ALL IN A MARE’S NEST Gin they could flee They wad hae fled Or hovered Like a muirland gled Above the fields of smouldering straw Where truth lay chokit In the craw. Whae lured them doon The path that led Where helpless angels Feared to tread; Where law and logic lay abed With hatred fear and lies? A wudspur Lordie Pu’ed their strings Tae rankle hard The haveril king. As ever in dire times of sturt The saikless suffer – no’ the lord. The saikless won a scapegoat’s fate: “Floan wi’ the De’il” – for Heavens sake! A warlock’s tryst – a druids’ dance – In truth they never stood a chance! Owerwent the hapless coven then, Flung to the Divell’s midden den All in a mare’s nest – weel we ken... As deep as the Forth the lies o’ men. Prestoungrange Witches’ Remembrance 2009. John Lindsay.