Poem - Blankney Squire

Today's poem relates the story of how Henry Chaplin and Florence Paget were due to be married, but shortly before the wedding she jilted him and eloped with his arch rival Lord Hastings.

Blankney Squire

This is the story of a Blankney squire
No doubt the last of his kind
A man to respect and admire
A man well dressed and well dined
His name was Henry Chaplin
A man of great ambition
With a passion for hunting and racing
Who became a great politician
Born in the Hall at Ryhall near Stamford
In December 1841
His father a wealthy clergyman
He therefore a parsons son
He attended Harrow then Oxford
A young man with an abundance of charm
But his preoccupation with hunting
Filled his Oxford Dean with alarm
In the summer of 1864
Fate took a hand in the young squire's life
He fell in love with Lady Florence Paget
And asked if she would agree to becoming his wife
After a very brief engagement
And with the wedding going to plan
A few days before the ceremony
Lady Florence eloped with another man
She had recently visited Blankney Hall
Being prepared as her future home
She went round the stables and kennels
With no hint of the drama to come
She went shopping at Marshall and Snelgrove's
The famous London store
She went through the stores front entrance
And met Lord Hastings outside the back door
She informed Henry Chaplin by letter
Love did not exist from the start
By the time he received it she'd married
Thereby breaking the young squire's heart

Rodney Garlant