Samuel B. Herredsford the 3rd

Is not Samuel’s current name

But nonetheless important

In a very auspicious game

Samuel and his men went marching

O’re the heather of Brittle-Brack

As Samuel carried the ashes of

His brother upon his back

They trekked beneath a sky of gray
At dawn, high up on the moors
Their long-guns loaded with bullets

Their sacs with gauze and cures

They solemnly sang a mournful song

Whilst climbing the wintery peak
Which overlooked the county

With it’s borders tense and bleak

When Samuel stopped to take a rest

And the mist from the mountain cleared

He trembled at a startling sight

As his brother’s killer neared

Both troops of men climbed up the trail
One just behind the other
One who carried the ashes, and

One who killed his own brother

When Samuel the 3rd reached the top

He spun round with feet set apart

Raising his gun, cocked by his ear

To block the rising rampart

He bellowed forth, “You shall stand down!”

Eying a bead on his brother’s head

“No I shall not!” replied his brother

“I’ve a right to respect the dead!”

Samuel the 3rd focused his aim
And steadied his shoulder to shoot
When a flock of pheasants flew to the air

Striking chaos amongst the group

Rocks and gravel swirled in the wind
As soldiers dropped to the ground
Mayhem, havoc and bedlam ensued

In the din of the turbulent sound

Barrels of rifles swung in the air
As none could see the other
None could tell the difference between

An enemy ... or a brother

“Stand down I say!” yelled Samuel

“Turn around and don’t look back!”
As he tried to gain his footing

And spurn a sudden attack

But Samuel the 2nd lay lifeless

Cold and mute upon the ground

For he had suffered a heart attack

In the "maylay" of the round

Samuel the 3rd cried out in angst

With tears in both his eyes

“One's reduced to ashes

And one gives up and dies!”

He turned his face to Heaven

And wept in a beam of light

“Take me! Not him!” was Samuel’s cry

“I’ll bear the horrid plight!”

The brother’s men took action

And pounded the lifeless heart
But t’was Samuel's chest
That pummelled in pain

O’re the war that tore them apart

The rescuers finally found a pulse

Wrapped him shivering in a blanket

They propped him up to see the view

Gave him brandy … and he drank it

Samuel the 2nd then tried to speak

As he gasped for a wisp of air

Whilst he and his brother locked their eyes

In a searingly painful stare

Samuel the 3rd burned with rage

As he heaved the urn to the sky

“T’was never more a gentle man

Than the one I lift on high!”

“Hate has destroyed the innocent
Their lives a sorrowful song
Leaving us the rough and ragged

To render right from wrong.”

As Samuel the 3rd waved the dust
Lightening struck the ashes
Whirls of which encircled the men

And landed on their lashes

“Oy!” cried Samuel, wiping his eyes
With scarred and swollen wrists
“The ashes have turned to embers!

On fire within our midst!”

Swirling cinders fanned to flames

As thunder roared up the vale
And seasoned soldiers held their breath

At sights beyond the pale

The broiling blaze then split apart

Revealing one of their kin

As Samuel B. Herredsford the 1st

Emerged from world’s within

There on top of the mountain
Amidst the struggle and the strife
Their most beloved brother

Had stepped back into life

He blinked and winked and spun around
Wth his finger upon his chin
And tilted his head so slightly

With a mischievously roguish grin

He opened his mouth
And from it flowed
Words that poured into a bowl
“With this I dane to save you from

Destroying what’s left of your soul.”

“Thank you for the send off” he mused
“But it is I who’ll be sending you
For God above has granted me

One final fateful coup.”

“I’ve watched you from the heavens
As the light dimmed from your stars
And lest I make this wish for you

You cannot heal the mars

So here it is my brothers

To save you from the battle

From this day forth you shall be known

As roaming highland cattle

You shall keep your memories
Of family and of home
But you shall forage fodder

That springs from earthen loam

You shall have a coat of hair
To keep you warm in winter
But you will hide behind the trees

To shield you in the hinter

You shall have a set of horns
To scare the wits of foes
But you will play with children

Who will kiss you on the nose

And when your days are over

And you lay amongst the stones
The hatred will have melted

From the marrow of your bones.”

Then a gentle zephyr wind

Cloaked the soldiers in a mist

Up and up their spirits went

Their bodies guised in grist

And when they returned

To mortal ground

Their hooves formed prints on the earth

Such a peace they had not known

Since the days before their birth

Then down the mountain

Together they strolled

A path nought from which they climbed

For they were ignorant of the borders

That divided most mankind

Late that night, in damp and cold

Their families formed a quest

Some had warned "Stay out of it"

But some had hoped the best

And even though the stories told

Were troubling and absurd

To their shock, they found aloft

An inexplicably mysterious new herd

And after years of waiting

For Samuel the 2nd and 3rd

There was still only speculation

O're memories bleak and blurred

The elders kept on fighting

Refusing to breach the tether

But the youth would not be shackled

By the schisms of the nether

So the offspring met in meadows

In bleak and beautiful weather

Where they danced around their fathers

Who grazed side-by-side together

And alas! The youngest's epiphany

Was to give both of the bulls new names
And so they became Hamish & Shamish
In a raft of New Highland Games.

Sheila Willar - 20221217

Merry Christmas and Peace on Earth!

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And said [Jesus], Verily I say unto you,

Except ye be converted,

and become as little children,

ye shall not enter into the kingdom of Heaven.

If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?

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Luke 2:7-14   KJV