McGuinness’s farewell ode to Rev Paisley

The curious friendship between the Reverend Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness – they have been nicknamed the "chuckle brothers" – was cemented yesterday as the Unionist politician finally stood down as Northern Ireland's First Minister. To mark the occasion, McGuinness, who is now deputy in the Stormont Assembly, but was formerly the chief of staff of the IRA, presented Paisley with a poem he had written. 
 
According to McGuinness, the work, titled Breac Gheal, which is Irish for silver trout, deals with "the attack on the cultures of American Indians and the disappearance of the sea trout" off the western coasts of Ireland.
 
And here it is (The First Post suggests that poetry lovers look away):
 
The lilac creature lay silent and unmoving
As the peaty water flowed over the last of the Mohicans
Stones were the wigwam in a Donegal river
For a decimated breed of free spirits
Tribes and shoals disappeared as we polluted and devoured
With our greed and stupidity the homeland of the brave.

Paisley's response to the gift remains a secret. In his favour, Paisley says he never shook McGuinness's hand, a claim that he made at the beginning of their official partnership presumably to demonstrate that he was still sticking by his principles on dealing with "men with blood on their hands", although many considered this a singularly hollow gesture. ·