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| "Faithful Ford" : Heddon Bush friends with their Model T Ford picnicking at Lake Hauroko, Southland, New Zealand, 10th March 1918 |
An Ode to the Model T Ford :
"The Ford is my Motor, -
I shall not want another -
It maketh me to lie down in wet places,
It leadeth me in the path of ridicule,
Yea, tho I run down valleys I am towed uphill,
It annointeth my head with oil when its tank runneth over,
Surely the darn thing won't follow me
All the days of my life
Or I shall dwell in the house of the insane forever."
[Poem based on Psalm 23 - see note below]
The image above, which is from my family collection and includes my Uncle, portrays a group of Heddon Bush chums on a picnic at Lake Hauroko in Southland, New Zealand, 10th March 1918
The "Faithful Ford" image above may not be used for any commercial purpose without my express permission.
Note on the "Ode to the Model T Ford" :
While I had always believed that my late Aunt, Miss Elspeth Dykes of Khandallah, Wellington, (who died in 1933 aged 17 years) had written this poem in the 1920's, an eagle eyed sleuth has uncovered a similar poem dating to 1917 in a scanned Australian newspaper [Link Here]. It appears my Aunt simply amended the original version. The "Localised on the Somme" reference would strongly appear to indicate that an un-named World War One serviceman on the Western Front is responsible for the original version. All very interesting and I would be keen to hear of any other published versions of this poem which date to this period.
The "Faithful Ford" image above may not be used for any commercial purpose without my express permission.
Note on the "Ode to the Model T Ford" :
While I had always believed that my late Aunt, Miss Elspeth Dykes of Khandallah, Wellington, (who died in 1933 aged 17 years) had written this poem in the 1920's, an eagle eyed sleuth has uncovered a similar poem dating to 1917 in a scanned Australian newspaper [Link Here]. It appears my Aunt simply amended the original version. The "Localised on the Somme" reference would strongly appear to indicate that an un-named World War One serviceman on the Western Front is responsible for the original version. All very interesting and I would be keen to hear of any other published versions of this poem which date to this period.
The Ford parody of the 23rd psalm goes back at least to 1917. See
ReplyDeletehttp://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/58023469
Thank you Jeremy, very interesting indeed and well spotted! I've amended my blog accordingly.
DeleteI'm transcribing my grandfather's diaries from 1914. He mentions creating a" paordy of the 23 psalm in favor of the Ford" and says he will mail it to the company. Sounds like a lot of people had the same idea.
ReplyDelete