Image from the St. Catharines Standard,
Oct. 10, 2012
The Yankees stood on Queenston Heights
in coats of modest grey
and Brock has brought his fencibles
to make them go away
Who is that sweating officer
waving a useless sword?
That’s General Sir Isaac Brock
who wants to be a Lord
God bless the British soldier
who wears a coat of red
it makes a splendid target
and so they shot him dead
They laughed to see the fencibles
run down the hill in fear
but Roger Sheaffe has scaled the Heights
and caught them in the rear
Who is this cool young officer
who shoots us through the heart?
That’s Major General Roger Sheaffe
who wants to be a Bart
Now all you bold Canadian girls
remember Queenston Heights
it’s thanks to such as Brock and Sheaffe
that you sleep safe at nights
Cool Sheaffe was made a Baronet
and back to England sent
but Brock still stands on Queenston Heights
upon his monument
Source: Francis Sparshott. The Naming of the Beasts. Windsor, Ont.: Black Moss Press, 1979.
Originally published in Descant
Read the article The Hero of Queenston about the treatment of Sheaffe
Read about Isaac Brock
Read about Roger Sheaffe
D.M.R. Bentley briefly discusses this poem by Sparshott in his essay (now archived on the WayBack Machine) Monumental Tensions: the Commemoration of British Political and Military Heroes in Canada from his Mnemographia Canadensis, volume 1: Muse and Recall