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<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Tidings<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n by David Betteridge<\/em><\/p>\n For Ken Robson, shepherd, of Stanhope Farm <\/em> On the first day of Christmas,\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 a bent trader said to me: On the second day of Christmas, On the third day of Christmas, On the fourth day of Christmas, On the fifth day of Christmas, On the sixth day of Christmas, On the remaining days of Christmas, Wheesht, my troubled soul! As down the ages, Wheesht, attune and listen, \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Tidings by David Betteridge For Ken Robson, shepherd, of Stanhope Farm in Tweeddale, with whom the author worked two lambing seasons, in 1964 and 1965. In his…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":380,"featured_media":14289,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1660],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-poetry-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gfdesign.co.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gfdesign.co.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gfdesign.co.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gfdesign.co.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/380"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gfdesign.co.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.gfdesign.co.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14290\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gfdesign.co.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gfdesign.co.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gfdesign.co.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gfdesign.co.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
in Tweeddale, with whom the author worked <\/em>
two lambing seasons, in 1964 and 1965. <\/em>
In his practice, Ken Robson brought<\/em>
the term \u201cgood shepherd\u201d to active life.<\/em><\/p>\n
Blessed are they which do hunger <\/em>
and thirst: for they shall make <\/em>
my till ring.<\/em>
He spoke merrily.<\/p>\n
the trader\u2019s accountant said to me:
Cursed are the poor:<\/em>
for they have too little cash to bring.<\/em>
He spoke disdainfully.<\/p>\n
a banker-felon said to me:
Blessed are the meek:<\/em>
for they shall shrink from saying Boo, <\/em>
challenging my fat goose<\/em>.
He spoke dismissively.<\/p>\n
the banker\u2019s offshore banker said to me:
Cursed are they that mourn:<\/em>
for they shall stir up others\u2019 sympathy,<\/em>
and let kindness loose.<\/em>
He spoke maliciously.<\/p>\n
a cabinet minister said to me:
Blessed are the merciful:<\/em>
for they shall acquit me always<\/em>
of my every tort.<\/em>
He spoke assuredly.<\/p>\n
the minister\u2019s lawyer said to me:
Cursed are the pure in heart:<\/em>
for they cannot be coerced<\/em>
or fooled or bought.<\/em>
He spoke frustratedly.<\/p>\n
others spoke in no better terms to me –
the world\u2019s Herods, Judases, and the like –
venting evil against the world\u2019s poor,
for whom they held a killing spite.
They spoke bitterly…<\/p>\n
Ignore these stridencies of power;
instead attune, and listen hard,
and hear a gentler voice,
one that is kind and clear,
that goes against the louder strain,
and calls and calls for justice
and for peace, holding
them dear.<\/p>\n
so this bleak Christmas, once again,
steadfastly, this quiet urging
makes its never-granted claim.<\/p>\n
as a parent searching for a child listens,
or as a shepherd, cocking his ear,
concentrates to catch the sound
of his lost lamb\u2019s bleat,
until he finds the place at last
where a burn has carried the poor mite
down, from a windy hill
to a wet peat!<\/p>\n