Jessie Rooke, Emu Bay Lass?
Jessie, Jessie, whose temperance girl were you?
Some people say that you were a
Scottish-Emu Bay lady
Who broke through the class barrier
And mingled with powerful men
To persuade them to give us, your sisters,
A multitude of simpletons, a voice
So that we, ignorant folk,
With a tick in a box, could stop
The cursed flow of the evil amber fluid.
Jessie, Jessie, some people say that you
Were an English lady
Who mingled with the humble,
But you travelled far in decrepit vehicles,
In tempestuous weather with Kermode,
A rich man’s daughter,
To collect signatures to persuade
Men in power to give your sisters the vote
So that with their pen
They could stop the cursed flow of the amber fluid.
Today, Jessie girl, you Scottish-English lady,
Are remembered by some women
For what you did for us simple folk.
They venerate you by visiting your temperance
grave
To sip wine near your headstone at Wivenhoe,
In gratitude for getting us the vote.
© Judy Brumby-Lake
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