Author: Anon [Q.]

Publication: Kilmarnock Standard

Published: 21 November 1868

Place of publication: Kilmarnock, Scotland

Publication type: Newspaper/Periodical

Featured individuals:
Edward Pleydell-Bouverie (1818-1889)

No full copy of this poem is available.

This poem has a set tune, and its title is:
Red, White and Blue.

Archive/Library: Burns Monument Centre
Classmark(s): Microfilm
Pages(s): 4

Celebrates the victory of Edward Pleydell-Bouverie in the Kilmarnock Burghs election of 1868. Although Bouverie was a Liberal the candidates he had defeated were to his left, and the poem's emphasis is conservative: 'When the Leaguers stood rampant defying, / Th'old landmarks to tear from our view' (the Reform League, who had supported a challenger to Bouverie's incumbency, Edwin Chadwick). In this first election after the expansion of the franchise in 1867, Bouverie is lauded for being 'so long known and true— / With his past deeds so loudly declaring, / How he's fought for our rights and our laws'. The poet is keen to associate the MP with reform but also to close the door against further political innovation.