Hi Allen,
This to me is better than anything in the famous "Sir Patrick Spens," except maybe the new moon/old moon image, which has had legs:
O, lang may his lady
Look frae the castle Doune,
Ere she see the Earl of Moray
Come soundin' through the toun.
It gets me every time and is why I posted it. OTOH, "The Stoutest Man in the Forty-Twa" is just a wonderfully told tale of a simple man's youthful faith in what God gave him, i.e, size. There is in consequence a certain fragility to the boasting which I find touching:
Behold I am a soldier bold
And only twenty-five years old
A finer warrior never was seen
From Inverness tae Gretna Green.
Cheers,
John
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