Just a book in a charity shop it was

"The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations"

(Third impression, revised, 1943),

Except for a dedication:

"Presented to Miss H C Barr as a mark

Of esteem from her Falkirk colleagues

On the occasion of her transfer to Glasgow 13"

There was a formal stamp in purple:

"H M Inspector of Taxes, 4th December 1943,

Mission Lane, Falkirk, Scotland"

Endorsed with thirty signatures, but just two men,

Ian and Graeme (it was after all, war-time)

Two Isobels and a Peggy

(There were funnily enough, four Joans)

 

Who were you H C Barr (was it Helen or HIlda?)?

And was leaving for Glasgow your idea?

Was it you that later underlined in red Burns'

"And my faise lover stole my rose

But ah, he left the thorn in me"?

And with Christmas three weeks off

Was an office tree up and

Did rationing bite amid the snow?

Were farewell toddies drunk when

Talk turned to the bombing?

Above all, did your men survive?

I still have the book but

What became of you H C Barr?