History Department Writing Competition

This year, the writing competition set by the History department was to write a history of the following dice which was found on the banks of the Thames by Mr Gunn.

The winning entry was this fantastic poem by Maria K in Y7. Well done Maria on this excellent piece of work which really transports the reader back to medieval London!

 

The Roll of the Dice - by Maria Y7

I heard the scraping of metal against bone,
My father, a blacksmith, could carve things in metals and stone.
Today he was making dice for a rich Lord,
Who would use it to gamble on his own accord.
I sat down to my needlework while my brothers played,
And watched as my father hand over the dice
For which one of the Lords many servants paid.
Then the dice rolled around in the pocket,
Of the man with the steed who had travelled far to get it.
He travelled through towns with roofers, stone masons and armourers,
And through muddy terrains with cattle and farmers.
Until he had arrived at the Lord’s resplendent castle,
Once inside he handed the Lord his small ivory parcel.
Delighted with his gift the Lord gambled throughout the night
Losing most of his possessions including the dice, by morning light.
The dice then travelled to tightly packed London streets,
Where you could smell smoke and blood and meats.
The mysterious gambler turned the corner and his luck deserted him,
In a cruel twist of fate he was pickpocketed by a boy with a grin.
Speedily running down the slippery cobbled road,
With voices shouting out the young boy disappeared into his abode.
Where his father, a proud baker told him to sell what he had with haste,
To a lady with good taste.
The boy found a young lady who was going to sail away,
In a boat on the Thames later that day.
The lady boarded the boat full of people traveling away into the sun set,
Never wanting to forget the people she had met.
Looking out across the river she looked at the bright shining sun,
Accidentally dropping the dice into the water, later to be found by Mr. Gunn.