The Bonny Barques

View over to Arran….

I had come to realise that the membership of the Probus Club in Irvine (Scotland) and also its invited speakers could describe a rich vein of life experience and knowledge. And all was undertaken in a manner of jovial banter and a certain forthright honesty.  When one of the members described a ‘folk memory’ of the landing of ships linked with the Knights Templar on the Ayrshire coast, this was, as is known, a creative trigger. There was the implication something of great value was taken ashore. There was a link, it was explained, that the Freemason’s Lodge in nearby Kilwinning, claims to be the oldest established Lodge of its kind anywhere. On visiting the Lodge in Kilwinning some weeks later as a club outing, this narrative did not appear to part of the Lodge’s history.  Perhaps it was someone else’s secret.

Details of the legend, however, led me to write ‘The Bonny Barques’ which is included in this post.  I’m mindful that this might be better as a song. Robert Burns no doubt could have found a deserving tune, well acquainted as he was with the melodic treasury of his native land.

The Bonny Barques

And in the dawn there did appear

A fleet o’ ships that did draw near

To close by the Arran facing shore

That cam frae far wi’ rigging weary.

***

From what countrie far I dinnae ken

Or what the purpose held the throng o’ men

But such a sight I’ll ever cherish

Bonny barques whose emblems  flourish.

***

And on the shore the horses gather

Wi muckle carts an’ piles o’ fodder

That bide there idle a’ the time

While daylight  rules the rhyme.

***

Then cam the night so cloaked and dark

When grounded was every slender barque

Upon the far reaching of the tide.

In silence they caress the shore.

***

And through the gloom the carts clatter

Though never a word o’ man I heard in banter.

Then cam the glimmer o’ the dawn –

The boats had emptied, fled and gone.

***

And what was carried to safely store

In the short hours on that sandy shore?

I for one hae wit to fathom

Is a secret to share  with no one.

***

Douglas Clarkson  ©    12_02_24

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By northernlight1

I have interests is a wide range of topics and have written on these and more formal subjects for quite some time. The written word still retains the power to inform and motivate - hopefully constructively and certainly has to be used responsibly in an age of false information trails.