St. Catherine's hill
Walking the Miz-maze
on St. Catherine’s hill
counting orchids while the setting sun,
with practised skill,
is setting the sky all on fire.
Going down steppes
a stride and a half each one
to where plague pits give context.
The woodman’s fire among the trees
in the gathering dusk
a bowl of incense,
lacking only musk.
Blue Iris stands alone
among reeds taller than she
looking over the river,
a princess among her courtiers I see
waiting for her prince.
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by The Totton linnet
I tried unsuccessfully to put links to information and beautiful pics of St Catherine’s alas but if you browse St. Catherine’s hill you will find it rewarding.
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Very nice, with the Blue Iris standing alone – waiting for her prince — lovely image
barbara
Good morning Barbara, yes and so she seemed, a princess to me, something in her relative shortness to the reeds among which she stood in her native beauty made her seem regal to my eye.
I searched the net for St. Catherine’s hill and had a look at a few pictures of the place, it is as beautiful as your words.
Yes and I was sorry not to be able to upload-and then there is copyrights and such, but I have spent many, many hours on St. Catherine’s just soaking up the lovliness, but your comment made me to think, could words or thoughts be lovely, were not creation lovely? I wonder
hi gentledove,
A link to the site of a blogspot ambler that you might enjoy. Recent post showing pictures taken along her route to St. Catherine’s Hill. -james
But there’s no link? thanks for visiting my little bloggy blog
Sorry gentledove,
I must have been very tired and forgot to leave the link. Here it is. I hadn’t heard of St. Catherine’s Hill and did a brief search after reading your piece. This was one of the first that had a personal tone which makes it more inviting I think. Rather than an official sort of document. http://travellingspouse.blogspot.com/2008/02/walk-to-st-catherines-hill.html –Sorry to keep you waiting, James
Yes indeed [and howdy hi to you] this was one of the links I tried to bring up but it kept returning an error page, I will try again, St. Cath’s is not only beautiful it is also ancient and full of history and was almost certainly an early settlement-oh the mind catapults into wonderland.
oh for the chance to be the springboard of that mind
for that mind
She spends much time alone and has developed her own thought process thereby-to the consternation of some
I knew St. Catherine’s Hill was an old fort as soon as I laid eyes on it, but then being an old soldier, I am always on the lookout for those kind of things. As I observed the land around your Winchester, I can see how my Winchester may have got it’s name. The land here in this part of Kentucky looks very much the same. We even have a fort.
http://www.winchesterky.com/ http://www.winchesterwalks.co.uk/html/st_catherines.html
Are you the Blue Iris ?
Heyy I did a bit of digging about Ky Winch, ours is much more ancient. You seem to all be scrummaged together in the centre, probably our city is smaller, they don’t like to build or modernise it at all but the outlying districts sprawl. Now there’s a little mystery about St. Caths because it was a definate settlement before Winch was built, the question is why was the fort area deserted in favour of the much more vulnerable city especially as Winchester was built during the time of endless sack and pillage. Maybe the plague pits are a clue, [this is only me mind] was that place at the foot of St. Cath’s chosen to bury the plague victims in the 14th cent because the whole area had already been abandoned because of plague and bad sewerage [keep it all in one place kind of thing] Also there is another pre-Norman church somewhere over opposite on Twyford down but it has been lost. Maybe there is buried treasure?? who knows it’s wrapped in mystery going back 3.000 years.
take care. Suz
No I’m not blue, and neither was that Iris-shhh she was yellow, but it doesn’t sound nearly so good or princessy for the poem, Miladdo is no prince either but he’s the best I’ve managed to get, he utterly distains my writing and all poetry, he must have northern blood in him, they are like that up there.
Perhaps he is a Rudyard Kipling kind of guy
Sir.Miladdo sounds like a traditional English gentleman.
“There’s peace in a Larranaga, there’s calm in a Henry Clay,
And a woman is only a woman, but a good cigar is a smoke.”
A womans place is to serve her man and bear his children.
An educated woman is the most dangerous kind, and should never be tolerated.
It is hard to get American girls to do anything. Do English girls make good slaves? I’m tired of doing all the cooking and cleaning!.
Keep writing for you are a free spirit, let no one hinder you. Walt.
ooh yes there is someone I like ol’ Ruddy he has a bit of cheer about him. Henry Clay was a rascal [or is this a reference to a type of tobacco pipe?
he is your childhood hero and still is, like all american heroes there is truth and folklore mixed up together.
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Most english girls look for someone to look after, but there is a tendency to become scolds as they get older and embittered- all women are fickle creatures, but do men deserve a faithful love? poor human nature.
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You is Daniel Boone