{"id":59,"date":"2006-08-30T09:48:02","date_gmt":"2006-08-30T09:48:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/54.229.91.100\/libraryandarts\/library\/ehistory\/?p=59"},"modified":"2025-10-29T11:14:22","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T11:14:22","slug":"newbridge-1938-a-coursing-poem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kildarelibraries.ie\/ehistory\/newbridge-1938-a-coursing-poem\/","title":{"rendered":"NEWBRIDGE 1938 – A COURSING POEM"},"content":{"rendered":"
Leinster Leader<\/em><\/strong><\/div>\n
15\/01\/1938<\/em><\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
“THE LAMENT OF BRAER HARE.”<\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I\u2019m senior hare in Connell, on the Coursing Club\u2019s preserves,<\/div>\n
And hope you\u2019ll give my protest the display that it deserves.<\/div>\n
I\u2019ve romped and roamed the fields around here for twenty years and more,<\/div>\n
And never have been forced to write to the Public Press before.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
This action was made necessary by verses which appeared<\/div>\n
In your last Christmas issue, the effect of which I feared<\/div>\n
Would be to let the public think my species had withdrew<\/div>\n
For evermore from Newbridge fields and sought out pastures new.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
That such is far from being the case these verses will explain,<\/div>\n
Our action in deserting here is part of a campaign<\/div>\n
To keep our sporting writer, “Shaun,” from probing our affairs,<\/div>\n
And writing indiscreetly of the vagaries of the hares.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Just after the Cup the meeting in December, thirty-six<\/div>\n
Comments to which this writer did his Nom-de-Plume affix,<\/div>\n
Appeared in your own columns, and made obvious demand.<\/div>\n
On someone to explain why we so slowly “came to hand.”<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
We have unto ourselves a Law by which no human kind<\/div>\n
Can teach us how to run, or turn, or break, or stay behind,<\/div>\n
And hence we felt it keenly that a mortal should aspire<\/div>\n
To lecture us in tactics, or excuse from us require.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
That night we held a meeting, at which I did preside<\/div>\n
And, on my proposal did without dissent decide,<\/div>\n
To forthwith quite the Connell fields, and thus a lesson teach<\/div>\n
To Pressmen who, by prose or verse, our private rights impeach.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
My kinsmen scattered far and wide to Dublin, Louth and Meath,<\/div>\n
But found conditions far from being like on our native heath.<\/div>\n
Hence I have now decided, as suffice is our protest.<\/div>\n
To recall all to Newbridge fields for coursing at its best.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Yes, we\u2019ll be back in Newbridge, and attend all future meets,<\/div>\n
And Tommy need no longer dread our absence on his “Beats,”<\/div>\n
And Johnny, Paddy, Jack and Joe, can let their fears abate-<\/div>\n
They\u2019ll have the running of the Cup in Nineteen Thirty Eight.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
My hectic life is closing fast; my fast “Sho-Ho” is near,<\/div>\n
I\u2019ve run and won in many a course, but just one thing I fear-<\/div>\n
When I give out my final spurt, and die without a squeak,<\/div>\n
I hope-nay crave- that “Spadah” will not write me up as “weak.”<\/div>\n
“BRAER HARE.”<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

A poem about coursing in the vicinity of Newbridge (Connell) from the Leinster Leader\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>15\/01\/1938<\/em><\/strong><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A poem about coursing in the vicinity of Newbridge (Connell) from the Leinster Leader <\/em><\/strong>15\/01\/1938<\/em><\/strong><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[126],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-social-history"],"blocksy_meta":[],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Kildare Local Studies","author_link":"https:\/\/kildarelibraries.ie\/ehistory\/author\/localstudies\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kildarelibraries.ie\/ehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kildarelibraries.ie\/ehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kildarelibraries.ie\/ehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kildarelibraries.ie\/ehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kildarelibraries.ie\/ehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kildarelibraries.ie\/ehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7946,"href":"https:\/\/kildarelibraries.ie\/ehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59\/revisions\/7946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kildarelibraries.ie\/ehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kildarelibraries.ie\/ehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kildarelibraries.ie\/ehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}