COUNTY ANTRIM

COUNTY ANTRIM

There lies beneath the Irish skies

A county sweet and fair,

With hills that proudly rise

And glens of beauty fair;

In County Antrim nature’s art

Is seen on every hand,

With scenes that touch the heart

In dear old Ireland.

 

Beneath old Antrim’s skies the hills

Rise up to meet the blue,

And famous rivers, rippling rills

Depict their beauties too,

The lovely glens stretch out for miles,

As far as eye can see,

And on their wonders nature smiles

Upon her artistry.

Beneath the Irish skies the trails

They run and twist and bend

Through mossy, sunny, verdant vales

And to the hills ascend.

They wind through town, bogland, lane,

To the mountains grand,

And downward went their way again

All over Ireland.

Beneath the Antrim skies the hill

Of Slemish rises high,

Upright and stalwart, fair and still

Towering to the sky;

Like sentinel it seems to guard

The dearest spot on earth,

Keeping silent watch and ward

O’er the famous North.

Beneath the London skies I dwell,

Far from my native home;

With my heart I feel its spell,

No matter where I roam.

To the exile, life’s a bitter jest,

And nought delights the eyes,

Except the beauties of the west,

The blue of Irish skies.

H.H. McFall

Richmond-on-Thames.

Ballymena Observer 22nd October 1926