{"id":831,"date":"2012-06-12T18:48:31","date_gmt":"2012-06-12T17:48:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk\/?p=831"},"modified":"2012-06-12T18:49:23","modified_gmt":"2012-06-12T17:49:23","slug":"the-blue-banner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk\/?p=831","title":{"rendered":"The Blue Banner"},"content":{"rendered":"<p align=\"center\"><strong>The Blue Banner<br \/>\nW.F. Marshall<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Marshall penned this stirring poem in 1912 during the time of the Third Home Rule crisis.\u00a0 He used much of the original Covenant imagery of 1638 as inspiration.\u00a0 At the time of writing the poem Marshall was assistant minister in First Ballymacarret Church in Paulett Avenue, off the Albertbridge Road.\u00a0 The poem famously appeared in the Northern Whig on the day the Covenant was signed \u201328<sup>th<\/sup> September 1912.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em><\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><strong><em><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\">Firm leagued we face the future, tho\u2019 the road be dark and steep<br \/>\nThe road that leads to honour is the lonely road we keep<br \/>\nAnd though all the world forsake us, this is the course we hold<br \/>\nThe course our fathers followed in the Cov\u2019nant days of old.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\">We fain would look for comfort to the land from whence we came<br \/>\nWhere still abide our kith and kin and clansmen of our name<br \/>\nWhere lives were deemed of small account by valiant men and true<br \/>\nFor Christ, His Crown, His Cov\u2019nant and the war torn folds of blue.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\">Long years have been and faded since the old time banner waved<br \/>\nSee! How it flashes once again ere dangers must be braved<br \/>\nThe Cov\u2019nant oath we now will swear that Britain may be told<br \/>\nWe stand for faith and freedom and the memories of old.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\">For all they died for gladly in the homeland o\u2019er the sea<br \/>\nFor blood-won rights that still are ours as Ulsterborn and free<br \/>\nFor the land we came to dwell in and the martyr\u2019s faith we hold<br \/>\nGod grant we be as loyal to these as were men of old.<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" ><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - http:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"http:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img src=\"http:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" border=\"0\" style=\"padding-top:5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share\"\/><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Linkedin\",\"StumbleUpon\",\"Digg\",\"Reddit\",\"Bebo\",\"Delicious\"); var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_counters_lang=\"en_US\";var hupso_title_t=\"The Blue Banner\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Blue Banner W.F. Marshall &nbsp; Marshall penned this stirring poem in 1912 during the time of the Third Home Rule crisis.\u00a0 He used much of the original Covenant imagery of 1638 as inspiration.\u00a0 At the time of writing the &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk\/?p=831\">Read more <span class=\"meta-nav\">&raquo;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" ><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - http:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"http:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img src=\"http:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" border=\"0\" style=\"padding-top:5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share\"\/><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Linkedin\",\"StumbleUpon\",\"Digg\",\"Reddit\",\"Bebo\",\"Delicious\"); var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_counters_lang=\"en_US\";var hupso_title_t=\"The Blue Banner\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/831"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=831"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/831\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":833,"href":"https:\/\/www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/831\/revisions\/833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}