'Ancestors’ Song
tune – Ben Armine

Compelled to record words formed one day
Perhaps to be sung in poetical lay
When down at the peats thoughts to me came
The ‘mointeach’ around so peaceful and tame.

The turf we had cut had been cut twice before
Where ancestors stood they’ll stand there no more
You tread the same paths where their footsteps had been
How times have changed from the world they had seen.

Our well-being for granted we all now do take
But our ancestors strived for a living to make
Themselves and their households they had to sustain
A ‘people’ contented they did not complain.

No ‘flick’ of a switch to turn on the heat
They had to rely entirely on peat
Many days of endurance they did have to spend
To keep the fires burning the cold nights to fend.

O’ what were their thoughts and concerns of the day
The country at war we can’t really say
Perhaps a son lost on a far foreign shore
And wondering if ever they’d see him no more.

Perhaps dreading a letter with a government seal
What kind of news would the contents reveal
Of a family event like a marriage or birth
In times of deep gloom a ‘wee’ bit of mirth.

Perhaps a re-union with friends from afar
A national event not connected with war
Or a local occurrence mundane it could be
A solemn occasion or one calm and carefree.

The old days were good in some ways they were
But when one reflects can they really compare
The days that have gone we now leave behind
We never will know what they had on their mind.

It’s sixty plus years since first stood on that ground
And in that short time many changes are found
And in years to come when no more we will be
We think of our ‘offspring’ what world will they see.