The Pickering Sole (1895)

This fabulous little ditty was written whilst Sir Stanley Coulton was on one of his many visits to the North York Moors. He often stayed there for weeks and would complain, on his return to his gentleman's club in London, about the damage he had done to his feet. This particular poem refers to a pair of shoes that he bought from a cobbler in Pickering. They lasted him a good five years of wandering but eventually gave up the ghost.

Oh, the Pickering sole is worn and thin

And all the buckles bent

The once fine leather is now tattered skin,

This peasant was a gent.

He walked too far, he trod too long

He promised to come home.

But the Pickering sole has sung its song

No longer can he roam.

The Pickering stocking smiles through the hole

That once had been the Pickering sole.

The Pickering foot rests on the stool

And waits for Pickering toes to cool.