[From Manx Quarterly, #14 Sep 1914]

BALLADE OF A CASTLETOWN STREET.

It wears a dear Bohemian air,
That wins the questing stranger's feet;
It makes its wanderings his affair,
And charms him with each new conceit.
Its narrow middle may not meet
Approval from the chauffeur now,
But modern broad ways cannot beat —
The street that grew just anyhow !
Its houses are of various heights,
And various inclinations too ;
Its colour scheme the eye delights
With splays of brown, and white, and blue:
Nothing a-pair can spoil the view,
No plagiarism 'twill allow, its everlastingly askew —
The street that grew just anyhow I
And so to city dwellers tired
Of uniformity's display,
This lack of plan seems quite inspired,
And meet to wear the greenest bay.
Let scornful architects inveigh
Against it with uplifted brow,
It smiles in its serene array —
The street that grew just anyhow ! L'ENVOY.
People ! I thus my tribute lay
Before you, and I here avow
My heart beats light when I survey —
The street that grew just anyhow !

5 Bridgeford Avenue, West Derby, Liverpool. T. E. ELWELL.