'Such were the works of Walsingham'

 From The Abbey of Misrule:

Bitter, bitter, O, to behold
The grass to grow
Where the walls of Walsingham
So stately did show.
Such were the works of Walsingham,
While she did stand;
Such were the wracks as do now show
Of that holy land.

Weep, weep , O Walsingham,
Whose days are nights,
Blessings turned to blasphemies,
Holy deeds to despites.
Sin is where Our Lady sat,
Heaven turned is to hell.
Satan sits where our Lord did sway;
Walsingham, O, farewell.

These lines may have been written by Philip, Earl of Arundel, in the sixteenth century, though the authorship is not clear. Whoever wrote them, they are part of a longer poem which laments the destruction of the ‘holy house’ of Walsingham, and the friary associated with it, which we learned about last week. We also learned of the great pilgrimage trail to Walsingham, which pilgrims from all over Christendom would walk to receive the blessings of the Virgin Mary at the shrine. (Read more.)