Poetry U.E. – part of the Millennium Project
Heritage Branch
Patriotism and Loyalty Leads Me From Sea To Sea is the name for the UELAC millennium poetry, essay, and play collection project. This project was endorsed in May, 2000, by the Dominion Council as a way of celebrating and promoting Loyalist heritage and history in the new millennium. UELAC members were asked to submit original poems, essays and plays on the subject of the United Empire Loyalists; this collection is to be published and made available for sale in a series of volumes. The first, entitled Poetry U.E., is a collection of poems. The second and third volumes, both entitled The Millennium Loyalist Essays, contain the essays submitted for the project. The fourth and final volume, The Millennium Loyalist Dramatists is the collection of plays. This millennium project is a proudly Canadian one, with contributors spanning the country, and celebrates the history of the United Empire Loyalists. Scroll down or click here for ordering information.
Sample Poems from Poetry U.E.
“Loyalists of Ancaster” by Barbara Hunt
Settlers in America, remaining loyal to Britain
Were Loyalists.
American rebels seize their lands,
Burn their homes and all possessions.
Twenty-two refugees and their families
travel the Mohawk Trail to Ancaster.
Here is home. Here is freedom.
They clear the lands, build
peace
and order.
Loyal she began,
loyal she remains
in Canada.
“The Loyalist Hymn” by Reverend Peter D. Hannen, UE
O God our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home!
Today our thankful praise we bring
For all our forebears true,
Who kept their word to God and King
And fled to frontiers new.
Their shelter, hope and help you were;
Be ours, in years to come,
Till kingdoms rise and wane no more
And all in you are one.
Till then bless this, the land they found
And bless its crown’d head.
Unite us all; let love abound
In years that lie ahead.
O God our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home!
Sample “Potpourri” Pages from Poetry U.E.
The Union Flag
This flag was adopted as the flag of the United Empire Loyalists’ Association of Canada at its annual meeting in 1974. It was proclaimed as the flag of the Kingdom of Great Britain by Queen Anne in 1707. This “Union Jack,” as it was referred to, was in use from its Royal Proclamation in 1707 until 1801 when Ireland joined the Kingdom of Great Britain. Then, in 1801, the flag of St. Patrick (a red saltire on a white field) was added, thus creating the contemporary Union Jack, which is flown today by the United Kingdom. The union flag was the flag that the United Empire Loyalists fought under during the American Revolution.
Sir John Johnson and Family
Sir John Johnson, second baronet of New York, was born on November 5, 1742, in the valley of the Mohawk River in the British colony of New York. His father was Sir William Johnson, first baronet of New York (born in Ireland c. 1715; died in New York, 1774). His mother was Catherine Weisenberg (born c. 1722 in Germany; died 1745 or 1749, depending on reference cited, in New York).
Sir John had two older sisters. The eldest was Ann Johnson, usually called Nancy (born c. 1739 in New York; died 1798 or 1801); she married Daniel Claus in 1762. They had three children: Little Nancy, who died at age five; Catherine, who died at age nine; and William. Sir John’s second sister was Mary Johnson (born c. 1740 in New York; died 1775). She was usually called Polly, and married her cousin Guy Johnson in 1763. They had two children: Julia and Little Mary. The paternal parents of Ann, Mary, and Sir John were Christopher Johnson and Ann Johnson, née Warren.
On June 29, 1773, Sir John married Mary Watts (also called Polly) of New York. Her father was the Honourable John Watts, and her mother was from the well-known De Lancey family. She had a brother named Stephen. Mary and Stephen were second cousins to Philip Schuyler, who became a general in the rebel army during the American Revolution. In May, 1776, he was ordered to march upon Johnson Hall (Sir John Johnson’s home in the Mohawk Valley), to take Sir John and his principal adherents dead or alive, because they remained loyal to the crown. Sir John and company managed to escape through the woods to Canada. His wife Mary and their two small children remained at Johnson Hall where they were taken prisoner by their rebel cousin and sent to Albany, New York.
During their 42-year marriage, Sir John and Lady Mary had 14 children. She predeceased him by 15 years, passing away in 1815. Upon the death of Sir John on January 4, 1830, Sir Adam Gordon, his fourth son (the eldest surviving), became the third baronet of New York. The baronetcy of New York still exists today in England.
Many of the essays in Millennium Loyalist Essayists, volumes two and three of this project, have information on Sir John Johnson and his family. The fourth volume, Millennium Loyalist Dramatists, contains a monologue by the late Phoebe Hyde, UE, entitled “Lady Polly Watts Johnson,” which is entirely devoted to the Johnson family.
Ordering Information
Poetry UE is 76 pages in length, with nine coloured pictures and six black and white ones. It is spiral bound and three-hole punched.
Each copy of Poetry UE costs $16.00 (CAN), and ships for free within Canada. To order a copy, send your payment (by money order) to:
Adrian Willison
Kensington Gardens,
41 Devon Road, Beaurepaire, QB (Canada)
H9W 4K7