In Old Caherbarnagh A Long Time Ago Poem by Francis Duggan

In Caherbarnagh bog from here far away
I shlauned the damp peat in a long bygone day
When i was a younger man and in my life's prime
And this is going back near four decades in time
The peat was spread by men with pikes on the bracken to dry
If weather remained fine it would be dried out in late July
For the long cold Winter as good fuel for the fire
The shlaunman was one who worked hard for his hire
When the bog cotton in flower looked a fluffy gray
And the hawthorns were in their white blooms of the May
Above the brown bog a musical speck in the sky
The skylark did sing as upwards he did fly
In old Caherbarnagh a long time ago
Many Seasons before time did become my foe.