Tresco Times Summer 2010 p12.qxp:Layout 1
10/5/10
12:53
Page 1
THE LAW OF THE ISLAND Obey the Law of the Island, it’s as old and as clear as the sea Left here by those before us - a message for you and for me. Two thirds of the world is water, two thirds of Scilly the same One third we tend and look after, the rest will never be tame. So the very First Law of the Island is ‘Honour thy Mother the Sea’ For Life came first from the ocean - bloodline to you and to me. Look up at the Moon and thank her, as through the clouds she rides Hers are the rhythms we follow - in step with the sea and the tides. Make peace with the Lord of the Ocean, for Neptune rules our domain And when he meets the Sou’Wester we bend to the storm and the rain. We live by the sea, and on the sea, and some of us fish the Deep It’s a happy life and a healthy life and one that we wish to keep. But forget not that Man’s a spoiler, it’s ever been thus since Cain, So don’t fish all of the shoal boys, leave some to come back again. Our islands share no borders, save with the sea and the skies, And when the sea invades us it’s always the land that dies. So remember when you fill up with petrol, or the fire roars up the flue: That nature demands repayment and sometimes from other than you. The fuel that you burn on the mainland heats up our climate as well Then there’s more of the sea and less of the land - and Paradise turns to hell. This is the beginning-and-end of the Law, the warp and the weft of the weave: Think what you do, how it is done, and what sort of mess you may leave. Of an Island Race is each Briton and we used to heed these things Before motorways and surburbia and all that Modern Life brings... Obey the Law of the Island, my Child, it’s as old and as clear as the sea, And leave it for those that come after - a message from you and from me.
RICHARD BARBER