East Highland Gothic Volume Two

By David Tallach

These poems build on the first volume of the same name in looking at local history over the centuries. This one evokes the Pictish (Iron Age and Early Medieval) culture, left behind in many richly carved stones up and down the east of Scotland. Some of these still stand in their original locations, some have been taken into the care of museums, such as Groam House in Rosemarkie in the Black Isle, where the author used to volunteer. The Rosemarkie Cross is the pride of their collection. The second part of this volume looks at Later Medieval history, up to the Battle of Flodden in 1513. Throughout the collection, the past comes to life in vivid detail as the seasons change, people live and die and nature is always beautiful.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: May 28, 2015
• ISBN: 9781326289539

Book preview

East Highland Gothic Volume Two

East Highland Gothic II

A Collection of Scottish Poetry

By David Tallach

Copyright                                                                  

Copyright © 2015 by David Tallach

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the

express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal.

First Printing: 2015

ISBN 978-1-326-28953-9

East Highland Gothic Press

87 Alltan Place

Inverness, IV2 7TA

For Donna

Part One: Pictish (Fall of the Day)

Mirror and Comb

Pride of fighting men

The Romans called ‘Picti’,

The blood-soaked and the blue

North of Hadrian’s Wall

The wood and the woad

Mix in battle

Clava Cairns

Tired old men with endless patience,

Awaiting the scythe of the circle

Passing smooth over their heads

Time after time

Burial passages in the mark of time,

Light poking a finger

Down their shadow-lands each solstice,

Time after time

Gnarled and fallen, ever rising,

Dancing in the long moonlight

Their little shadows cast no moss

Time after time

Death is full long in the tooth,

Slowly wearing down these guardians,

Still they dance like young men of the morning

Time after time

Z-rod

A broken spear

Lifts the black portal

The hands of war accomplished,

Peace with the stabbing-spear

One whose spear was broken

Marked in the text of stone

Or the one who broke it, left it

Headstone of his work

Or a thunderbolt

Fresh from the house of Taranis,

A long growl etched on the face

So often seen crossing the snake,

War and fertility dance together,

Their ties of blood now gone

Book of Broch

First steps, spiral-bound

Round, resilient, recumbent

Great stone molehills rising

Strong against the current, battle-safe

The spine inside, vellum, valour,

Steps mounting the pages

Chapter and verse, verso, conflict:

Squat thimble hovering over the tide