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  • Clan Donald’s Call to Battle At Harlaw
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Clan Donald’s Call to Battle At Harlaw

Robert Crawford

after the Gaelic of Lachlann Mor MacMhuirich (fl. 1411)

You Clann of Conn, remember this:
Strength from the eye of the storm.
Be at them, be animals,
Be alphas, be Argus-eyed,
Be belters, be brandishers
Be bonny, be batterers,
Be cool heads, be caterans,
Be clashers, be conquerors,
Be doers, be dangerous,
Be dashing, be diligent,
Be eager, be excellent,
Be eagles, be elegant,
Be foxy, be ferrety,
Be fervid, be furious,
Be grimmer, be gralloching,
Be grinders, be gallopers,
Be hardmen, be hurriers,
Be hell-bent, be harriers,
Be itching, be irritants,
Be impish, be infinite,
Be lucky, be limitless
Be lashers, be loftiest,
Be manly, be murderous,
Be martial, be militant,
Be noxious, be noisiest,
Be knightly, be niftiest,
Be on guard, be orderly,
Be off now, be obdurate,
Be prancing, be panic-free,
Be princely, be passionate,
Be rampant, be renderers,
Be regal, be roaring boys,
Be surefire, be Somerleds,
Be surgers, be sunderers,
Be towering, be tactical,
Be tip-top, be targetters,
Be urgent, be up for it,
In vying be vigorous
In ending all enemies.
Today is for triumphing,
You hardy great hunting-dogs,
You big-boned braw battle boys,
You lightfoot spry lionhearts,
You wall of wild warriors,
You veterans of victories,
You heroes in your hundreds here,
You Clan of Conn, remember this:
Strength from the eye of the storm.


Robert Crawford

from Full Volume (Jonathan Cape, 2008)
Reproduced by permission of the publisher

Tags:

alphabet battles Gaelic graces & toasts list poems masculinity National Poetry Day 2014 tradition & heritage translation vocabulary
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Robert Crawfordb.1959

Robert Crawford is Professor emeritus of the School of English at the University of St Andrews, and one of Scotland's most distinguished poet-critics.
More about Robert Crawford

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