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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