Badger State, Wisconsin…
An ageing, weathered gravestone leaned,
Bearing beneath lichen its fading inscription,
Citing the 1800s and Wisconsin
And the ‘Spry’ family’s emigration.
Following other pioneers before them,
Redundant tin miners had probably fled
To the North American mining state
And a life of gouging out lead…
In burrows, tunnels and holes on hillsides,
Cornish miners might have wintered cold,
Giving rise to the nickname ‘Badger State’,
With grit and stubbornness untold…
Pete Ray
March 2017
Stayed at a round house in Veryan, Cornwall a few times and noticed a Spry family gravestone, mentioning Wisconsin.
Being a Wisconsin Badgers fan and recently reading about how the nickname ‘Badger State’ came about, due to the fact that some miners wintered in holes, or burrows on the hillsides like badgers in setts, I was reminded of Veryan's churchyard and what I had noticed there…
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| VERYAN CHURCH... |
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| NATHANIEL SPRY & THE WISCONSIN CONNECTION... |
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| VERYAN SIGNPOST... |
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| ABOVE & BELOW: 'THE RIGHT ROUND HOUSE'... |
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