Did Dobcross man write Scouthead pub’s lost anthem?

DID A Dobcross man write a Scouthead pub’s lost anthem?

That was the question posed by Austerlands resident David Needham at a ceremony to unveil The Three Crowns’ Anthem during the Scouthead and Austerlands Community Group’s monthly meeting.

David suggested that one of Saddleworth’s lesser-known poets, the late Harry Clegg from Dobcross, was a possible author.

Before the unveiling, pub regular Stuart Cook entertained the company with a well-received reading of the Lancashire Dialect written anthem; the author of which is only identified by the initials HC.

Mayor of Austerlands, Rob Knotts, performed the unveiling by removing the Union Jack drape, which symbolises the coming together of the three crowns of England, Ireland and Scotland by the 1801 Act of Union – and the likely source of the Three Crowns pub name.

David had found the lost anthem among old files of the villages’ Whit Friday brass band contest committee and after extensive research he concluded that Harry Clegg is the possible author.

This follows analysis and comparison of the poems Mr Clegg had published in the Oldham Chronicle’s weekend column entitled Lancashire Miscellany, printed between 1956 and 1959.

The unveiled framed anthem has been enlarged to poster size by CN Signs of Uppermill and is now on display at the pub and restaurant on Huddersfield Road.