A Seilie Wicht's Yarn

A Seilie Wicht's yarn is a poem I wrote a little while back for a contest (I didn't win) - the subject of the contest was "Scotland" and had a word limit of 600 words. I did a little reading/research and (as I do) wrote a metered rhyming poem of almost 600 words that features some of the mythical creatures of Scotland, and, its first attempt at independence (which it gained then lost back in the 1300s).

This poem has thirty stanzas of three lines. The first two lines within each stanza (each having seven syllables) end with a rhyme and goes da DUM da da da DUM da. The third line (having ten syllables) contains the same ending rhyme between all thirty stanzas while the 'rhyming words used' never repeat goes da DUM da da da DUM da da da DUM. The poem has the stressed syllables presented in bold - when reading make sure to say the bold word (or part of a word) strongly, with emphasis, and you'll pick up the rhythm quickly.

The structure of this poem provides for 1 chapter.

Notes for Scottish lore mentioned: The national animal of Scotland is the unicorn, the thistle is the nation's floral emblem, Scottish ‘muirs’ are generally heather moors, the textile pattern tartan often signifies a particular Scottish clan, the Declaration (of Arbroath) "incorporating a statement of political independence made on 6 April 1320", "there are 39 names (eight earls and thirty one barons) at the start of the document, all of whom may have had their seals appended" (to the document), "it is in the form of a letter submitted to Pope John XXII", the nuckalavee "the most horrible of all scottish elf" , long loch is of course loch Ness and the serpent is the loch Ness monster, Bodach Glases are boogey-men, Glaistig are female vampires, Wirry-cows are basically scarecrows, Bean Nighe is a washerwoman portending death (don't they all) but if you can suck from their teat you're lucky, Robert the Bruce is a Scotish freedom fighter from the 1300s, he hid in caves while being hunted and because of the tenacity of spiders struggling to build their webs in those caves he knew his struggle (for independence) he must keep trying, the three men are the ones who delivered the declaration of independence to the pope, a cairn is a funerary mound of rocks, a Lorreag is a (translated - "fairy of folklore Scottish, famous in the world of elves by the incomparable talent showed in the art of spinning and weaving, for which they ensure strict adherence to traditions and rituals" which I changed to be similar to the weaver of fate, and finally the title "Many ballads and tales tell of "Seilie wichts" a Lowland Scots term for fairies", who for this poem I made the weaver of this 'tale/yarn' (get it, tale/yarn, weaver, hahahah!!) I also like the idea that someone can, upon death, be 'made' a fairy because of good deeds, but, I needed something to make that happen so invented the black swam magician.