Long Skirl Poems

A special place in hell
The devil sits upon his throne
In the fiery pits of hell
He casts his eye over his special place
While he beats an ominous bell.

Surrounded by pure evil
In a wicked witches lair
Her head...

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(521 Australian servicemen were killed in
the Vietnam War.  Menzies = Australian
leader, septic tanks = "yanks", 
Queensberry = fair, as in the rules of
boxing, bonzer = good)

I'm Billy Bohane from Castlemaine - 
it's an Irish...

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THE EVER DWINDLING FEW - USA Version
			
				       Beach Omaha	

At Omaha an old man stands and limps down  to the shore,
Where on this sand he crawled and  ran...

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THE EVER DWINDLING FEW
				      At Juno Beach

At Juno Beach an old man stands and limps down  to the shore,
Where on this sand he crawled and  ran so many...

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GOING     BACK



It  was not an endearing place, a storybook place
With little cottages and
Loaded fruit trees from which apples could be casually filched, 
Nor were there  sparkling streams for pushing...

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she sat there with only one tear rolling alone to drip between her knees
Splattering on the tidal flow below.
Cross legged with ankles aching on wet jetty stone
Cold wet jetty stones gathered from God knows where
By...

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There was an awful caterwailing and clamour 
as the pipes filled up with air and swirled
today it was for an orange march
playing the protestain songs of inflamitary verse.

Many were the songs and events the piper...

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Nay greet for me, I yet live   
ne'er was I a bairn to ye
mind me ere  I once were    
when drouthy neibors met      ...

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As the sun downs through the trees
Greened leaves bow for the eve
This warrior sits and reflects
Alone he plays, it's his way to grieve

For this is no normal scene
What I view he has brought to our...

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On this cold winter night
A horror unfurls
As they leave their trenches
Under the Bagpipes skirl

It's Christmas Eve
In World War One
Over the top they leave
The killing has begun

Knee deep in mud
Barbed wire and bodies
The piper laments
Their bravery...

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As the sun downs through the trees
Greened leaves bow for the eve
This warrior sits and reflects
Alone he plays, it's his way to grieve

For this is no normal scene
What I view he has brought to our...

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The parade is marching to the beat of the drum
With the skirl of the pipes with their distinctive hum
Everywhere you look there's bright shades of green
It's the day of the year, that the Irish love...

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On the Isle of Skye, water runs down the Cuillin mountains into waterfall streams
It's a beautiful and tranquil place
Where the local fairies live, play and dream

A red-bearded Scotsman walks from his village
He carries his beloved...

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Seventeenth of March is St Patrick’s Day
Great day for the Irish I can honestly say
Paddies' the world over will want to be seen
Wearing Leprechaun hats and a sprig of green.


Loud colourful parades up and down...

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GATESHEAD    MUSIC



Not a storybook place of rhymes and chimes of bells 
My childhood England was dark  and dirty, 
And instead of the skirl of bagpipes or the weeping fiddle, 
There were...

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'The sounds of Earth is the music of my soul.’


I'm scrambling up the crumbling cliffs
the Pacific ocean is raging below
it's heaving about roaring and thumping
then sucking back with strong undertow

It crashes and spits onto the...

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Return of The Piper



The skirl of the pipes is carried on the wind
Purple heather moves in time with the sound
Dark clouds move in and cover the sky
His sanctuary the piper has found

Amid the deep lochs...

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I see my flag unfurl
In the cold North wind it curls
Against the evening backdrop of the Edinburgh sky

So with the skirl of pipes
And the rhythmic beat of drum
Down the Royal mile the loyal Scotsman come

So...

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