Bardic Arts

"Garryl Harper"
by
Karina of the Far West

Garryl the Harper has standit forth
        And his music laid aside,
He's set on his head a pig-faced helm
        His bonny brow to hide.
He's come to the field with his ain bright sword
        That's shining as the flame,
He's ta'en upon his arm the shield
        That knows no stain of shame.
The boldest men o' the West hae come
        And he's met them ane by ane,
The knights o' the West fight on today
        But Garryl Harper is slain.

From a collection of fighter poems titled Valhalla. This is from the section titled: "Death and Glory".

"Long ago, the West Kingdom bards decided to produce poems for every fighter in each crown lists. We carried this on for several years before finally faltering. A large number of bards were required, since the lists kept getting larger and eventually the effort involved wore us out. Even so, we published two volumes of the best of the fighter poems. I was president of the college of bards of the West Kingdom at that time and I regard that effort as perhaps the most satisfying thing I ever achieved in the SCA." -- Steven MacEanruig

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