An Ode To A Thistle

by Frank Maguire
(England)

On every hill, on every glen
There stands a flower fair
She’s regal and majestical
With a beauty that is rare
Admired much by one and all
Come skies of blue or grey
This lady is a Scottish queen
In each and everyway

Such honour is bestowed on her
As she wears her crown so well
So proud she sways among the breeze
On every hill and dell
The emblem of our country
There for all the world to see
She is the bonnie thistle
Growing wild and growing free

The red deer come to visit her
And spend time by her side
Rabbits, osprey’s, geese as well
All come from far and wide
Come sunny days or thunderstorms
Come breeze or howling gale
Her bonnie crown forever worn
In the glen, or in the dale

As evening calls she lays her head
On the heather at her feet
The nightingale he sings to her
With his voice so soft and sweet
This bonnie flower dreams so well
Of her land so wild and green
A feeling of such total warmth
Engulfs this Scottish queen

Each morning she will spread herself
With a prowess to admire
Surveying all her land of green
With such passion and desire
A patriot, in everyway
She inspires one and all
So every Scot within this world
Will beckon to her call