Did you know...
The poem was published at the end of a short story called
Hal O' the Draft. Reading it might help you put the poem in context. Here's
the gist of the story:
Dan and Una meet Sir Harry Dawe, one of the great architects and craftsmen of the early 16th century, who had been born and brought up in their valley. He tells the story of how he was given the job of restoring their local village church, St Barnabas'. He found the Sussex villagers strangely unhelpful. His friend Sebastian Cabot, was planning a voyage across the Atlantic; he had ordered guns for his ship from a local forge, and he too was finding it a frustrating experience, since there were constant delays, and implausible excuses for broken promises.
Then they find that the local ironmasters are making guns secretly for Sir Andrew Barton, a pirate who sailed off the Sussex coast, and hiding them in the church before delivery. On the advice of a wise old local magistrate, Hal and Sebastian come down with soldiers and take the guns on the bland assumption that they are destined for Sebastian's ship. They take no legal action, which saves the necks of the conspirators, and Hal gets every help from the villagers thereafter.
Hope that helps.
