The motto of a woman who died one hundred years ago
Shout, shout, up with your song!
Cry with the wind for the dawn is breaking.
March, march, swing you along,
Wide blows our banner and hope is waking.
Song with its story, dreams with their glory,
Lo! They call and glad is their word.
Forward! Hark how it swells
Thunder of freedom, the voice of the Lord.
Life, strife, these two are one!
Naught can ye win but by faith and daring;
On, on that ye have done,
But for the work of today preparing.
Firm in reliance, laugh a defiance
(Laugh in hope for sure is the end)
March, march, many as one,
Shoulder to shoulder and friend to friend!
Thankyou to NearlyMartha for her post about Emily Davison and her Christian faith this week. I am one who has never believed that Emily intended to kill herself, but rather to draw attention to the cause. I am grateful to Tony Benn for putting up the plaque in her honour – and even more grateful to all those who sacrificed so much in the cause of women’s suffrage.
My parents and grandparents taught me from a very early age to appreciate the hard-won freedoms that are mine -
As a Nonconformist, to worship God in the way I believe is right
As a woman, to be able to cast my vote in the way my country is run.
May I never take these freedoms for granted
Whenever I put my cross by a candidates name I give thanks to the women whose fight allows me to do it.
ReplyDeleteJane x
Indeed. We look at our politicians and wonder if it is worth it but, like you, I was always taught about what had to happen for me to be able to put my cross in a box
ReplyDeleteShe was.. and is.. an inspiring woman. Jx
ReplyDeleteLord Curzon's Anti-Suffrage Appeal - Untold lives blog
ReplyDeleteOne hundred years ago, suffragette Emily Wilding Davison went onto Epsom race course during the Derby and was struck by the King's horse Anmer. Emily suffered a fractured skull and she died four days later. As part of the centenary commemorations, Untold Lives will be posting a number of stories...
http://britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/untoldlives/2013/06/lord-curzons-anti-suffrage-appeal.html
I was taught what it cost for me to have these freedoms as well, and I am making sure to teach my children the same. I love the story of her staying in the house of commons.
ReplyDelete