Pieces of the Past

19-20th century.

 

“I want free life and I want free air.”

 

On a scrap of paper secreted behind an old fireplace we found these neatly written words, the opening to Frank Desprez’s 1882 poem Lasca. The poem tells the tragic tale of a cowboy and his lady “down by the Rio Grande”, but the paper tells the story of an un-named scribe, words laboriously copied, a piece of penmanship lost, a poem deliberately hidden.

 

Also, poetry, cowboys, feisty women and tragedy – it's a winning combination.

 

 

Jessie Garland, 2015.

Artefact specialist, caffeine addict and our social media guru!