The Grave of the Poet James Leigh, Gee Cross, Hyde

Detail from a photo taken by James Leigh's friend Frederick Higham.

So the Potter grave isn't the only one of literary interest here. This is the grave of James Leigh in the graveyard at Hyde Chapel, Gee Cross, Hyde.

'IN EVER-LOVING MEMORY OF

JAMES LEIGH

OF HYDE, AUTHOR OF "GLEAMS OF SUNSHINE",

AND OTHER POEMS, WHO CROSSED THE BAR

NOV^R 21^ST 1918. AGED 64 YEARS.

ALSO ALICE ANN WIFE OF THE

ABOVE, WHO DIED JUNE 4^TH 1938, AGED 83 YEARS.'

'"THE DARKEST NIGHT DOTH OFT PRECEDE
THE BLESSED DAWNING OF A GLORIOUS DAY.
THROUGH DEATH'S DARK VALE, THE RIGHTEOUS SOUL DOTH LEAD
TO REALMS OF LIGHT AND LIFE AND IMMORTALITY."

JAMES LEIGH.'

Gleams of Sunshine (from which the above lines are taken) is preceded by several introductions, one of which is by Thomas Middleton, of which this is a small part:

'James Leigh was born in 1854, at Walker Fold, Hyde, in an old picturesque homestead which his father had occupied as a farmer for over fifty years. He came of a family which farmed land on Werneth Low, and in Ewen Fields, Hyde, for upwards of two centuries. At the early age of eight years he went to work half-time as a piecer at "Randal Hibbert's Factory," Godley, and when he had attained the age of ten years he left school entirely. With the exception of an interval of six years, during which he worked as a mason, he continued to act as a cotton operative working at Slack Mills, Hyde, until the year 1896, when he finally left the mill and commenced a grocery business in Ridling Lane, Hyde.

From the above brief sketch it will be seen that James Leigh's life has been of the practical rather than the romantic order ; it has been spent in a district that is more famous for the number of its mill chimneys than for the possession of those attributes that are supposed to give poetical inspiration. Environment was certainly against him, and considering the early age at which he was compelled to leave school, and the necessarily small amount of education he received, it cannot be said that the task of writing verse was rendered easy in his case. It is indeed surprising to find him figuring in the role of a Lancashire rhymster as far back as the year 1868. He was still a piecer in the mill, and only fourteen years of age when his first poem appeared in the columns of the "Ashton Reporter." Since that time, however, he has continued to publish verse, and is well-known as a contributor to the local press, and to other largely read Lancashire journals. His pieces form a lengthy list, and a selection of a few titles may suitably be given. It should be added that Leigh has frequently devoted his powers to the production of election verse, which although exhibiting rare veins of humour is the wrong sort of matter to enhance his poetic fame. Politics are best avoided by bards of all ranks and classes, and Leigh's electoral effusions are left out of the collected edition of his works. Of his more serious writings a few titles are appended ; it will be noticed that some of them make reference to well- known events of local importance, "Hyde Town Hall Clock and Bells," "Kingston For Ever," "On the death of the Rev. R. K. Bateson," "New Year's Eve," "Spring/' "Jamie o' Dicks," "Christmas Time," "Cowd Winter," " The Village Parson," "Werneth Low," "The Seasons," "Pleasant Walks with Old Companions," "Rambles Round Mottram," etc.

A link to the whole book is here.