ALAS! Lord and Lady Dalhousie are dead, and buried at last,
Which causes many people to feel a little downcast;
And both lie side by side in one grave,
But I hope God in His goodness their souls will save.
And may He protect their children that are left behind,
And may they always food and raiment find;
And from the paths of virtue may they ne’er be led,
And may they always find a house wherein to lay their head.
Lord Dalhousie was a man worthy of all praise,
And to his memory I hope a monument the people will raise,
That will stand for many ages to came
To commemorate the good deeds he has done.
He was beloved by men of high and low degree,
Especially in Forfarshire by his tenantry:
And by many of the inhabitants in and around Dundee,
Because he was affable in temper. and void of all vanity.
He had great affection for his children, also his wife,
’Tis said he loved her as dear as his life;
And I trust they are now in heaven above,
Where all is joy, peace, and love.
At the age of fourteen he resolved to go to sea,
So he entered the training ship Britannia belonging the navy,
And entered as a midshipman as he considered most fit
Then passed through the course of training with the greatest credit.
In a short time he obtained the rank of lieutenant,
Then to her Majesty’s ship Galatea he was sent;
Which was under the command of the Duke of Edinburgh,
And during his service there he felt but little sorrow.
And from that he was promoted to be commander of the Britannia,
And was well liked by the men, for what he said was law;
And by him Prince Albert Victor and Prince George received a naval education,
Which met with the Prince of Wales’ most hearty approbation.
’Twas in the year 1877 he married the Lady Ada Louisa Bennett,
And by marrying that noble lady he ne’er did regret;
And he was ever ready to give his service in any way,
Most willingly and cheerfully by night or by day.
’Twas in the year of 1887, and on Thursday the 1st of December,
Which his relatives and friends will long remember
That were present at the funeral in Cockpen, churchyard,
Because they had for the noble Lord a great regard.
About eleven o’clock the remains reached Dalhousie,
And were met by a body of the tenantry.
They conveyed them inside the building all seemingly woe begone
And among those that sent wreaths was Lord Claude Hamilton.
Those that sent wreaths were but very few,
But one in particular was the Duke of Buccleuch;
Besides Dr. Herbert Spencer, and Countess Rosebery, and Lady Bennett,
Which no doubt were sent by them with heartfelt regret.
Besides those that sent wreaths in addition were the Earl and Countess of Aberdeen,
Especially the Prince of Wales’ was most lovely to be seen,
And the Earl of Dalkeith’s wreath was very pretty too,
With a mixture of green and white flowers, beautiful to view.
Amongst those present at the interment were Mr Marjoribanks, M.P.,
Also ex-Provost Ballingall from Bonnie Dundee;
Besides the Honourable W. G. Colville, representing the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh,
While in every one’s face standing at the grave was depicted sorrow.
The funeral service was conducted in the Church of Cockpen
By the Rev. J. Crabb, of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, town of Brechin;
And as the two coffins were lowered into their last resting place,
Then the people retired with sad hearts at a quick pace.
The Late Lord Dalhousie
Following so close on the news of the death of tha Countess of Dalhousie, at Havre, on Wednesday, comes the startling announcement from the same place of the death of Lord Dalhousie. As previously stated, Lord and Lady Dalhousie, who had been travelling in the United States, landed at Havre on the 13th inst., on their way to England, Lady Dalhousie who was ill of fever, succumbed to the malady in the French seaport on Wednesday night. The mournful intelligence of the death of Lord, Dalhousie on Friday morning was telegraphed on Saturday to Edinburgh and Brechin from London by Lord Camperdown. “He died in sleep,” the telegram said, but no further particulars were given. The following letter from Lord. Camperdown, which was received yesterday in Edinburgh, gives some details of the startling event:—
Lord Dalhousie was very unhappy when Lady Dalhousie died on Thursday, but was induced in the evening to take some refreshment, and go to bed about 11 P.M. He slept, but about 2 A.M. his servant, who was sleeping in the room, was alarmed by the heaviness of his breathing. The doctors found that an apoplectic fit was coming on, and bled him in the arm. He, however, never rallied, and passed away about 9 on Friday morning. The medical men were Dr Collins and Dr Fagge of London, who had been in attendance on Lady Dalhousie.
The Scotsman, 28th November 1887
I am Dr. Paramjit Singh Ajrawat, the Sikh community leader and struggle to reclaim the lost geo-political sovereignty of Sikhs. The Sikh Nation’s sovereignty was sabotaged by the intruders called British. Lord Dalhousie ( John Ramsey) a tyrant, who was the main player in that sabotaging the Sikh Sovereignty and was responsible for the religious persecution of the minor Sikh sovereign Maharaja Duleep Singh. He converted the minor sovereign to Christianity with blessings from Queen Victoria (A German by descent-House of Hanover) and exiled him to England. He was a ruthless, arrogant Scotsman who was self righteous and oppressive. He damaged the sovereignty of a people who are brave, principled, righteous and self determined. He stole and confiscated the Sikh property including Diamond Kohinoor and auctioned the Plume of tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh- The greatest insult to the Sikh Nation. Sikh Nation today stand united to reclaim the lost Sikh geopolitical sovereignty and put a black mark on the face of this tyrant and the one who gave him the blessing to commit these horrible crimes. On June 9, 2013 a declaration was made by me in the June 1984 Rally of Holocaust of Sikhs, in Parliament Square, London, Uk that the name of township of Dalhousie will be changed to Cunningham, who was a Scotsman, a righteous human being and was a friend of the Sikh Nation the author of “The History of Sikhs”- A Braveheart, a friend, a brother and son of the Sikh Nation. Thousands of Sikhs gathered at the rally gave that approval. Remember the Sikhs are an ecumenical people, who ironically saved the sovereignty of British, France, Belgium more than once (WW I & II) despite the treachery by the British. My grandfather OBI was one of the heroes of Flanders Fields and my other grandfather was liberator of Palestine 1914. We have big claims to make for all we have done for the world. But self determination is our birth right and punishing the tyrant, whether it is Lord Dalhousie or Adolf Hitler is our motto and goal. I hope everybody who reads this post understand and empathize with the plight of the Sikh Nation- an ally and a friend.- Dr Ajrawat
To be fair, the Lord Dalhousie who’s passing is marked by this poem was a fairly distant relative of the controversial Governer General of India you refer to, Dr Ajrwarat.
Mind you, if the sentiments expressed in The Battle of Gujrat are any guide, I’m afraid McGonagall’s views were closer to Dalhousie’s than to yours: “And now the Sikhs are our best soldiers of the present day, Because India is annexed to the British Dominions, and they must obey.” I’m afraid he was a man of his time, and an uncritical support for the British Empire was part of that. Thank goodness we’ve moved on since then.
Eek, sorry Dr. Paramjit. I think you might have missed the point a tad here.
This isn’t a website that glorifies the British Empire. This is a website collating the works of one of history’s worst poets. Let’s just leave it at that eh?
On another note, as deplorable as the events of history often are, it’s important to let go.
dead are good arnt they i so dig what this man is saying