John Alexander McCrae - Writer of "In Flanders Fields" - His connection to Balmaghie.
The old parish registers for Balmaghie parish have an entry regarding the marriage of Thomas McCrae to Jane Campbell on 15th March 1842. After the birth of several children the family emigrate to Canada and settled at Guelph, Ontario. One of their sons, Lieutenant-Colonel David McCrae had a family and one of his sons was Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae (November 30, 1872 – January 28, 1918) a Canadian poet, physician, author, artist and soldier during World War I and a surgeon during the Second Battle of Ypres. He was the author of the poem "In Flanders Fields."
In Flanders Fields
In Flanders fields, the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below...
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields...
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands, we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields...
There are a few good links for more information on the Internet. I have listed three below.
External Links