Fenland

Fenland

The Fens are mysterious, dark and bright
Hear the Black Shuck bark
Listen to the rising lark
Ghostly sounds without a mark

By night the devil dog roams, red eyes glow
Fenmen stay safe in their homes
While the whispering reed moans
And the stormy shoreline foams

By day the wide marshes ring with birdsong
Bitterns boom, buntings sing
Marsh harriers on the wing
But waterfowl are the king

Once the Holy Land of England, hidden
In the meres, ruins stand
Monasteries, Abbeys, so grand
Brought to nought by the King's hand

Black soil, marshland born, fields wide and rich
Straight drain, nature defied
Ancient lodes, the landscape's guide
Hard, high droves for horsemen's ride

The past intertwines the now, ghost and life
Flat lands to sandy coast
Legend, myth, truth, story or boast
Land of my heart, you I toast.

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A few words of explanation:
Fenland is in the South East of England
Black Shuck is a mythical devil dog.
Bitterns are members of the heron family
King Henry VIII broke with the Pope and closed all the monasteries
A lode is an ancient canal
A drain is a more recent artificial river
A drove is an old road

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