England proud and ancient
\nMY country which still is
\nRiding high though rocky
\nIt\u2019s lost some of its fizz
\nThe EU unelected have
\nLessened it\u2019s fortunes
\nBut referenda taken
\nIt\u2019s all there in the runes
\nOur history is a long one
\nThese green and precious lands
\nHave withstood many invaders
\nSome with filthy hands
\nWho tried to break our spirit
\nWith their fascist darkly power
\nBut with statesmen of the old school
\nWe showed the bastards how<\/p>\n
Our history is a long one
\nFrom the Neolithic age
\nWe still have wonderful relics
\nBuilt by many a sage
\nFarmers rich with knowledge
\nHopeful their elite
\nCould be laid to rest in barrows
\nTo inspire and to complete
\nThe history and destiny
\nOf those who followed they
\nNeeded to remember
\nThe ancestors whose way
\nWas to protect and safeguard
\nThe green and precious land
\nAnd so they set to work to build
\nThese barrows all by hand<\/p>\n
No internet no motor cars
\nJust painstakingly, they
\nWould use their muscles and use their gristle
\nTheir hard graft day on day
\nNo special gloves or tools
\nBut with their will and their resolve
\nRespect was their great quality
\nFor with that thought we evolve
\nLife was hard made harder
\nBy the difficulties of being
\nNo electric light no gas
\nno energy but spirit
\nThe human mind on mass
\nIn Wellow still a hamlet
\nOf Somerset by name
\nStill beautiful as ever
\nWith its ancient claim to fame<\/p>\n
5 miles south of Bath
\nA Severn-Cotswold tomb
\nHand worked out of soil and stone
\nLarger slabs per room
\nCame from quite a while away
\nSo clearly quite a stint
\nBut hearts and minds were adamant
\nThey had their true blueprint
\nAnd so they built this monument
\nWith gristle and with brawn
\nFor them a work of majesty
\nWith muscles strained and torn
\nThey carried on in earnest
\n30 metres long 15 metres wide
\nAnd 10 feet high it did belong
\nIn the annals of those people
\nPrincipled and right
\nStoney Littleton long barrow
\nHand built in sunlight<\/p>\n
A shrine in fact to those
\nRespected ancients of the land
\nWho worked their guts out
\nAnd their minds were there
\nTo understand
\nThe ways of agriculture
\nThe means to feed and be
\nsuccessful as a people
\nIn England where good and free
\nJohn Skinner excavated
\nThe site and what he found
\n1816-17 protected by the ground
\nThis testament to the ancestors
\nTrue tribal respect
\nWhat is a lasting memorial
\nFor all to recollect
\nTheir thoughts
\nAnd be inspired to follow
\nOn where they were
\nA tumulus of ancientness
\nPerhaps to be a spur<\/p>\n
To anybody seeing it
\nThis monument of soul
\nBeautifully crafted
\nThe ancient farming role
\nTwinhoe, Oxmead Baggridge
\nAnd part of Midford too
\nStill included in the parish
\nAnd worthy of of a view
\nStill in the Cotswold Area
\nOf Natural Beauty they
\nWith their long long history
\nCan help to make your day
\nGo and see the packhorse bridge
\nOver the Wellow Brook
\nSit there think back of when
\nThe long barrow was built
\nJust try to look<\/p>\n
Around the site the woods
\nThe green
\nImagine for a while
\nIt\u2019s evocative reminding
\nWhat must have been the style
\nThen of all those builders
\nWho worked the earth and sod
\nWith every expectation
\nTo be closer to their god
\nFarmers yes maybe so
\nBut had the foresight to see
\nInto the future beyond the stars
\nWhere now yes we be
\nCloser to an apocalypse
\nHow we ourselves destroy
\nEverything that man had come to respect
\nAnd to enjoy<\/p>\n
The land the precious land
\nOn which our food was grown
\nAnd we
\nPoison and cover with concrete
\nDoing it Constantly
\nDestroying without thinking
\nAhead for those who might
\nThink of us as ancestors
\nWho guaranteed to blight
\nTheir future and it\u2019s happening
\nAnd perhaps what we can do
\nIs have the mindset of the ancients
\nAnd tread lightly
\nThat\u2019s my view<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
England proud and ancient MY country which still is Riding high though rocky It\u2019s lost some of its fizz The EU unelected have Lessened it\u2019s fortunes But referenda taken It\u2019s all there in the runes Our history is a long … Continue reading