‘Pray, Dada, tell us why you came,
With sword across the Fen?
What have we done to earn your blame,
Why come with armoured men?’

‘It is not you,’ the knight replied,
‘I see you not with ire,
The King promised the first to find
Their way across the mire,

And boldly land a blow upon
The rebels without care,
Could name a prize, some gift among
The treasures lying there.

And so I sought to prove myself
And demonstrate my courage,
By striving to achieve this wealth,
And never be discouraged.’

Dada explains his motivation for striving to Ely.
(11.10.26)

© Ben Quant 2026
Image by Poliphilo, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

One knight there was who made the Isle
Leading the Norman charge,
An eminent soldier of some fame,
Taking him prisoner they asked his name,
He responded boldly showing no shame,
My captors, I am Dada.

Before Chesney there was Dada…
(10.10.26)

© Ben Quant 2026
Photo by Mario Gogh on Unsplash

Once in her clutch there’s no escape
For those she woos and grasps,
The reeds entwine around their waists,
Her weeds contain them in her place,
As bubbles cease without a trace,
Held there, their lives soon pass.

And of that throng that charged ahead
Great numbers lost their lives,
Only the last, abandoning arms,
Alert to dying colleagues’ alarms,
Evaded her eternal ‘charms’,
And made it out alive.

And of the few that made it through
To reach the other side,
No hope awaited there for them,
For lurking hidden were Hereward’s men,
And ambush sprung their screams were lent
To join the drowning cries.

With the help of Mother Fen, Hereward is able to totally thwart the Conqueror’s men.
(02.10.26)

© Ben Quant 2026
Photo by Jeremy Kwok on Unsplash