Memories of Virginia
Sir John stood for "North country men,"
A Welsh-Norman from English view;
Under the motto of his race,
To soil brave men are ever true.
With House of York on British fields.
He stood for kinsmen of Lorraine.
He fought for the Plantagenets,
Edward the Fourth of White Rose fame.
Matthews of this great allied race,
Ambitions and achievements won,
In his own name—in his own right
The Chieftain bold of old Jamestown;
A man who heard the call "March on,"
The old war cry of famous sires,
He heard the call all founders hear,
To light the soul with sacred fires.
Matthews' first order "seize again."
The Indian lands claimed by the Crown,
"The Hunting Grounds" along the coast,
The empire lands of Powhatan.
When paths were hedged with ambush foes,
In the dense wilderness of strife,
Each forest path a trail of blood,
To have and hold the price of life.
They marked with blood each rood of land.
The chief with Gideon's sword so true;
They made each tree a musket shield,
Each Indian trail a target view.
Tidewater counties first to form.
The basic arch of the new nation;
The river lands of Powhatan,
The cradle home of occupation.
With Civil War raging at home,
A second massacre ever near,
The chief an iron man of war,
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