You might not know it, but today, 22nd April, is St. Arwald’s Day.
Who is St. Arwald you may ask. Apparently Arwald was last Jutish King and the last pagan King in England, who lived on the Isle of Wight, way back in 686 AD.
Sonnet for King Arwald
Regular OnTheWight comentator, Mark Francis, shared this sonnet with us in 2010.
It felt apt to reproduce today.
Tell me, where does Arwald lie ?
Is he in the Bloodstone Wood,
Bending bluebells with a sigh,
Buried in blackthorn and monks hood?
In bosky dells and gathered gloom –
A whisper through the silent shade,
Amongst the harts horn for his tomb,
In the oak woods peaceful glade.
Or does he ride to gabrel hounds,
High above the Shalcombe Downs,
On thunderclouds upon the storm,
By power of oak and ash and thorn.
When squirrels shiver in their fur
Comes Arwald to Whitgarasburgh.
