Mary was born on 25th September 1863 in Dufftown, Moray in Banffshire, Scotland. Dufftown is in the ancient parish of Mortlach. Her parents were John Symon, a Saddler and Merchant who was a Provost of Dufftown, and his wife, Isabella Symon, nee Duncan. Mary had a younger sister, Elizabeth, who was born in 1866.
Mary began
writing poetry at an early age. She was educated locally at Mortlach Public
School, then attended the Edinburgh Institute for Young Ladies. She attended
classes at Edinburgh University and graduated from St. Andrew’s University .
Mary died in
Dufftown on 27 May 1938
Mary’s WW1
collection "Deveron Days, poems" was published by Wyllie, Aberdeen in
1933. Mary's poem was also published in
"A Book of Twentieth-Century Scots verse" (Gowan & Gray, Glasgow,
1925).
For an
article by Leanne Welsh about Mary’s poem "The Soldiers' Cairn", please see:
http://www.westscotlandrce.co.uk/the-soldiers-cairn.html
“The Soldiers'
Cairn” by Mary Symon 
Gie me a
hill wi' the heather on't,
An' a reid
sun drappin' doon,
Or the mists
o' the mornin' risin' saft
Wi' the reek
owre a wee grey toon.
Gie me a
howe by the lang Glen road,
For it's
there 'mang the whin and fern
(D'ye mind
on't, Will? Are ye hearin', Dod
That we're
biggin' the Soldiers' Cairn.
Far awa’ is
the Flanders land
Wi' fremmit
France atween,
But mony a
howe o' them baith the day
Has a hap o'
the Gordon green.
It's them we
kent that's lyin' there,
An' it's nae
wi' stane or airn
But wi'
brakin' herts, an' mem'ries sair,
That we're
biggin' the Soldiers' Cairn.
Doon, laich
doon the Dullan sings—
An' I ken o'
an aul' sauch tree,
Where a wee
loon's wahnie's hingin' yet
That's dead
in Picardy;
An' ilka
win' fae the Conval's broo
Bends aye
the buss o' ern,
Where aince
he futtled a name that noo
I'll read on
the Soldiers' Cairn.
Oh! build it
fine and build it fair,
Till it
leaps to the moorland sky —
More, more
than death is symbolled there,
Than tears
or triumphs by.
There's the
Dream Divine of a starward way
Our laggard
feet would learn—
It's a new
earth's corner-stone we'd lay
As we
fashion the Soldiers' Cairn.
……………………………
Lads in your
plaidies lyin' still
In lands
we'll never see,
This lanely
cairn on a hameland hill
Is a' that
oor love can dee;
An' fine an'
braw we'll mak' it a',
But oh, my
Bairn, my Bairn,
It’s a
cradle’s croon that’II aye blaw doon
To me fae
the Soldiers' Cairn.
This war memorial cairn was constructed in 2015 to commemorate the Cabrach men who died in The First World War. Erected in 2015 by the Cabrach Community Association, the cairn is known as 'The Soldier's cairn' and remembers the seventeen men from the community who lost their lives in the conflict.
The cairn also remembers those who lost their lives in The Second World War and later conflicts. The inscription includes an extract from the poem by Mary Symon (1863-1938) 'The Soldier's Cairn'. It reads: In memory of those from the Cabrach lost in the great War 1914 - 18 and in all subsequent conflicts. Lads in your plaidies lyin’ still, In lands we’ll never see, This lanely cairn on a hameland hill, Is a’ that oor love can dee.
https://online.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/smrpub/master/detail.aspx?refno=NJ33SE0064
And Find my
Past
