The Ballad of Minepit Shaw
About the time that taverns shutAnd men can buy no beer,Two lads went up to the keepers' hutTo steal Lord Pelham's deer.
Night and the liquor was in their heads--They laughed and talked no bounds,Till they waked the keepers on their beds,And the keepers loosed the hounds.
They had killed a hart, they had killed a hind,Ready to carry away,When they heard a whimper down the windAnd they heard a bloodhound bay.
They took and ran across the fern,Their crossbows in their hand,Till they met a man with a green lanternThat called and bade 'em stand.
'What are ye doing, O Flesh and Blood,And what's your foolish will,That you must break into Minepit WoodAnd wake the Folk of the Hill?'
'Oh, we've broke into Lord Pelham's park,And killed Lord Pelham's deer,And if ever you heard a little dog barkYou'll know why we come here.
'We ask you let us go our way,As fast as we can flee,For if ever you heard a bloodhound bayYou'll know how pressed we be.'
'Oh, lay your crossbows on the bankAnd drop the knife from your hand,And though the hounds are at your flankI'll save you where you stand!'
They laid their crossbows on the bank,They threw their knives in the wood,And the ground before them opened and sankAnd saved 'em where they stood.
'Oh, what's the roaring in our earsThat strikes us well-nigh dumb?''Oh, that is just how things appearsAccording as they come.'
'What are the stars before our eyesThat strike us well-nigh blind?''Oh, that is just how things ariseAccording as you find.'
'And why's our bed so hard to the bonesExcepting where it's cold?''Oh, that's because it is precious stonesExcepting where 'tis gold.
'Think it over as you stand.For I tell you without fail,If you haven't got into FairylandYou're not in Lewes Gaol.'
All night long they thought of it,And, come the dawn, they sawThey'd tumbled into a great old pit,At the bottom of Minepit Shaw.
And the keepers' hound had followed 'em close,And broke her neck in the fall;So they picked up their knives and their crossbowsAnd buried the dog. That's all.
But whether the man was a poacher tooOr a Pharisee so bold--I reckon there's more things told than are true,And more things true than are told!
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- whimper v. i.
- To cry with a low, whining, broken voice; to whine; to complain; as, a child whimpers. [Cf. Scot. whimmer, G. wimmern.]
- bade
- A form of the pat tense of Bid.
- folk n.
- In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. [AS. folc; akin to D. volk, OS. & OHG. folk, G. volk, Icel. f, Sw. & Dan. folk, Lith. pulkas crowd, and perh. to E. follow.]
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- fairyland n.
- The imaginary land or abode of fairies.
- shaw n.
- A thicket; a small wood or grove. [Obs. or Prov.Eng. & Scot.] [OE. schawe, scha, thicket, grove, AS. scaga; akin to Dan. skov, Sw. skog, Icel. sk.]
- poacher n.
- One who poaches; one who kills or catches game or fish contrary to law.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Ballad of Minepit Shaw is in the public domain. This text is taken from Songs from Books, Project Gutenberg ebook #15529; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Rudyard Kipling, The Ballad of Minepit Shaw, in Songs from Books (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #15529, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kipling-songs-from-books/the-ballad-of-minepit-shaw.html, id L20424.
Form and metre
The Ballad of Minepit Shaw is 64 lines in 16 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 15 of its 16 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%).
