The Fight At Keeper's Pond

One.

The miners streamed out of the pits at the tail end of that day

And clambered up the hillside to where the ring of stones did lay

Faces turned away from village, bath and meal by candlelight

Black hands counting out the copper to wager on the fight

The suns last rays glanced upon the dark face of Keeper's Pond

As they gathered on the banks of the hollow just beyond

A natural amphitheatre where so many battles fought;

A place of pain; hard lessons learned, even harder lessons taught.

A hush descended on the crowd, an extra tension filled the air

For this was not the usual bout a twixt evenly matched pair,

With a miner from one pit matched up against another

But in the Miners Union still called each other brother

For in that ring paced Gypsy Jack, a mighty man was he,

Full eighteen stone in weight and a height of six foot three,

With heavily muscled arms, broad back and barrel chest,

He cast off outer garments to stand in pants and vest.

Just six weeks ago he'd led his tribe onto the farmer's field

In lieu of rent they pledged to pick all crops the ground did yield,

His daughter Tamsin toiled there too though she was just fifteen,

A creature of more beauty than these parts had ever seen.

Rumour said that she was promised to wed his cousin's son,

In reparation for the harm that Gypsy Jack had done

In fighting for the right to be the leader of the clan

He'd struck his cousin down so hard he'd left a crippled man.