Now Caroline was a special Catt,
From the tips of her toes to the top of her hat,
I had never ever seen a lady like that
As she rode past on her horse and trap.

Her dad, William, owned the old Tide Mills
And that’s why she had such buttons and frills.
She didn’t have to struggle to pay her bills
at Meeching House, looking down from the hill.

She was landed gentry, that’s for sure!
She was worth a pretty penny and even more,
Had a carved inscription above her door,
But was always very kind to the children and the poor.

For every year, on the 1st of May,
Which by all accounts was her birthday,
She’d invite all the children to ask if they
Would come to her house with a sweet bouquet.

Then she told her staff what had to be done,
They would all line up in the midday sun,
And proving that philanthropy could also be fun,
They’d give each child a penny, and an apple, and a bun!

So Caroline was rich, but generous too,
And the Town’s folk liked her, well wouldn’t you?
‘Cos with all that wealth she did accrue
She shared some out with the many and the few.

And every year, in May, day 1,
We would line up all the children in the midday sun,
And proving that philanthropy could also be fun,
We’d give each child a penny, and an apple, and a bun!

Although I’m fairly happy with life,
I’m sure there’d be no trouble or strife
If, of all the women from here to Fife,
I persuaded Caroline to be my wife!

But my bended knee stayed under my hat.
Perhaps if I had been an aristocrat…
And my dream? It did remain just that,
For nobody married, nobody married,
No one ever got married to Caroline Catt!

by Mike Flood (2019) - all rights reserved