Up the Gatineau! Article
This article was first published in Up the Gatineau! Volume 9.
Footnote to History
These Gatineau Hills - Poem by David Westwood
In 1941 the 'Poet Laureate' of the Larrimac Golf Club, and en enthusiastic member thereof, the late David Westwood of Ottawa wrote the following:
These Gatineau Hills
Some sing their praise of Winter's snow,
Of joys, which skiers only know,
When cold and ice hold firm domain,
O'er vale and stream, o'er field and plain.
Or Springtime, with its flush of green
With promise of a fairer scene,
When Nature with rare skill reveals
How she can paint hillsides and fields.
I know a spot, when Summer's heat
Drives me to seek a cool retreat
Beside a garden, ringed with pine,
I revel — in the summertime.
But better far, give me the links
That nestle by the river's brink,
The rolling slopes of Larrimac
Which test the knowing golfer's knack.
When Autumn decks the hills around,
A grander sight can scarce be found,
If you should travel far and wide
And take the whole world in your stride.
And if perchance I take a notion
To cross a continent or ocean,
I'll sometimes turn the pages back
And view the hills of Larrimac.