The Old Kirkyard at Kinneff

Forever laid tae rest in the kirkyard at Kinneff,
Lie a’ the parish forebears, lang departed from this earth,
The stillness and the peace, this old kirkyard instils,
Broken only by the craws, as they wheel and as they whirl.

Buried ‘aneath the Kirk lay Scotia’s proudest heritage,
Smuggled frae Dunnottar Castle, bold, defying Cromwell’s siege,
The crown, the sword, the sceptre, hid in Christine Fletcher’s creel,
The Grainger’s deed lang past, they lie in peace as weel.

Wha lies here we can tell, frae the words upon the stone,
But cauld wind, and age, and weather, means for some the words are gone,
But united here they lie ‘aneath this hallowed ground,
Their pain and toils long past, afore peace at last was found.

Generations are laid here ‘aneath the kirkyard’s ancient lairs,
Some graves they lie neglected, others lavish’d wi’ great care,
But on some special day, on some event within some year,
Some come here tae remember, and tae shed a wee bit tear.

The words tug at your heart wi’ each message that’s inscribed,
For the dead so close tae hame, and those scattered world wide,
For loved ones since departed, sorely missed by those they left,
This tranquil safe last haven in the kirkyard at Kinneff.

There’s farmers and there’s fishers and titled folks as well,
There’s sojers and there’s sailors, who in the wars they fell,
There’s homecoming visitors who’ll reverendly search,
For their own ancestral kin, amongst the auld graves at Kinneff.

Aye you’ll stand there and you’ll listen, tae the roar of the North sea,
Wi’ the wind among the barley, as it soughs amongst the trees,
And ye’ll feel a wee bit humble and quiet like inside,
For those laid here beneath you, who’ve loved and lost and died.

But I’ll tell you this my friend, and I will tell you true,
When the time it comes for me, I’d like fine tae lie there too,
In the Mearns there’s just one place that’s joined ‘tween Heaven and Earth,
That’s the kirkyard on the brow, o’ the braes ‘aneath Kinneff.

Written for the “The Honours Three” event on 31st July at the Old Kirk Kinneff, in the Year of Homecoming 2009