GilesConradWatson's video: John II and the Bittern 1

John II and the Bittern (Poem by Giles Watson.) No, I never did think we stood an earthly against John the Faithless - not for long - a man who wages war against his own and slams his son in prison has no taste for giving quarter. Even his stallions wore plate armour - and his men without exception were possessed with lust for blood on metal. But still - the vanquished have their moments and this was ours - where the River Ebro forms a delta at Amposta - we shrank before remorseless ranks - aglitter in sunlight - advancing on us - when all at once a bittern at the edge of the river - invisible in reedmace - started booming. His chargers shied - their eyes bulging as the bird pumped the resonance in his pulsing throat so the surface of the water quivered - and for that one glorious thrumming moment they faltered - and retreated - as though before the voice of God. When they were gone the bittern pointed with his bill to Heaven - closed his eyes and slept. And yes - they overran us later - made great slaughter - but though my eyes are filmy now - these joints like rusty hinges - my spirits rally when I feel that stuttering in the guts that grips me every time I hear - a bittern - Note: The probably apocryphal story of John II of Aragon "retreating in terror at the sound of a Eurasian Bittern" at Amposta during the Catalan Civil War in 1464 was told by Albert Martinez Vilalta of Barcelona, and is recorded in Mark Cocker and David Tipling's encyclopaedic work of ethno-ornithology, Birds and People (2013). Recordings of Eurasian Bittern: Alan Dalton, Huddinge, Huddinge Municipality, Stockholms län, Sweden, Xeno-Canto, XC725079; Romuald Mikusek, Gmina Lubasz (near Krucz), Czarnków-Trzcianka County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, Poland, Xeno-Canto, XC713413.