O, young Lochinvar is come out of the west,

For over 30 years, the words “For a laggard in love, and a dastard in war…” have been stuck in my head and each time I recall them, they transport me back in time to our 10th class English lesson taught by our much loved and equally feared, Manager sir (Sri Alladi Surya Narayana Garu) on the open terrace at the end of the first floor of their house in Nellore.

I vividly remember him, wearing his trademark short sleeved vest, holding the textbook in his left hand at a distance and reciting this poem in a flow while waving his right hand emphasising the pronunciation of each word.

Despite having never seen Scotland at the time and long before the Brave Heart movie, his narration would let me visualise the young and daring warrior charging on his horse crossing the large green pastures over undulating hills to claim the hand of the love of his life.

“O young Lochinvar is come out of the west,

Through all the wide Border his steed was the best;

And save his good broadsword he weapons had none,

He rode all unarm’d, and he rode all alone.

So faithful in love, and so dauntless in war,

There never was knight like the young Lochinvar.

He staid not for brake, and he stopp’d not for stone,

He swam the Eske river where ford there was none;

But ere he alighted at Netherby gate,

The bride had consented, the gallant came late:

For a laggard in love, and a dastard in war,

Was to wed the fair Ellen of brave Lochinvar…..”

So the poem would flow but suddenly, I would be brought back to the real world with a classmate elbowing me as Manager Sir was asking me to read it aloud.

Seeing pictures of him teaching a class on the school Facebook group brought back a flood of such memories and prompted me to look up this poem ‘Lochinvar’ written by the 18^th Century Scottish poet, Sir Walter Scott.

Sadly, I never became a linguist or master of English. But thanks to his encouragement, I participated in several elocution and essay writing competitions. That experience is now handy at work in the lands of English language.

A humble tribute to my much beloved high school teacher Sri Alladi Suryanarayana garu.