Sons of Martha Traditional Cache
vege: I'll pick it up when next in the area.
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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Screeech.
That is the sound of my tires as I hit the brakes following a glimpse of an interesting-looking cairn in the middle of nowhere.
Denver, Nova Scotia. Never heard of it...
The tire rubber was well spent, as a fascinating story began to unfold. An internet search revealed the origins of the poem engraved on the plaques. It was written by Rudyard Kipling, and is based on passages from Luke (10:38-42) which tell the story of Martha and Mary, sisters of Lazarus.
It begins:
The sons of Mary seldom bother,
for they have inherited that good part;
But the Sons of Martha favour their Mother
of the careful soul and the troubled heart.
And because she lost her temper once,
and because she was rude to the Lord her Guest,
Her Sons must wait upon Mary's Sons,
world without end, reprieve, or rest.
It is their care in all the ages
to take the buffet and cushion the shock.
It is their care that the gear engages;
it is their care that the switches lock.
It is their care that the wheels run truly;
it is their care to embark and entrain,
Tally, transport, and deliver duly
the Sons of Mary by land and main.
Civil Engineers long ago adopted the poem as their own - in fact, it is often quoted to honour labourers everywhere.
In this case, the internet search, followed by a phone call to a local, determined that it memorializes the labourers who toiled, some of who died, in the construction of the Guysborough Railway. The project spanned from 1929 to 1931, when it was cancelled.
The railway was never to be.
Many blame the cancellation of the railroad for the failure of the area to prosper.
Another chapter in Nova Scotian history...
I'd love to know who erected the monument. Anyone?
Please hide better than you found it! Thanks!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Orfvqr n ebpx, haqre ybtf. Ynetr terra furyy pnaavfgre.
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