Saturday, September 20, 2014

Farmers, this is what happens when you leave pigs and goats unattended


This amusing illustration (almost certainly from the 19th century) was done by Palmer Cox (1840-1924), a Canadian artist and author who was best known for his series of works featuring The Brownies, a cute gang of creatures based on Scottish folklore.1 Cox lived in Granby, Quebec, in a sprawling residence called Brownie Castle. You can read more about his former home on Enchanted America, and you can read an excellent article about his Brownie Empire in this 2011 Winterthur Museum blog post by Jeanne Solensky.

There's a poem that accompanies the above illustration. It's not clear whether Cox wrote the poem, too.

FUN IN THE BARNYARD
See-saw, goat and pig,
On the ladder, what a rig!
Now the goats are in the air,
Sonny the piggy will be there.

Who can wonder when they see
Such a smile upon the three,
That the boys and girls should stay
On the tilter half the day?


Footnote
1. Coincidentally, yesterday's post featured five vintage postcards from Scotland.

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