For Crown and Covenant
How long will we be forgotten?
How long will our graves be trodden upon
And our meeting places left to ruin?
Our history, carved into stone, is eroding
And our legacy, written in blood, is fading.
Our persecutors are honoured as we lie in the earth.
Some, in pieces where they left us after
We were hanged and hunted,
Drowned and drawn.
Living in fear under oppression from the earthly crown because
We believe in a greater King.
We bear his name as he bore our punishment.
On our flag our cause was embroidered in gold:
FOR CHRIST’S CROWN AND COVENANT,
And it was stained red.
Our hearts were once touched by secret sermons
Preached on hillsides as we gathered in our hundreds
Desperate and thirsty for the word,
But they killed our preachers.
Today, few know our names,
Lost in the innumerable dead.
We are John, James even Margaret.
Tell me, was it all for nothing?
No, our blood lives on in those who remember;
In Christ’s royal bloodline the children of the king.
We are a church now
And although our name and flag has changed
Our cause is still the same, written in gold on blue.
In these changing days, our history is suppressed
But remember us, remember our name.
