Haddington

by Stewart Carruthers 1996

Spread along the valley
Amid the rolling hills
Lies a town that's stood for eons
Through its good times and its ills

With its stately parish kirk
Its mill, its bridges, and its walk
The ancient streets of Haddington
Breathe and sigh and talk

Through stormy times, through burnings
Through armies on the hoof
This citadel has suffered, plunged
And rose again, aloof

She's seen the glory of the moment
Disease and pain and death
Walls surround, closed in, forsaken
Yet still she's left with breath

She's seen the glory of the moment
Disease and pain and death
Walls surround, closed in, forsaken
Yet still she's left with breath

Carlyle, and Knox and Wishart
John Brown and more to boot
All famous men, who, through the past,
Have given a common root

Now astride the highway
She still is full of verve
A town amidst the nation
She wants so much to serve