Wiltshire Memories

This County of Wiltshire
holds many memories,
Of old standing stones, and
avenues of trees,
Rolling green hills that are
topped with old sites,
Where battles were fought,
or Druids practised their
rites.

White horses carved in
chalk, gaze down
Onto valleys beneath, or over
an old town,
Keeping silent guard over the
White Horse Vale,
And ever-watchful, over a
long lost trail.

On the plains, old barrows
stand in silent array.
Clasping their secrets of
long-ago day,
Chiefs buried here, or even
an old King,
Celtic, Roman, or could even
be an Old Viking.

Many old roads criss-cross
over the downs,
That led from old villages,
and on to the towns,
Where chariots used to
race, and Legions did
march,
Through avenues of Elm,
Yew, Beech and Larch.

Villages scattered, each
side of the Avon,
Set in wooded valleys, the
home of the raven,
These homesteads have not
changed much in all of their
years,
Since village life began, with
landlords and overseers.

And so it is, in this County
of ours,
You can wander at ease,
and while away the hours,
Dreaming of days long ago,
of what it used to be
To be living in a paradise
such as our own County.

Dennis Cannings