Funeral of Private Alex. Howland
2nd K.O.S.B.,
Who died of wounds in St. Luke’s Hospital, Halifax, and was buried in Wanlockhead Churchyard on August 30, 1918.
The curfew’s mournful tone was heard
Resounding through the glen,
And from the pathway on the hill
The heavy tramp of men,
Whose mien contrasted strangely with
The glow of Autumn’s sun,
Bearing the form of a soldier lad
To his rest so nobly won.
’Twas sad to see the cortege pass
His dear old father’s home,
From which, at the call of duty stern,
He sailed across the foam.
’Twas sad to see his mother’s grief
And hear his sisters weep,
E’er the silver line began to shine
Through shadows dark and deep.
They laid him down in the Old Churchyard,
’Neath the swaying, bending trees,
Where green grass grows and wild flowers bloom
’Mid the heather-scented breeze,
Far, far removed from the din of war,
No more to feel its thrills;
To rest in peace in the kindly shade
Of the everlasting hills.