Toasting Two Kings

Looking down on Aughrim Village from the Jacobite positions which was a carpark during the Aughrim Horse Fair

I was at the Aughrim Horse Fair last Sunday, and while viewing all of the horses �" and the women! �" there, I took a walk around the village to see the site of the Battle of Aughrim, the decisive battle in the Williamite wars, which are commemorated each year in the North.

I thought to myself had James won that war, what sort of Theocracy would we have had in these islands? Bad and all as the abuse scandals cover up was since 1922, imagine trying to uncover that with the entire Royal machine behind the church to stop you?

Maybe God had a reason for James losing the war… so while saying a silent prayer for the dead Jacobites and a silent toast to the King O’er the Water, I gave a silent nod to William too…

Neath Aughrim hill, at the Fair I stood
On a lane once washed with human blood
Where horses wild ran in for their lives in vein
Died beside man in a fight for which neither gain.

We lost that battle, as we did the Boyne before
We were to lose the war too, and rebellions, many more
We rebel and rise up as we think that we are right
As fools do who never learn, you lose when you fight.

I said on that roadway, a silent prayer
For the tortured spirits who tied tragic on these fields there
I gave a silent toast to the King O’er the Water
And a grave nod to the man who married the kings daughter.

Why to your victor do you give nod, I hear you say?
I think back to where our little island is here today
If James had won, we would have had in these islands a Catholic state
Like we had since 1922 which was not so great…

The freedom we take for granted the church to criticize
We would not have had we not lost, we must realise
To free the Protestants he fought, he solemnly did state
Not to persecute the Catholics, unlike those who call him great.

The abuse scandals, hushed and all, at last exposed
Never would have been had James not been deposed
In all things God has a plan that us men cannot see
Sometimes we must endure bondage in order to be free.

The Pope of the day was Williams ally
A tactical one say those who the Popes words deny
When he crossed over to the Stewards, his war with France now won
The bigots got power in London, and the Penal times begun.

Give to Cesear whats his, the words Jesus said:
If only were practiced, how many would not be dead?
There would be no parades, there would be little hate
This island of ours would be united and great…

The church in politics, it has no place
The devil is in power, and shows up his face
As dogma clouds Jesus words, we condemn fornication
Yet we murder another for being from the wrong nation.

Politics in the church has no place too
Everyman is a sinner equal in his pew
If too late we so late this lesson we learn
It might be worth all the pain it took to earn.

So I toasted two kings as I walked roads where fools died for these kings
I walked back to horse traders and more modern times and things
As I left behind me the fields of slaughter there
I hoped for a time when Aughrim is known way more for its Fair.

John Mulvany �" The Battle of Aughrim

More poems:

• We Are Spectators on Another Greek Tragedy
• Scene of the Rhyme Preserved after Tullamore Rhymers Bandits Hijack the Eco Bus Cafe at Valentia Island Festival
• Looking Out at the Skelligs
• Kenavo

Reviews

[Sheila Kline]

Bravo! A spectacular message of how that which seems so evil, and so useless brings good to a people. Your rhyme is excellent, your ability to use it to deliver such a profound message of history and how it changed the future of a nation, a people. My ancestors were Jacobites (Radclyffe, Radcliffe -Charles & James Radclyffe de Derwentwater), so I am aware of their attempts to seat Bonnie Prince Charles on the throne and to hold fast to the Catholic religion. Oh, if only we could be a people united, nations united, but I fear that is not to be.
The Battle of Aughrim was indeed a bloody, but decisive battle!

[Tomás Ó Cárthaigh]

Mine were Drakes!!! Lost everything after the Boyne!

[TL Boehm]

a stellar poetic history lesson from you - those of us in the US - unless we have indigenous blood or perhaps those from small pockets of landed immigrants - we don't have the rich past this poem displays. And that is to our detriment, I believe.

[Rick Puetter]

Dear Tomás,

This is a wonderful, thoughtful, and wise poem. I was spellbound in the reading of it. I enjoyed it immensely, and I am greatly impressed.

A rare 98% rating from me, the highest I've ever given, and I only have given out about a dozen of those since 2008, when I joined WC.

Congratulations and kudos!

Very best regards,

Rick

[Tomás Ó Cárthaigh]

Thanks a million for that Rick!!!

[Rick Puetter]

It was my honor to read such a fine piece.

[Marie]

Oh I like this so much. I love to learn about other cultures and history. THere's such a richness in Ireland.


That picture is great.

[zephyr]

Nice to come across a bit of history in poetry that of the British Isles has always fascinated me. Some thing to do with my heritage, I suppose … a little of the Scottish and the English in me.

[Einstein Noodle]

one of my delights in being here on WC is that there is so much to learn from others .. so the history in your poem excites me ..plus!! my heritage is from the North ..County Donegal to be precise ..so i am doubly enamored ...
sorry .. i know i am being small:} but in the third line i believe that vein should be vain ... in the tenth line i think you mean died ...
how times change the landscape .. the conflicts of religious wars are a blaring horn in histories told over and over ... we are corrupt .. no denying it .. when we really take Jesus and His words to heart we learn that we fail all His commandments in trying .. but if we would only embrace love selflessly we would automatically begin to fulfill the two great commandments of Christ ... Love God above all things with the totality of our beings and then love our neighbors as we love a care for ourselves .. if we only would even just a little .. the world would transform ... wonderful historical poem ... written from a very personal vantage point .. great advice for all ..
E.

[Tomás Ó Cárthaigh]

Thanks Enstein. In Ireland we have something that baffles the Americans: we lost the battles but own the battle sites! Causes many headaches during tours to explain!

[Einstein Noodle]

:) ......... we won the war here in America ... and have lost the history ... if you ever watch "Water's World" you would hear shinning examples of our college students ...many of whom when asked have no idea who wrote and/or signed our Constitution ... can not list any of our "Bill of Rights" ... past presidents, the first president, the sitting Judges on the Supreme Court, any of our leaders in Congress ... aiyiyiyiyi! It is made to be a bit of a comedic show; but is so very sad!

[jacob erin-cilberto]

incredible write...and the insights are so clear and profound, even if most don't see it...government and church don't mix...in war no one ever really wins...

and persecuting others for having different beliefs is so wrong...variety is the spice of life and makes the world go around...

we all need to be much more tolerant.

j.