Of Farewells, Famous Finds, Feminism, Fits of Frustration & Feeble Minds
Commemorating 100 Years of WW1:
“Farewell To New Zealand’s Sons” – the story behind the WW1 poem by the controversial Mrs (Bessie) Harrison Lee Cowie, of Australia, NZ and the USA:
FAREWELL TO NEW ZEALAND’S SONS. (By
Mrs Harrison Lee Cowie, Invercargill.)
There’s a rushing of feet, a springing
to arms,
A wondrous response since the war’s wild alarms.
Our brave boys are leaving, they’ve heard the loud call,
“Lads, come back with honour, or come not at all.”
Be noble and fearless, be gallant and true;
The women will watch for tidings of you;
Protect your own manhood, brave sons of the brave,
There are worse things to shun than a patriot’s grave.
Be dauntless in fighting the fierce foes within,
Tread down, without mercy, temptations to sin,
Protect every girl, ne’er cause one to fall,
Oh, come back with honour, or come not at all.
Your glorious intellects drug not, we plead,
Keep soul, brain and body, superb for our need.
Give God of your best, be prayerful and strong,
Let Right be your might; never yield to a wrong.
From counter and office, from farm and from mill,
You are speeding in haste over river and hill.
And the women who love you, send out this last call,
“Come back, lads, with honour, or come not at all.”
FREE PRESS PRINT
[There is no date to this poem, but it
can be considered to be early on in the war, c1915].
OTAUTAU MUSEUM item #2018.19 Public Domain Work
------------------------------------
FAMOUS FINDS
Imagine my surprise when some
papers fell out of an old book I picked up, and one of them was
the above piece of writing… on doing some research, I could find no
online record of this poem of Mrs Harrison Lee Cowie’s, but I sure did
find a lot out about the rather unashamed and often adventurous author…
Known
as Bessie, Betsy Vickery was born at Daylesford, Victoria, Australia,
on 10 June 1860. She was the child of a butcher, one Henry Vickery who
had married Susan Emma Maunder (née Dungey). In a tragic set of
circumstances, Bessie learned early the violence and damage that alcohol
could do in a home and family and particularly to children, when she
and her six siblings were farmed out to an aunt and uncle after Susan
died and Henry was unable to look after them. Sadly, the aunt and uncle
were affected by apparent alcoholism and Bessie at least was horribly
abused and probably scarred for life by her experiences with this. After
the abuse was uncovered, her father sent her to yet another aunt and
uncle, this time ones with strict Christian principles and no love of
children. Bessie seemed very affected by the circumstances of her young
life, yet as she grew older, she also pushed the boundaries of accepted
marriage norms and gained some interesting as well as not surprising
views of her own. After marrying a man from nearby Melbourne, a Harrison
Lee, Bessie started working in Sunday School, preaching from the pulpit
as an Anglican and forayed into neighbourhood slums to help the less
fortunate, an occupation her husband did not encourage or support.
When he died, Bessie
received an offer of marriage from a retired farmer who had long admired
her, from the south of NZ - Winton to be exact - who wrote that he did
not desire her to be a farmer’s wife, but expressed the wish for himself
to be a missionary’s husband. But it wasn’t long after Bessie started
to cause even more controversy than when she had landed here some years
earlier. Never one to shy away from what she felt needed doing or saying
- Bessie had been early converted to the Temperance cause – most
probably from her own harsh experiences at the hands of alcoholic
carers, she led a branch of the WCTU and did a lot of speaking and
advocating in Victoria in particular, and across Australia for this
group and others. After returning back to NZ, where Bessie had come
after some time in the UK previously, and where she had “set up shop”
some years before in the main centre of Auckland (along with touring
around the country on her WCTU mission) she settled into live in
Invercargill, where her new husband, Andrew Cowie supported her in her
work, as he had promised to do. They also travelled abroad together
wherever her engagements took her. But the now Mrs Cowie, would not stay
quiet and she soon started taking on NZ, in an even more vocal role
than she had done in Australia, England and the rest of the world. It
was during the years of WW1 that Bessie caused the most commotion in NZ
communities.
