You have no enemies, you say ? - Charles Mackay - Poem - animation

Here,s a virtual movie of the Scottish poet Charles Mackay reciting possibly his best known poem “You have no enemies, you say“ Havent we all met smug people who claim they are so perfect that they have no enemies,alas that by expressing the very statement itself they immediately gain enemies ha ha. Charles Mackay (27 March 1814 -- 24 December 1889) was a Scottish poet, journalist, author, anthologist, novelist, and songwriter, remembered mainly for his book Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds. Charles Mackay was born in Perth, Scotland. His father was by turns a naval officer and a foot soldier; his mother died shortly after his birth. Charles was educated at the Caledonian Asylum, London, and at Brussels, but spent much of his early life in France. Coming to London in 1834, he engaged in journalism, working for the Morning Chronicle from 1835--1844 and then became editor of the Glasgow Argus. He moved to the Illustrated London News in 1848, becoming editor in 1852. He published Songs and Poems (1834), a History of London, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds (1841), and a romance entitled, Longbeard. He is also remembered for his Gaelic Etymology Of The Languages Of Western Europe[1] and the later Dictionary of Lowland Scotch[2] in which he presented his “fanciful conjectures“ that “thousands of English words go back to Scottish Gaelic“. The linguist Anatoly Liberman[3] has described MacKay as an “etymological monomaniac“ commenting that “He was hauled over the coals by his contemporaries and never taken seriously during his lifetime“.[4] His fame chiefly rested upon his songs, some of which, including “Cheer, Boys, Cheer“, were set to music by Henry Russell in 1846, and had an astonishing popularity. Kind Regards Jim Clark All rights are reserved on this video recording copyright Jim Clark 2012 You have no enemies, you say? Alas, my friend, the boast is poor, He who has mingled in the fray Of duty, that the brave endure, Must have made foes. If you have none, Small is the work that you have done. You’ve hit no traitor on the hip, You’ve dashed no cup from perjured lip, You’ve never set the wrong to right. You’ve been a coward in the fight.