In the days before TikTok, Facebook, movie streaming and The Grapevine, Daylesford citizens had little opportunity to enjoy cultural or social interaction. The newspaper was one of the few sources of entertainment, cultural items and even, in some cases, moral guidance.
The following poem was published in The Daylesford Advocate on Thursday 16 February 1882. Besides its literary merits, its message may be just as relevant today.
MIND YOUR OWN CONCERNS
Mind your own concerns, my friend,
For they are yours alone;
Don’t talk about your neighbour’s faults,
But strive to mend your own;
Suppose he doesn’t always lead
A truly happy life,
What matters if he sometimes frets
Or quarrels with his wife?
Don’t meddle – let him know, my friend,
Your better nature spurns
To act the spy on him or her –
Just mind your own concerns.
Just mind your own concerns, my friend,
And presently you’ll find
That all your time is occupied,
And you’ve quite enough to mind;
Why need you care if Snooks or Spooks
Should wed with Sally Jones?
What matter if your neighbour C,
A half a million owns?
The money is not yours, my friend,
Those golden stores he earns;
So do not envy him his wealth,
But mind your own concerns.
Yes, mind your own concerns, my friend,
It is a better plan
Than always to be spying out
The deeds of brother man;
Remember that all persons have
Though hidden from your view,
Thoughts that to them of right belong
And not at all to you;
And also bear in mind, my friend,
A generous nature worms
No secret from a neighbour’s breast –
So mind your own concerns.
Sixty seven years later, Hank Williams had a similar message.
From the Daylesford and District Historical Society. https://daylesfordmuseum.net/
