It was a clear mornin' down near Bann
Where it meets and runs with the River Clyde,
And they tell the tale of the holy one
Who was fishing down by the riverside.
A holy man from Fife he came,
His name, they say, was Kentigern,
And by the spot where the fish was caught
The Dear Green Place was born.
Though the salmon run through the river stream,
And they salted them by the Banks of Clyde,
And the faces glow'd as the silver flow'd,
And the place arose by the riverside.
There was cloth to dye and horse to buy,
The traders came from all around
And they raised a glass to the Dear Green Place,
The place that was a town.
Chorus: There is a town that once was green,
And the river flowed to the sea.
The river flows forever on,
But the Dear Green Place is gone.
When the furnaces came to fire the iron,
And the folk were thrown from far off land,
Then the Irish man, and the Highland man,
And the hungry man came with willin' hands.
They wanted work, a place to live,
Their empty bellies wanted filled,
And the farmyard was another world
From the dirty, overcrowded mill.
Now, you may have heard of the foreign trade,
And fortunes made by tobacco lords,
But the working man slaved his life away
And a narrie grave was his sole reward.
A dreary room, a corwded slum,
Disease and hunger everywhere,
And the price to pay was another day
And fight the anger and despair.
Chorus
A thousand years have been here and gone
Since Kentigern saw the Banks of Clyde.
And how many dreams? and how many tears?
In a thousand years of a city's life.
A city hard, a city proud,
And no mean city it has been.
Perhaps tomorrow it yet may be
The Dear Green Place again.
Feeling: A little overwhelmed, just holding my head above the water
Things to do this week:
- Library teleconference from MLA: "Partnering for Public Health: Information, Librarians, and the Public Health Workforce"
- Pay off a cheque that didn't go through
- Go to court over said cheque
- Make an appointment with my doctor, since I missed my last one
- Have her call in refills on my meds and get them
- Get an extension on my electric bill
- Apply for a part-time library job in Jessamine County
- Go house shopping with a member of my family
- Finish up the ancient/tribal section of a unified humanities timeline
- Take some books back to the library...I'm at the max allowed
- Pick up some music CDs I have on hold at the library once they become available
- Knit a little
- Continue to be careful with my brakes, which are working on the front but leaking on the back, so I'm limiting my rush hour driving when possible. I hope I can get them fixed soon!
Listening to: "I am the Common Man" by Battlefield Band
(Words Joe Corrie; music Alan Reid)
I am the Common Man
I am the brute and the slave
I am the fool, the despised
From the cradle to the grave
I am the hewer of coal
I am the tiller of soil
I am serf of the seas
Born to bear and to toil
I am the builder of halls
I am the dweller of slums
I am the filfth and the scourge
When winter's depression comes
I am the fighter of wars
I am the killer of men
Not for a day or an age
But again and again and again
I am the Common Man
But Masters of mine take heed
For you have put into my head
Oh! many a wicked deed
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