Ancient Rivals

Lyrics:

Er-up-Atop & ‘er-down-below never exchanged a word
Old Grannie Trill & Grannie Wallen they lived on each other’s nerves
Ancient rivals, their survival like two lives intertwined
Lived out of sight of one another but never out of mind

Time stands still for old Grannie Trill sat in her window chair
To the tick and the tock of her grandfather clock whose hands are no longer there
From her window she sees the old beech tree sown by her father’s hand
Now it stands so high that it fills all the sky, and shadows upon the land

Er-up-atop would rap on the floor in her black-pale hight laced boots
Er-down-below would answer the call knocking right back with a broom
All engagements were arranged so their paths never crossed
Both lived for years in cordial distain and in mutual distrust

Time stands forgotten for old grannie Wallen, her history unknown
She lives all alone in her rooms down below
Some say she was noble born
She would gather each day in the valley come what may elder blossom and dandelion
Daisy and dogrose, crab apple and quince for her world-famous hedgerow wine

The children would visit old Grannie Trill in her birds nest up the top
A trove full of treasures, trinkets and books, cotton reels and old tea pots
From her pages she’s read tales of murder, war and doom
But they felt as safe as peas in a pod in her tiny up-top room

When Grannie Trill was five her dear mother died, her father’s love endured
A woodsman by trade so their forest home was made in the heart of the Elcombe woods
Then one day tragically he was crushed by a tree, she held him as he died
She was only 15 when the Squire took her in, by 16 she was a bride

Er-down-below would build up her fires and sort her hedgerow spoils
Gleanings of days, a dozen pastures, taste of summer bought to boil
All the seasons they fermented, and the valley flavours flowed
A labour of love, sugar and yeast in her kitchen down below

Time came a-calling early one morning and took them by surprise
Grannie Trill broke her hip in the woods when she slipped and there up-a-top she died
Time withdraws without blame or cause as their rivalry concedes
To the caw of the crow two weeks later down below Grannie Wallen died in her sleep

Er-up-atop and Er-down-below now buried side-by-side
Old Grannie Trill and Grannie Wallen lay forever stratified
Ancient rivals, both still vital to the other now diseased
Down in the Valley forever more, dear old Grannie’s rest in peace

copyright Lisa Fitzgibbon & Jon Fletcher 2021