to the tune of “Away in a Manger”

Away in prehistory,
A long time ago,
The druids ruled Britain,
As any fule kno.

They came from Atlantis.
They knew healing and song.
They told futures from gizzards,
And weren’t always wrong.

They built great stone circles;
They arranged rocks in lines.
They built big and small cairns
To various designs.

We know they were druids
(Though they left us no note),
But that’s how the Celts were –
They learned knowledge by rote.

The funny thing is, though:
When the Romans were here
The druids they conquered
Never moved a menhir.

They worshipped in groves, then;
There’s no mention of rites
At midsummer or Yuletide
Taking place at stone sites.

And after the Romans
The Christians moved in.
So what happened to druids?
Did they all renounce sin?

Some say that they lived on;
In secret they kept
Alive all the old ways
And practise them yet.

So the druids now tell me
They’ve an ancient right
To tell archeol’gists
What to do with old sites.

Well, I’m buggered if I see
An historical thread,
From now back to Bronze Age.
But I’m just a bonehead.

Alexa Duir
© 2003