Selections from Sunday Creek
Seamus McCleod
1811-1862
I fell upon the shortgrass plain,
George Ides's ax blade through my brain,
and with my death I set in train
a quaint transubstantiation.
Whose bright wings fanned the body cold?
Whose black eye glittered, wise and old,
and saw my obsequies unfold?
The magpie. Oh, the magpie.
Who from on high did notice take
and linger for my humble sake?
Who kept my lonely prairie Wake?
The buzzard. And the magpie.
Whose ululating voice extolled
my virtues great and manifold?
Whose Mass consumed and yet consoled?
The gray wolf. And the magpie.
Who spread the pall for the deceased?
Who, black and white, pleated and creased,
held the service, played the priest?
The blowfly. And the magpie.
Who sang my mournful passing song?
Who chastized and urged along
laggards in my funeral throng?
The coyote. And the magpie.
Who sat at my funeral feast
to eat the most and mourn the least?
What grave and solemn bird and beast?
The maggot. And the magpie.
Whose ebon beak, whose ebon claw
arranged my cerements? Who saw
me to and passed me through Death's maw?
The magpie. Oh, the magpie.
And when the rites were all complete,
when there was nothing left of meat,
who sat upon my judgment seat?
The magpie. Oh, the magpie.
Who is executor and heir?
Who keeps my legacy and where?
In bone and blood, feather and hair.
The carrion congregation.
Seamus McCleod (1811-1864)
This character is based on the story of the murder of Lloyd Magruder, prominent Elk City, Idaho, merchant to the gold fields of Bannack and Virginia City, Montana. See also “George Ides.” For a full account of the murder and robbery of Magruder, see Chapter XXXII of Nathaniel Langford’s book Vigilante Days and Ways. www.montanavigilantes.org
Illustration: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
TITLE: Petersburg, Virginia. Dead Confederate soldier
CALL NUMBER: LC-B811- 3186[P&P]
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-DIG-cwpb-02558 (digital file from original neg. of left half)
No knownrestrictionsonpublication.
1811-1862
I fell upon the shortgrass plain,
George Ides's ax blade through my brain,
and with my death I set in train
a quaint transubstantiation.
Whose bright wings fanned the body cold?
Whose black eye glittered, wise and old,
and saw my obsequies unfold?
The magpie. Oh, the magpie.
Who from on high did notice take
and linger for my humble sake?
Who kept my lonely prairie Wake?
The buzzard. And the magpie.
Whose ululating voice extolled
my virtues great and manifold?
Whose Mass consumed and yet consoled?
The gray wolf. And the magpie.
Who spread the pall for the deceased?
Who, black and white, pleated and creased,
held the service, played the priest?
The blowfly. And the magpie.
Who sang my mournful passing song?
Who chastized and urged along
laggards in my funeral throng?
The coyote. And the magpie.
Who sat at my funeral feast
to eat the most and mourn the least?
What grave and solemn bird and beast?
The maggot. And the magpie.
Whose ebon beak, whose ebon claw
arranged my cerements? Who saw
me to and passed me through Death's maw?
The magpie. Oh, the magpie.
And when the rites were all complete,
when there was nothing left of meat,
who sat upon my judgment seat?
The magpie. Oh, the magpie.
Who is executor and heir?
Who keeps my legacy and where?
In bone and blood, feather and hair.
The carrion congregation.
Seamus McCleod (1811-1864)
This character is based on the story of the murder of Lloyd Magruder, prominent Elk City, Idaho, merchant to the gold fields of Bannack and Virginia City, Montana. See also “George Ides.” For a full account of the murder and robbery of Magruder, see Chapter XXXII of Nathaniel Langford’s book Vigilante Days and Ways. www.montanavigilantes.org
Illustration: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
TITLE: Petersburg, Virginia. Dead Confederate soldier
CALL NUMBER: LC-B811- 3186[P&P]
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-DIG-cwpb-02558 (digital file from original neg. of left half)
No knownrestrictionsonpublication.
