ON the 130th Anniversary of the founding of Celtic Football Club and hard upon the breaking of our own hundred-year-old British domestic run of unbeaten games, we are proud to present our verse tribute to the club that was founded to relieve the social deprivation then rife in the East End of Glasgow.

To quote a line from Bothiebhoys’ tribute song, “A Calton Bhoy”  ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmpBLpernOw ):

“Down in Walfrid’s back yard, hard men were hard” … and so were times for our forefathers, the earliest Celtic supporters, in those distant days.

Thank God for ‘The Celtic … then and now.

 

“Walfrid’s Boon”

Born of squalor – mouths to feed,

born to meet a mighty need.

Sligo scholar sowed the seed

– reaped a harvest,

launched a creed.

Symbol of Hibernia’s cause,

migrant generation lost.

Alba’s bounty, Erin’s cost

– Harp and Thistle,

karmas crossed.

Ravaged by An Gorta Mór,

blighted still on Scotia’s shore,

abject underclass deplored

– godforsaken

enclave horde.

Branded, ridiculed and scorned,

shorn of dignity – forlorn,

bigotry their crown of thorns

– race discrimination

borne.

Brute affliction spawned a club,

fulcrum of their life – its hub,

of their soul the very nub

– roused their spirit,

raised them up.

Rich in fable, steeped in lore,

all-inclusive open door,

oozing craic from every pore

– Charity

the very core.

Quinn, McGrory, Larsson, Stein –

towering legends wove the dream,

icons of our ‘Grand Old Team’

– few of many,

ever green.

Haunting litany sublime,

echoes in the mists of time,

minstrelsy in ev’ry line

– bliss and heartbreak

intertwined.

Sprawling saga, epic-strewn,

heart from generations hewn,

eulogised in verse and tune

– Hail ‘The Celtic’ …

Walfrid’s Boon!

Copyright © 25thMay1967