Meanwhile by Lferion

The Cask Affair, En two End

A Gaffer tale told in Shire verse

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Prompts - L:N2 Whodunnit, A:N2 70s 80s Color palette, P:N2 Narrative Verse, F:N2 Hobbitpile -- The same square on all four cards.

This song owes somewhat to the 'John Barleycorn' tradition.

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In Hobbiton the sun was high
The grass was green and harvest nigh
The Gaffer, he was feeling spry
A-strolling he would go

O up the lane and down the hill
In merry voices sang the rill
But what is this? There's been a spill
Good barleywine laid low

The cask had fallen on his head
The sturdy staves were running red
It categorically was dead
Who would him murder so?

To take a cask would need but two
The one on either end would do
This scheme the Gaffer well he knew
As sure as wind did blow

The scamps, he thought, were justly served
For here the path abruptly swerved
A slipping step in mud observed
They'd fallen down below

The nut is brown, the harvest gold
The avocado green we're told
Burnt orange and warm teak take hold
As Barleycorn doth grow

Asleep beneath the Party Tree
More than two or even three
The Gaffer he could clearly see
A hobbitpile-o

About them scattered mugs and bowls
More vessels filling many roles
No point in raking over coals
What valiance bestow

The prankster's loss, the party's gain
A sacrifice not made in vain
Salvaged brew, though cask was slain
Beneath the barley-mow

And now this song comes to an end
Tis thirsty work, a cask to mend
A garden plant, or coin to spend
Drink up before I go

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