Bardic Arts

"William of Hoghton"
by
Johann Heinrich Michael Simon von Wernigerode

Count William sits in Richmond toune,
        Drinking the bluid-reid wine;
"O wha will take up arms this day
        And say the Crown's nae mine?"
Up and strode an outland knight
        Struck on Count William's shield;
And redwood Camp was reid with bluid
        Or ever foe would yield.
The first fight that Count William fought
        A loud laugh laughed he.
The last fight that Count William fought
        A tear blinded his ee.
"O wha is this has done this deid,
        This ill deid done to me?
That I should fight so fine a man,
        And ane of us sall die."
O lang, lang will the ladies stand
        Wi' their gold kems i' their hair,
Waiting for their ain dear lords;
        For they'll see them nae mair.
O lang, lang under airth they lie,
        And lang hath William stood
To see how deep his sword has stained
        The airth wi' wine-dark bluid.
O golden is the forest glen
        That holds the King's high seat;
And there Prince William triumphs
        Wi' the West lords at his feet.

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

"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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