One of Bessie's many literary missives - she was a prolific writer of articles, tracts, poems and books on her life/ beliefs
FEMINISM
Both
revered and reviled, Bessie was certainly a woman who made her mark on
the world; from being recognized as an internationally acclaimed
Suffragist, vocal visionary of some important aspects of Women’s Rights
which were still hugely unpopular in the late 1800’s – early 1900’s,
Missionary to the WCTU (Women’s Christian Temperance Union), to
organizer of the WW1 “The Strength of the Nation” movement, which went
about raising the ire of at least one New Zealand newspaper who rather
publicly persecuted and shamed her over the contents of one of her even
more infamous poem “The Cry of the Mothers to the Brewers”.
FITS OF FRUSTRATION
It
was said of this particular poem by The Observer, “That Mrs Cowie, in
the opening verse of her diatribe, assumes her personal share in NZ
soldiers…” then appeals that, “every copy of this violent doggerel
should be publicly burned in her presence…”, along with the following
observation that, “this lady… is not, as far as one knows, entitled by
the number of her soldier sons or by her nationality to throw mud at the
whole of the NZ Army…” calling out Bessie as being herself childless
and of Australian birth, ouch! Continuing on, the papers claims, “the
verses suggest that… the Brewers have first caused, all NZ soldiers,
(the men of Gallipoli, the hero’s of Messines - the Anzacs) to become
such hopeless drunkards, that they could not avoid becoming diseased
pariahs, unclean beasts, appalling sepulchres of souls.”
FEEBLE MINDS
The above paper continued its vitriolic vilification of
Bessie, continuing to claim that this kind of thing written by Mrs
Cowie would especially appeal to “female neurotics”, “childless wives”
or “spinsters” – further denigrating many principles that they know
Harrison Lee Cowie believes and preaches in – the vote for women, the
rights of all females to their own bodies, even the decision if or not
to bear children, all ideas that while they were gaining traction in
some circles, were still serious enough to bring a charge of insanity or
lunacy at that time against any female person found to be practising
them. At the time of WW1, men still owned women’s bodies if not the
vote, and they could determine the fate of not only their wives, but
also their property and propriety. Whoever wrote the quoted news article
condemning Bessie, was surely not one who was on the side of feminism,
in any way, shape or form; you can imagine him preaching “masses of
female hysteria” from the pulpit!
--------------------
But, back to the FAREWELL TO NEW ZEALAND’S SONS. This poem which I found,
really set the scene for the furthering of Bessie’s passions, also the above
thoughts and opinions of the general population at the time – reflected in the quoted
news article - often men still reeling from the fact that they lost the right
to ban women from voting, and still smarting at the idea that their wives just
might not be their permanent property. Mrs Cowie obviously wrote and said what
she thought, with no thought for how it might appear or sound to those looking
and listening on. She was a woman with strong convictions, a loud voice and
probably a heart of gold. Her first husband had not approved of her work with
the poor and the underdog, but her second husband (from Winton, NZ), fully
supported her in it. It is probable that having support from him, allowed
Bessie to speak even more boldly.
THE POEM:
There’s a rushing of feet, a springing to arms,
A wondrous response since the war’s wild alarms.
Our brave boys are leaving, they’ve heard the loud call,
“Lads, come back with honour, or come not at all.”
Be noble and fearless, be gallant and true;
The women will watch for tidings of you;
Protect your own manhood, brave sons of the brave,
There are worse things to shun than a patriot’s grave.
Be dauntless in fighting the fierce foes within,
Tread down, without mercy, temptations to sin,
Protect every girl, ne’er cause one to fall,
Oh, come back with honour, or come not at all.
Your glorious intellects drug not, we plead,
Keep soul, brain and body, superb for our need.
Give God of your best, be prayerful and strong,
Let Right be your might; never yield to a wrong.
From counter and office, from farm and from mill,
You are speeding in haste over river and hill.
And the women who love you, send out this last call,
“Come back, lads, with honour, or come not at all.”
