Sir James the Good
Black to the English, Good to the Scots
Childhood spent with little French tots
James loved Bruce, loyal to his king
The heathen moor; his sword to swing
Childhood spent with little French tots
Loved the French yet loyal to the Scots
Working hard he learned his studies well
He joined the Scot army lest it fell
James loved Bruce, loyal to his king
Became best friends, a brotherly thing
Bruce was killed but before James depart
Within a silver casket he put his heart
The heathen moor; his sword to swing
Leading the battle for the Scot king
He through the heart ahead of him
Now he’s martyred, we sing this hymn
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Author notes
Educated in France, I thought it fitting to use a French style to honor Sir James the Good.
Like so many other French forms, the retourne is all about repetition. It contains four quatrains (four-line stanzas), and each line has eight syllables. The trick is that the first stanza's second line must also be the second stanza's first line, the first stanza's third line is the third stanza's first, and the first stanza's fourth line is the fourth stanza's first. Retournes do not have to rhyme yet I felt it fitting to make it rhyme.
SIR JAMES "the Black" Douglas to the English and "Sir James the Good" to the Scots, James Douglas was born into a family loyal to the Scottish crown. He spent his childhood in safety in Paris before returning to Scotland when he was age 18.
Douglas fought with Bruce for the rest of his life, where his ability to appear out of nowhere and trounce a larger army gained him a demonic reputation with the English troops.
On Bruce’s death Douglas cut out his King’s heart and placed it round his neck in a silver casket.
He travelled to Grenada in southern Spain to help Alfonso XI's crusade against the "heathen" moor. Douglas pulled his horse round, and throwing Bruce’s heart into battle charged with a shout of "A Bruce, a Bruce". He was quickly overwhelmed, and realising he was soon to die threw the casket into battle again, crying out: "Now, go in front of us, as you had desired, and I'll follow you or I'll die". The Scots won the battle, and in the aftermath Douglas's body was found beside Bruce's heart.
The Picture is a The Scottish Claymore which is a double handed sword used by the Scots to chop down their enemies in battle.
Tartan weave background; I made it.
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