The Virginians of the Valley
Dr. Ticknor
.
The knightliest of the knightly race
That, since the days of old,
Have kept the lamp of chivalry
Alight in hearts of gold;
The kindliest of the kindly band
That, rarely hating ease,
Yet rode with Spotswood round the land,
And Raleigh round the seas.
.
Who climbed the blue Virginia hills
Against embattled foes,
And planted there in valleys fair,
The lily and the rose;
Whose fragrance lives in many lands,
Whose beauty stars the earth,
And lights the hearths of happy homes
With loveliness and worth.
.
We thought they slept – the sons who kept
The names of noble sires,
And slumbered while the darkness crept
Around their vigil fires;
But aye, the “Golden Horseshoe Knights”
Their Old Dominion keep,
Whose foes have found enchanted ground,
But not a knight asleep.
.
From: Confederate Veteran Magazine, Volume IV Number 4, April 1897, Page 168