“Beyond Sheephaven’s foaming tide three dreary miles away
Unto a maid who there resides a visit I must pay.
For there a thousand times a day my thoughts against my will
Cross o’er, and bid me follow them to the Maid of Marblehill.
My love’s a young and handsome maid the sunlight’s in her hair
The spring dwells in her breath so sweet and on her cheeks so fair.
Her whispers sound like far-off streams, when the Autumn eves are still
And her eyes keep Winter distant from the groves of Marblehill.
When mellow evening lights the west I wander by the shore
And think had men been made with wings how quickly I’d fly o’er!
For then my wings against my thoughts would strive to show their skill,
But I’d clip them when I’d reach the side of the Maid of Marblehill.
And oft when winds and waves are calm beneath the moonbeams clear
I then unmoor my little boat and o’er the waters steer.
I know my steamship is small, but true love gives me skill,
For at the voyage-end I meet the Maid of Marblehill.”
An extract from “The Maid of Marble Hill” by Andrew MacIntyre, who was also the final Master of the Dunfanaghy Workhouse between 1914 to 1917.