to the undertaker last night and he is a walking history book and he knows the house that Agnes Cleland lived in and there family is now called Cleland McVey so that is why we cannot find much on her family. He spoke to these people for me and has found out that the poem on Carrickmannon was in every household in Carrickmannon in the early 1880 as he was their idol and known as the "Robbie Burns" of Donaghadee a lot of his poems were made into songs and he is now going to get me more information. I have also found out that an Andrew Munce was the Headmaster of the Donaghadee school and he is trying to find out if he was related to James Munce it was from 1900 to 1950 he was Headmaster of the school. Anne, I met with W.G. Pollock he was about 80 plus and was a Headmaster he is the man who wrote the book "Six miles from Bangor, Donaghadee and the Copeland Islands "- well you know that in that book James Munce is mentioned as the Robbie Burns of Donaghadee and they have a poem in the book that he wrote about Donaghadee I have photocopied this in the library - and now I am trying to get a copy of the book - so if Wayne can see any more copies of this could you get it for me as they are out of print and the last printing was in 1982. Pollock was an unusual man, very frail and I feel that he was tired he was busy getting organised to go to Bangor on the bus but it was lovely meeting him - I met this man in a shop who knew him and he took Graham and I down to where he lives - so he had no warning that we were coming. The people in Ballygowan were wonderful and Betty and Dennis the undertaker and his wife are coming to Australia on the 4th October and they might come to Melbourne so I will let you know what happens.

"Well I am off to-day to the Mitchell Library I am now in Glasgow and Isabel I can see how Bruce loves this place it is wonderful and so beautiful, the people are so friendly and warm and I would say that beside Australia it would be heaven on earth to live except for the winter months.

"We are going to Edinburgh tomorrow and I will get the pages of the book of Poems that are missing from the copy we have and see the difference in the copies of the poems that were printed."

24 Apr 2002

"I went to Northern Ireland last year and it was a wonderful experience - I went to the school in Carrickmannon that James Munce had attended and met people in the area from Ballygowan which is next door to Carrickmannon and from Saintfield where Agnes Cleland came from. One of the people that I met and have also had come to Australia and stay with us whilst they were visiting Australia for a wedding in Brisbane was Denis Porter the Undertaker and his wife Betty from Saintfield - Denis before he came did some research on James and found that the poem that he had written on Carrickmannon in 1861 was in every household during that period and that some of the poems that had been written had been made into songs, I thought that this was interesting but unfortunately he did not know which ones.

"During the visit to Scotland Graham and I spent several days at the Mitchell Library in Glasgow photocopying the books of Poems of James, making sure that we had copies of all the poems that he had written. I have those here and I have decided that the easiest thing to do is to scan them into the computer so that you can all get the copies and just print them off. My cousins here all want copies and so do cousins on my grandmother's sisters side in Canada and in Sydney and Brisbane - the photocopying is expensive they charge here 20 cents a sheet and there are many many sheets so this is what I am going to do."

Six Miles From Bangor: The Story of Donaghadee by W.G. Pollock

I have finally located and acquired a copy of this little out-of-print book about Donaghadee, the hometown of James Munce. One of James Munce's poems is actually included in the book. I went hunting on the internet after re-reading some of the notes I had in my family history file from Jeanette's trip to Northern Ireland.

I have taken the time to scan every page in the book, lay out the pages in their original formate using InDesign, and then created a pdf file so everyone can download a copy of the book to read and reference at their convenience. Downloadable a pdf file of the entire book by clicking here.

~~Cindy Garber Iverson

Addendum from Jeanette:

"I bought this book some years ago on the computer from a book seller in Northern Ireland and when I was in Donagadee in 2001 I went to the Library and was going to photo-copy some of the book as James Munce was in there with one of his poems. Anyway, we went to lunch at the hotel and then went across to this little store opposite. I asked if they had a copy of the book. They informed me that they had no copies. There was this lovely gentleman there, and he said to me that he knew William Pollock and that he lived around the corner just down the street. He walked down the street with Graham and I and around the corner to this house that was right on the road -- knocked on the door and out came William Pollock. He was an elderly gentleman. He talked to me about the book and the research that he had done on James Munce. I tried everywhere to get a copy of the book -- but managed to get it when I came home."

From Grammy's Recipe Box: Temperature in Cooking

This is a contribution from Grammy's recipe box. I inherited this recipe box as a young girl when Grammy (Elsie Louise Munce Caraway) passed away from ovarian cancer. Over the years, I've cherished its contents. Some recipes date back to my Grammy's mother El and Grammy's aunt Esther in the 1910-20's. If you use a recipe or cooking tip from Grammy's recipe box, I'd love to hear about it. Make sure and take photos so we can share them here.



This card sits in the front of Grammy's recipe box. It was obviously an important reference. Written in fountain pen, I'm guessing it dates back to the 1910-30's. It's a simple reference--one that was probably very important in the kitchen of Grammy's mother, Elsie Pump Munce, and herself.

I'm including conversions below for readers outside the U.S.:

Freezing temp 32F/0C
Body temp 96.5F/35.833C
Simmering temp 185F/85C
Boiling temp 212F/100C
Coagulation of protein 158-167F/70-75C
Ferments are destroyed 160F/71.11C

Both Grammy and her mother lived at near sea-level. I know that when Grammy moved to a higher elevation (in the early 1940's) she probably had to adjust her temperature references.

I'm curious as to why "coagulation of protein" was such an important temperature. And I wonder if the temperature listed for "ferments are destroyed" is still accurate according to today's standards. I haven't researched this and would be interested in anyone's insights and findings.