An Lucht Siúil (The walking people) – Transcript of the film dialogue by Mark Garry
Prologue:
An ancient people formed of land. Skilled with horse and skilled of hand
A wind of progress blew down our roads, Values not the ways of those,
A shifting of the country side Wagons they would no longer ride There values that were different than The values of the country man.
For two peoples living hand in hand No space was left upon th is Land Guardians of our culture old,
A modern system would be sold Parade (Entrance Ode):
For people of the horse and naiI A modern system it would fail Bards and poets of Honeysuckle
Stained of name and stained of knuckle Episode:
The girth and traces the grass and the rush.
The hawthorn the brambles, the wren and thrush. The withers the flank the muzzle and hoof.
The hammer and anvil the spokes and the roof
The willow and ash the robin the crow.
The Iron and stays the sun and the snow
The Forearm and fetlocks the gutter and vent. The jig and the snips and the blanket and tent
The Mollicroft, gutter the brasses and reins The dove the blackbird the sweat and the veins
The Blackthorne and holly the sticks and the smoke. The fore head the flank the willow and oak
The Collar and crupper the spring and the clamp The goldfinch the plover the fire and Lamp
The hoof and the shoe the spruce and the larch The pine and the chestnut September and March
The jack the shackles the elm and the yew
The sparrow and magpie the stove and the flue The bits and the bridles the footboard and spreader The mane and the muzzle, the rope and the tether
The kestrel the moorhen the bay and the grey The punch and the iron the grain and the hay The loin and the barrel the labor and shoulder The tarmac and gravel the foxglove and clover.
The pheasant and fox the cloth and the table The chestnut the Dun, the fragile and stable
The plough and the scythe, the leaf and the green The snowdrop and daisy the subtle and lean.
The Barrel and cannon the shafts and the perch The cuckoo and curlew , the beach and the birch The hogweed and hazel the carriage and bellows The martingale, blinkers the shadows and echoes
The rook and the skylark, the tin and the pipe. The wren and the jackdaw the young and the ripe. The wood and the bark the wind and the cloud.
The butterfly the moth the proud and the bowed.
Stasimon
The race for progress was happening so fast we didn’t notice a profound narrowing of customs and values. We engaged in a paradox of moral priority. Each Sunday we sang the psalms, but were silent to the imprisonment of the poor. We were silent to a loss of innocence, silent to the theft of the children of the nomads by the people of cloth. Suspicion was encouraged and the narrative of the laborer, the horse dealer, the tinsmith, the fiddler and the bard, was replaced with the fighter the beggar, the gaudy, the knacker, the tramps of the road. Languages were lost or hidden from sight and traditions were diluted or erased. Our forced assimilation and absorption failed, it compelled these people to close in on themselves to the security and strength of a family unit, Who we are comfortable to engage with, only through the distance of a camera lens. It forced an existence on the margins and for many an imprisonment of reliance.
Exode (Exit Ode):
For people of the horse and naiI A modern system it would fail Bards and poets of Honeysuckle
Stained of name and stained of knuckle
