This is a poem written about my mother, Edith Van Cott (Palmer) and her sister Lovina Van Cott (White). They lived in Ephraim, Utah. This was written about 1880 by Caroline Amelia Pratt Van Cott. She was the third wife of John Van Cott.
A Little White Cottage
A little white cottage all nestled in green,
Two fair little maidens as ever were seen
Sat perched, on the apple tree, south of the porch
Amidst cool branches, so couldn’t scorch.
They laughed and they sang, in their innocent glee,
As happy, as two little sisters could be.
The canaries and sparrows chirped over their heads,
And little wee robins were snug in their beds.
They certainly were a sweet little brood.
Waiting and watching ‘ntil their mother brought food.
Away she had flown to the fields of grain,
To fill her throat, then return again.
Each little bird so cute and sweet,
Would open its throat for the kernel of wheat,
They amused themselves in the twilight hour,
‘til the birds returned to their leafy bower.
But the sweetest and fairest I saw that day,
Were my two little daughters so happy at play.
–submitted by Mildred Palmer Larch
[courtesy of Carol J. Larson, transcribed and proofread by David Grow, Mar. 2007]