Great Hen of Gortagowan
Gortagown without a crown:
So in time its name was made –
So again its famous in modern time
For the hen, and the eggs she laid…
She raised clutches by the dozen:
The chicks she raised raised clutches more!
All agreed who knew their hens,
Her likes was never seen before!
Like all mere hens shes the humble sort…
Anong the dust loved to peck and fooster,
Loves live, her chicks, she lives for them:
Enjoys her times with her favourite rooster!
Each year passes she amazes,
Folk of the Guinness Book of Records came to see
The greatest hen that Gortagown,
Or Ireland, ever did see.
She had 54 chicks in a single year…
Which brings water to the eye…
Of humans who might have two in a lifetime…
And struggle to make it by!
“Sure that bates Banagher” quipped some passers by
Who thought it a wild tall tale or yarn by a joker made
But when she was on the telly itself
They believed in the Great Hen of Banagher, Marmalade!