See other poems in common measure.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABAB shutA · beerB · hutA · deerB
- 2 ABAB headsA · boundsB · bedsA · houndsB
- 3 ABAB hindA · awayB · windA · bayB
- 4 ABAB fernA · handB · lanternA · standB
- 5 ABAB bloodA · willB · woodA · hillB
- 6 ABAB parkA · deerB · barkA · hereB
- 7 ABAB wayA · fleeB · bayA · beB
- 8 ABAB bankA · handB · flankA · standB
- 9 ABAB bankA · woodB · sankA · stoodB
- 10 ABAB earsA · dumbB · appearsA · comeB
- 11 ABAB eyesA · blindB · ariseA · findB
- 12 ABAB bonesA · coldB · stonesA · goldB
- 13 A-A- standA · fail · fairylandA · gaol
- 14 ABAB itA · sawB · pitA · shawB
- 15 ABAB closeA · fallB · crossbowsA · allB
- 16 ABAB tooA · boldB · trueA · toldB
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| About the time that taverns shut | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And men can buy no beer, | 6 | ······ |
| Two lads went up to the keepers' hut | 9 | ······/˘· |
| To steal Lord Pelham's deer. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Night and the liquor was in their heads-- | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| They laughed and talked no bounds, | 8 | ··˘··˘·· |
| Till they waked the keepers on their beds, | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| And the keepers loosed the hounds. | 8 | ··/˘·˘·· |
| They had killed a hart, they had killed a hind, | 10 | ·········· |
| Ready to carry away, | 7 | /˘·/˘˘/ |
| When they heard a whimper down the wind | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| And they heard a bloodhound bay. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| They took and ran across the fern, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Their crossbows in their hand, | 6 | ·/···· |
| Till they met a man with a green lantern | 10 | ········/˘ |
| That called and bade 'em stand. | 7 | ··˘···· |
| 'What are ye doing, O Flesh and Blood, | 8 | ···/···· |
| And what's your foolish will, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| That you must break into Minepit Wood | 10 | ·········· |
| And wake the Folk of the Hill?' | 7 | ······· |
| 'Oh, we've broke into Lord Pelham's park, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And killed Lord Pelham's deer, | 7 | ··˘·/˘· |
| And if ever you heard a little dog bark | 10 | ··/···/˘·· |
| You'll know why we come here. | 6 | ······ |
| 'We ask you let us go our way, | 8 | ······/· |
| As fast as we can flee, | 6 | ······ |
| For if ever you heard a bloodhound bay | 9 | ··/···/˘· |
| You'll know how pressed we be.' | 7 | ····˘·· |
| 'Oh, lay your crossbows on the bank | 8 | ···/···· |
| And drop the knife from your hand, | 7 | ······· |
| And though the hounds are at your flank | 8 | ········ |
| I'll save you where you stand!' | 6 | ······ |
| They laid their crossbows on the bank, | 8 | ···/···· |
| They threw their knives in the wood, | 7 | ······· |
| And the ground before them opened and sank | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| And saved 'em where they stood. | 7 | ··˘···· |
| 'Oh, what's the roaring in our ears | 8 | ···/˘·/· |
| That strikes us well-nigh dumb?' | 6 | ······ |
| 'Oh, that is just how things appears | 8 | ······˘/ |
| According as they come.' | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| 'What are the stars before our eyes | 8 | ······/· |
| That strike us well-nigh blind?' | 6 | ······ |
| 'Oh, that is just how things arise | 8 | ······˘/ |
| According as you find.' | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| 'And why's our bed so hard to the bones | 9 | ··/······ |
| Excepting where it's cold?' | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| 'Oh, that's because it is precious stones | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Excepting where 'tis gold. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| 'Think it over as you stand. | 7 | ······· |
| For I tell you without fail, | 7 | ······· |
| If you haven't got into Fairyland | 10 | ··/˘···/˘· |
| You're not in Lewes Gaol.' | 5 | ····· |
| All night long they thought of it, | 7 | ······· |
| And, come the dawn, they saw | 6 | ······ |
| They'd tumbled into a great old pit, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| At the bottom of Minepit Shaw. | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| And the keepers' hound had followed 'em close, | 10 | ··/˘··/˘·· |
| And broke her neck in the fall; | 7 | ······· |
| So they picked up their knives and their crossbows | 10 | ········/· |
| And buried the dog. That's all. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| But whether the man was a poacher too | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Or a Pharisee so bold-- | 7 | ··/˘˘·· |
| I reckon there's more things told than are true, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| And more things true than are told! | 7 | ······· |
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