FREE PRESS PRINT
[There is no date to this poem, but it can be considered to be early on in the war, c1915].
OTAUTAU MUSEUM item #2018.19 Public Domain Work
------------------------------------
Both revered and reviled, Bessie was certainly a woman who made her mark on the world; from being recognized as an internationally acclaimed Suffragist, vocal visionary of some important aspects of Women’s Rights which were still hugely unpopular in the late 1800’s – early 1900’s, Missionary to the WCTU (Women’s Christian Temperance Union), to organizer of the WW1 “The Strength of the Nation” movement, which went about raising the ire of at least one New Zealand newspaper who rather publicly persecuted and shamed her over the contents of one of her even more infamous poem “The Cry of the Mothers to the Brewers”.
FITS OF FRUSTRATION
It was said of this particular poem by The Observer, “That Mrs Cowie, in the opening verse of her diatribe, assumes her personal share in NZ soldiers…” then appeals that, “every copy of this violent doggerel should be publicly burned in her presence…”, along with the following observation that, “this lady… is not, as far as one knows, entitled by the number of her soldier sons or by her nationality to throw mud at the whole of the NZ Army…” calling out Bessie as being herself childless and of Australian birth, ouch! Continuing on, the papers claims, “the verses suggest that… the Brewers have first caused, all NZ soldiers, (the men of Gallipoli, the hero’s of Messines - the Anzacs) to become such hopeless drunkards, that they could not avoid becoming diseased pariahs, unclean beasts, appalling sepulchres of souls.”
FEEBLE MINDS
The above paper continued its vitriolic vilification of Bessie, continuing to claim that this kind of thing written by Mrs Cowie would especially appeal to “female neurotics”, “childless wives” or “spinsters” – further denigrating many principles that they know Harrison Lee Cowie believes and preaches in – the vote for women, the rights of all females to their own bodies, even the decision if or not to bear children, all ideas that while they were gaining traction in some circles, were still serious enough to bring a charge of insanity or lunacy at that time against any female person found to be practising them. At the time of WW1, men still owned women’s bodies if not the vote, and they could determine the fate of not only their wives, but also their property and propriety. Whoever wrote the quoted news article condemning Bessie, was surely not one who was on the side of feminism, in any way, shape or form; you can imagine him preaching “masses of female hysteria” from the pulpit!
--------------------
But, back to the FAREWELL TO NEW ZEALAND’S SONS. This poem which I found, really set the scene for the furthering of Bessie’s passions, also the above thoughts and opinions of the general population at the time – reflected in the quoted news article - often men still reeling from the fact that they lost the right to ban women from voting, and still smarting at the idea that their wives just might not be their permanent property. Mrs Cowie obviously wrote and said what she thought, with no thought for how it might appear or sound to those looking and listening on. She was a woman with strong convictions, a loud voice and probably a heart of gold. Her first husband had not approved of her work with the poor and the underdog, but her second husband (from Winton, NZ), fully supported her in it. It is probable that having support from him, allowed Bessie to speak even more boldly.
THE POEM:
Photographed and attached above, “Farewell” uses in its composition, some of the style common in religious tracts of the day, attempting to shame or shock readers into changing their behaviour, by bullying or threats, something we would usually consider somewhat shocking today. This is especially true of the last line of most of these verses, as they could well have had a devastating and even a death-dealing sentence on those suffering from PTSD or shell-shock, or especially the dreaded VD or STI’s, which appears to be the poem’s main target (this is a whole other story – and one discussed in more depth further on.) While finding those ending lines shocking myself, I reminded myself what strongly held beliefs and views Mrs Cowie had, and coupled with the way that people then still blindly followed both God and their “King and Country”, it was probably a quite widely held view, even if not particularly conducive to bringing home “our boys” in one piece, sound of mind and body. It was not uncommon for men with VD in the war, to commit suicide in one form or another; when you read of not only of the horrors of their suffered in confinement and treatment, but also the damaging and dangerous views of the public, you can almost see why. It was simply shocking. And sadly, views such as Bessie’s did not help matters at all for these young men.
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