11/11/2023
THE STONEMEN OF MOURNE by S.T. Porter
From the homestead on the hillside,
From the cottage by the sea;
From Annalong and Dinnywater,
From the Race and Derryhea;
From the Quarter and Glasdrumman,
From the mountain and the shore
Came the men who took the granite
From the hills above Dunmore
Hardy men, tan faced and sturdy,
True of eye and strong of bone,
Wielding chisel, plug and hammer -
Skilled in all the work on stone.
Aiken, Annett, Marks, McCartan,
Gibson, Gordon, Pue, Maginn,
Rooney, Campbell, Carr and Burden -
Bound by ties of kith and kin.
They took speckled Mourne granite
Bleached by sun and frost and wind,
From the quarries high on Donard,
From the Ballagh and Seefin.
From the upper slopes of Bingian,
From the Forks and Crockanroe,
Chimney Rocks and Clanawhillan
Where the whin and heather grow.
Setts to pave the streets of cities
Far from Carrick's heathered face;
Cribben from the Rocky Mountain,
Slabs to mark man's resting place.
Block for cenotaph and castle,
Stone for statue, wall and mill,
Taken from a lonely quarry
On a windswept Mourne hill.
The quarry men have passed away,
In churchyard now they lie;
Their monument - the granite wall
Upon the mountain high;
Their epitaph - the song of larks
O'er lovely Slievenamore,
Above the silent smiddy
Where the sparks will fly no more.
