The salamander pendant

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Object No. 57. Salamander pendant, c.1588

Ulster Museum, Botanic Gardens

Of shining gold and rubies

Bringing luck to all sailors

Not a voyage for common whalers

They set sail for Ireland,

Conquest on the minds of all,

A kind of a rise before the huge fall

Near the end of their voyage,

The men were informed,

By a shout from the crows-nest, of a raging storm

The salamander pendant down in the hold

Couldn’t help them with shimmering gold

The salamander pendant deep in the ships bowels

Couldn’t help ease the winds wretched howls

The salamander pendant with rubies so red

Couldn’t stop their hearts from filling with dread

The salamander pendant saw all of the dead

The salamander pendant with rubies so red