Jack-In-The-Green

Have you seen Jack-In-The-Green?
With his long tail hanging down.
He sits quietly under every tree 

in the folds of his velvet gown.
He drinks from the empty acorn cup
the dew that dawn sweetly bestows.
And taps his cane upon the ground
signals the snowdrops it's time to grow.

It's no fun being Jack-In-The-Green 

no place to dance, no time for song.
He wears the colours of the summer soldier 

carries the green flag all the winter long.

Jack, do you never sleep 

does the green still run deep in your heart?
Or will these changing times,
motorways, powerlines,
keep us apart?
Well, I don't think so 

I saw some grass growing through the pavements today.

The rowan, the oak and the holly tree
are the charges left for you to groom.
Each blade of grass whispers Jack-In-The-Green.
Oh Jack, please help me through my winter's night.
And we are the berries on the holly tree.
Oh, the mistlethrush is coming.
Jack, put out the light.

Lyrics by Jethro Tull 1977

Photos from Mugdock Country Park near Glasgow

past and present

A short distance from the busy, bustling city of Glasgow are 260 hectares of ancient woodlands, moorlands, wetlands, river and loch at Mugdock Country Park.

Away from scurrying shoppers, concrete towers and cars is a place where faces in trunks peer at our ant-sized bodies. Let’s follow a tree-lined path through 5,000 years of Scottish history: from  a stone age site, a bronze age farm and an iron age fortified site, to ghostly memories of boats on the lake, animals in an ark and a zoo in the 1940s. The last picture shows Charlie the elephant with his beloved keeper Singh Ibrahim. They were inseparable and when Ibrahim decided to go for a drink in a local pub Charlie followed quietly behind. He was only discovered when he got stuck in the doorway and had to be removed by firemen. How many regulars swore never to touch another drop that night?

Best wishes all for 2012 from the Green Lady X