Tuesday 17 August 2010

Corstorphine Sycamore

The Lord of Corstorphine, a drunken philanderer
neglected the family estates,
flew into a rage and attacked his love
with a sword that she wrested from him.
She killed him and fled
but was caught and hung
dressed in a hood of white.

White Lady wailing, haunted Corstorphine’s sycamore,
blood on the blade of the sword
with which she had slain her lord.
She wailed with the wind on Boxing Day Night,
the night of the terrible storm.
Four hundred years of tree and ghost
brought to a splintering end.

There was no treasure at the roots of the tree
but the wood was dried and preserved.
In the hands of a craftsman, the legend restored
took the shape of a violin.
On moonlit nights, when the fiddler plays
the white lady wails once more
and the sycamore lives again.

23 comments:

Jade L Blackwater said...

This is wonderful, and so unique! I'm glad that you shared it for the festival!

Crafty Green Poet said...

HI there jlb, thanks for visitng and leaving your comments on a few of my posts here! I was so happy to find the Festival and glad i had something to share!

LauraHinNJ said...

Lovely poem! Enjoyed my visit here.

Crafty Green Poet said...

HI Laura, thanks for visiting - I enjoyed visiting your blog too!

Crafty Green Poet said...

I'm reposting this poem from four years ago!

DazyDayWriter said...

Beautiful!

On moonlit nights, when the fiddler plays
the white lady wails once more
and the sycamore lives again.

Titus said...

Loved it!

Hannah Stephenson said...

Did you invent this myth?! I love the craziness (but logic!) of it...

HKatz said...

On moonlit nights, when the fiddler plays
the white lady wails once more
and the sycamore lives again.


I love those lines especially - how the music rouses the ghosts of the lady and the tree.

bunnits said...

Oh, I love this. It reminds me of one of my favorite poems, "The Highwayman," by Alfred Noyes, but much more concise.

RG said...

Spooky!

AscenderRisesAbove said...

wow - an amazing header. reminds me of the book i am reading: apples and oranges. have you read it?

Crafty Green Poet said...

Hannah - it's all true, well the ghost may not really be so ....

Gabrielle Bryden said...

Love it - great rhythmic poem and tale Crafty Green Poet - gave me a shiver up the spine.

Naquillity said...

what a wonderful tale. i was going to ask if there was some historical truth to this before I saw your comment that it was all true except the ghost, maybe. nicely done. hope all is well.

Mistlethrush said...

I think almost every county in GB must have a white lady. I wonder what the attraction is between myths and white ladies?

James said...

Oh, wow. I love this.

EG CameraGirl said...

Clever! That's quite the tale and I wonder if it's true or made up.

ThoseThr3Words-Claire said...

This is lovely, Juliet! What a great start to the day. Really like the new site design, too. Hope you are having a lovely late summer. thanks for your comments on our blog, as always.
Claire

Cathy said...

Beautiful poem Juliet. It is very emotive and I could just imagine everything that happened when reading your words.

Unknown said...

Hello Juliet! I am the Webmaster for the Clan Forrester Society Web site (http://clanforrester.org). I found this beautiful poem and would love to be able to share it on our Web site. The Forresters have significant history in and around Corstorphine. The Corstorphine Parish Church is ours. I think this poem would be a fantastic highlight on our Web site. Of course, I would add credits and thanks. Please let me know!

Ray Sharp said...

Lovely, atmospheric

Crafty Green Poet said...

Thanks Ray!