Dean's Last Stand

Dean’s Last Stand

by Charles E S Fairey

Welshbury and Celtic Dean’s last stand

The Druids and their Dobunni band

Their fight for their mystical land,

The Forest groves where learnt the Lord’s hand.

Where Christ came and learnt from Druid

Their sacred place, this isle of angels,

Where the Druid held all the world’s mysteries

And secret knowledge initiate learns and ascendant sees.

Roman came to take Dobunni’s Dean

Where even our Lord learnt and dreamed,

This hill top fortress Dean’s last stand

The Druids, their mysteries, Lord and land.

Now revered by the Pagan’s love,

Here they worship the gods of Dean

The Druids and Nature spirit,

Around camp fire round ancient tree they sit.

Learning the secrets of Angel Isle’s past

Where Dean’s Druids in fort heldfast,

While dreaming of Roman invader,

Who fought and won the Forest of the young Saviour.

Now modern Druid ascends sacred hill

To the fort now covered in green,

Where circle of stones sacred yew

And ancient cairn and mounds through.

Here pagan’s love follows their path

From ancient initiation towards adept,

Here they sit within Dobunni Fort

With great tree and fire god, all paganic thought.

With the smoke they rise above

High over this Dean’s Druidic home,

Where Dobunni Kings had their throne

In the forest trees all their knowledge sown.

Surveying the hills and valleys about

Like Dean’s Peregrine worshipper sees

All of the Forest of magical ‘leys’,

Flying ley lines their spirit frees.

The Druids and their last stand

Against their destroyers the Roman hand,

Welshbury and Celtic Dean’s last stand,

The Forest groves where learnt the Lord’s Command.

In the Forest of Dean, lying just to the west of Flaxley in Welshbury Woods, is Welshbury Hill-fort. This Iron Age hill fort has impressive triple defensive rampart and ditches on its south and west sides with a single bank and ditch on the north and east and an entrance.

The Dobunni Tribe waged a guerrilla war on the Romans

until their last stand at Welshbury hill fort.