14th May - Day 54 - Little Trotty Wagtail

The Pied Wagtail seemed a good picture to mark the Friday of Mental Health Awareness Week 2021. Not only is it often a bird seen in cities and car parks, so can be enjoyed by many as it wags its tail or chirps its song, but the poem ‘Little Trotty Wagtail’ is by John Clare and accounts of the poet’s life help us to see the changes over time in our approach to mental health.

Clare was born into a peasant family in 1793. His poems show his admiration for the natural world and provide clear images of rural life.

For many years though Clare struggled with physical and mental illness and in 1836 was admitted to High Beech asylum. In 1841 he walked out and spent four days walking to his home. Only five months later, he was admitted to Northampton Lunatic Asylum where he remained for over twenty years before he died in 1864. The report of the Northampton General Lunatic Asylum, 1860, can be found on the Wellcome Collection website and is a fascinating read with the medical superintendent explaining that he had directed his attention to ‘cleanliness, order, regularity and discipline’. https://wellcomecollection.org/works/j3yr6gwg/items?canvas=18.

Yesterday felt a real effort on the bike, for no particular reason, and I was exhausted when I got home. This morning, I certainly wasn’t filled with get up and go and could happily have stayed under the duvet for a lot longer. As I began the long climb to Owlerbar, the sun came out and it made me think that for people who are struggling with their mental health, getting out from under that duvet, if they are lucky enough to have a warm bed, can be a struggle every day. The cycling gives me the opportunity to appreciate so many things.

So - as it’s Friday and Mental Health Awareness Week draws to an end, even though the need for increased awareness, understanding and support probably never will, I thought it would be good to share the whole of the Clare poem. This gives us the opportunity to appreciate the natural world he describes and the images provoked of ‘tottering sideways’ and ‘waddled in the mud’ can at least make us all smile. If you can spot a pied wagtail this weekend, I can guarantee that you will think Clare’s description is very accurate.

Little Trotty Wagtail

Little trotty wagtail, he went in the rain,
And tittering, tottering sideways he near got straight again.
He stooped to get a worm, and look’d up to catch a fly,
And then he flew away ere his feathers they were dry.

Little trotty wagtail, he waddled in the mud,
And left his little footmarks, trample where he would.
He waddled in the water-pudge, and waggle went his tail,
And chirrupt up his wings to dry upon the garden rail.

Little trotty wagtail, you nimble all about,
And in the dimpling water-pudge you waddle in and out;
Your home is nigh at hand, and in the warm pigsty,
So little Master Wagtail, I’ll bid you a goodbye.

by John Clare