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The battle of Fulford website

Visiting Fulford

Map York

My needle pulls blue wool

sewing rough seas the Vikings rode,

sailing with dreams of conquest.

Their ships with dragon heads and

fearsome shields along the sides.

My needle pulls orange wool

sewing flames that burnt Scarborough town

and the sun shining down, then I thread

grey for the stinking smoke, chain mail,

helmets and weapons deadly blades.

My needle pulls green wool

sewing the grassy banks of the beck.

Harald Hardrada brought his army to York,

armoured and speared, arrowed and axed

they came to vanquish and kill. 

My needle pulls brown wool

sewing the prancing horses, the leather belts

and the homespun tunics of the English men

fighting to keep their lands from

Norsemen’s murderous plundering.

My needle pulls yellow wool

sewing golden Viking hair and the thatch

of the roofs, the standing corn and turning

leaves of that September day when

Earl Morcar made his stand by the beck.

My needle pulls red wool

sewing the blood that

flowed into the beck,

making it the foul ford.

Mary Ann Dearlove