Lines to a transplanted fellow countryman

Lines to a Transplanted Fellow Countryman

              Before returning to your roots,

              Sir Henry, buy yourself new boots.

              Surely a baronet who roams

              [And had the help of Sherlock Holmes

              To find the man who swore he'd kill

              To gain the wealth of Baskerville]

              Would not here and now forswear

              To purchase yet another pair.

              No, you'd not hesitate to go

              Direct to "Meyer's, Toronto."

              But where, Sir Henry, is that store?

              I know you've been there once before.

              In vain, I've read directories through

              Eighteen-Eighty to Nineteen-Ninety Two,

              Trying to find that hallowed location

              Revered by fans of every nation.

              I've tramped from Bloor to the foot of Bay

              The city limits in your day.

              I've even searched that place between

              The streets of Dundas and of Queen.

              Yonge Street I've covered inch by inch

              Until I walked as far as Finch.

              [But for my bunions and my weals

              I would've made it up to Steeles.]

              I was determined to be thorough.

              I scoured all of East York Borough.

              I've searched from the west of Etobicoke

              To the eastern edge of Scarborough;

              But not one soul who I did meet

              Knew of that paradise for feet.

              So please, Sir Henry. You would know.

              Where did Mr. Meyers go?

              Direct me to the shop I missed,

              And then to a podiatrist.


I wrote this verse in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Bootmakers of Toronto in 1996.  Since this year marks the centenary of the publication of The Hound of the Baskervilles, I thought I'd submit it to 'the world'. Hope you enjoy it.

 [I did a rough check on the map. Toronto [formerly Metropolitan Toronto] is approx. 20 miles from Steeles Avenue to Toronto Harbour, at the foot of Bay Street [19 miles from Finch Avenue] and 34 miles from Etobicoke Creek to the Rouge River in Scarborough [as the crow flies, I would've had to walk further]. The place between the streets of Dundas and of Queen is the Toronto Eaton Centre - the landmark downtown shopping mall. The T. Eaton Company's main store, warehouse and distribution centre of the goods from their catalogue, were on that site in Sir Henry's day. If Sir Henry lived here, or at               least picked up his boots here as he passed through to take ship for dear old England, he would've seen the store. If he lived out west, he would've bought from their catalogue. Mr. Eaton was our Sears-Roebuck back then. A few streets west, along Spadina Ave. and Bathurst Street, was a thriving Jewish community then, so Mr. Meyer or Meyers may have been located nearby.]

             Marilyn P.