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What of the shaft?
The shaft was cut in England:
A long shaft, a strong shaft,
Barbed and trim and true;
So we'll drink all together
To the gray goose feather
And the land where the gray goose flew.
What of the men?
The men were bred in England:
The bowman--the yeoman--
The lads of dale and fell
Here's to you--and to you;
To the hearts that are true
And the land where the true hearts dwell.
"Well sung, by my hilt!" shouted the archer in high delight.
"Many a night have I heard that song, both in the old war-time
and after in the days of the White Company, when Black Simon of
Norwich would lead the stave, and four hundred of the best bowmen
that ever drew string would come roaring in upon the chorus. I
have seen old John Hawkwood, the same who has led half the
Company into Italy, stand laughing in his beard as he heard it,
until his plates rattled again. But to get the full smack of it
ye must yourselves be English bowmen, and be far off upon an
outland soil.


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