Articles categorised as Poetry

New Scots poetry site

A new web site containing Scots translations of English language poems has been set up by Gavin Falconer, the well known Scots writer and researcher. The site contains a selection of poems...

New Centre for Robert Burns Studies

The University of Glasgow has recently launched a new Centre for Robert Burns Studies devoted to the many facets of the bard's life an intended to act as a 'hub' for research and study on an...

Songs and Rhymes from Childhood

Ewan McVicar has written the first comprehensive book regarding the lore, songs and rhymes of Scottish children, collected form the street and playground during the last 150 years. People are sure...

Bards in praise of Edinburgh

Lizzie MacGregor, of the Scottish Poetry Library - in conjunction with Polygon (an imprint of Birlinn) - has published a new work entitled 'Luckenbooth.' As editor, MacGregor selected and put...

McLellan Competition Winners

The winners of the McLellan Award 2007 have now been announced. The first prize was awarded to Sheila Templeton (for 'Ripening'), followed by Kenneth Steven as second prize (for 'The Illuminated...

Rab and Tommy talk Burns

Tommy Sheridan will discuss Burns poetry with Rab Wilson on the MSP's Sunday Morning with Citizen Tommy show this week. In the Talk107 show which is broadcast thoughout Edinburgh and the Lothians....

Joe Dugg

In spring Joe Dugg the gairdener Plants raws and raws o leeks. At Christmas time he pous them oot And stuffs them doon his breeks. Kirsty Grieve

Tartan Army Football Battalion

Once again Scotland's football future hangs in the balance with it's place in Euro 2008 decided by the forthcoming crucial match against Italy. 100 Favourite Scottish Football Poems edited by...

Doric Cabaret Evening

As pairt o the city o Aiberdeen’s St Andra’s Weekend, the Associe o Grampian Storytellers is haein a Doric Cabaret Eening on Seturday 1 December at Union Terrace Gairdens, Aiberdeen, fae 7.30pm...

Perth Burns Club

The Perth Burns Club is tae haud its fowert Yearly Day o Scots Culture in the theatre o the AK Bell Leebrary, York Place, Perth. Stertin aff at 1pm, the will be fower 40-meenit papers gien bi the...

Banffshire Field Club

The Banffshire Field Club will be host tae J Derrick McClure on Seturday 8 December at the Community Centre, Banff Road, Keith, stertin at 2.15pm. Mr McClure will be speakin aboot the follaein...

Supper Wi Burns

The Scots Centre for Storytelling is haudin a Supper Wi Burns on Wadensday 23 an Thursday 24 Januar. Linda Bandelier, David Campbell an Donald Smith is tae interteen fowk wi stories, poyems an...

Clarinda

Clarinda will be shawin at St Andrews in the Square, Glesca on Monanday 4 an Tuesday 5 Februar at 7.30pm. Tickets costs £9.50 (or £8.50 less-sillert). For mair parteeclars please see as abuin.

Christmas poetry for bairns an ithers

Enjoy some seasonal poems from Tom Scott and Sheena Blackhall.

Keltickev on youtube

Have a look at keltickev’s selection of Burns songs on youtube - some have the words in the accompanying information panel. Keltickev’s own web site has more information on Burns. Visit it at

Tae a moose

Performances of Tae a moose.

Tae a louse

Performances of Tae a Louse.

Happy Valentine's Day

We're continuing our Burns theme by celebrating Valentine's Day with one of his most famous poems, My Luve is like a Red Red Rose. We hope you'll enjoy Isla St Clair's bitter sweet version of the...

The Spring Three

Winter’s windy sentence in the mooth o March the ranter. March comes wudd and wantons, and flegs the dowff auld dranter. Gang yere ways, Winter! March is swack and March is swank. April aye has...

Aye write in Glesca

As pairt o Glesca's Aye Write fest the will be a day gien ower tae the Scots leid, cryed 'Writing in Scots: A series of three linked workshops', sponsored bi the Langage Comatee o the Associe for...

The StAnza Fest

The Shetlandic poyet Robert Alan Jamieson will be takkin pairt in the StAnza Fest in Saunt Aundraes, Fife on this date. Mr Jamieson will be pairt o a Maistercless anent owersettin on Sunday 16...

Entries invited for Doric Competition

Entries are now invited as part of the Doric Festival writing competition. Competitors must either write a poem, short story or one-act play to be submitted by the deadline of 19 September 2008....

Moorland Spring

There’s no a muir in my ain land but’s fu’ o’ sang the day, Wi’ the whaup, and the gowden plover, and the lintie upon the brae. The birk in the glen is springin’, the rowan-tree in the shaw, And...

from Caller Water

As simmer rains bring simmer flow’rs, And leaves to cleed the birken bow’rs, Sae beauty gets, by caller show’rs, Sae rich a bloom As for estate, or heavy dow’rs Aft stands in room. What makes...

Night of poems in Ayr

Well-known writer Liz Niven, along with Alastair Paterson, will be giving readings from their poems at the Carnegie Library in Ayr, beginning at 7.30pm.

The Greenock Man

“ Saft a wee, ” says Erchie. “ Saft a wee! ” says I; “ I’m draiglet an’ I’m drookit, An’ ma sark’s no dry. It’s rainin’ like a skailin’ bine, It’s stottin’ frae the street, The sheuch is rinnin’...

TS Law Book Launch

There will be a launch of a new book of the poems of T.S. Law – entitled ‘At the Pynt o the Pick and Other Poems’ – on Tuesday, 17 June, at 7.30pm, in the Scottish Poetry Library, 5 Crichton’s...

A braw nicht, thanks tae the SLC

Hello aw, howp ye hae been makkin the maist o wit braw simmer...or the twa-thrie braw hours we hae been gettin. Michael wis sayin this wad be the year fer a bonnie simmer - but sae faur it's...

Catch

And whiles, hunkert on the strand, we catched eels, cauld fingers ploitert in broon gritty sludge or they heaved up a hefty dreepin lump that dreebilt throu spaces till nocht wis left save a...

Robert Burns the Songwriter

Burns is primarily regarded as Scotland's national poet, but there is strong evidence that he considered himself as much a songwriter as anything else. The work of Dr Fred Freeman in recording...

Reading Bus launches Doric books

In 2007 Aberdeen City Council’s ‘Reading Bus’ sent out an appeal for writers to contribute poems in North East Scots – the Doric – for children aged 8-14 years. The venture turned out to be a...

Launch of Doric Book

Aberdeen City Council's 'Reading Bus' will be launching a new book of poems in North East Scots - the Doric - at a day event at Fyvie Castle. The book, entitled 'Fit Like, Yer Majesty?' contains...

Hugh MacDiarmid – A Portrait

To celebrate the anniversary of Hugh MacDiarmid’s birth in August 1892, the Scots Language Centre is pleased to give visitors the chance to enjoy Margaret Tait’s fil, Hugh MacDiarmid – A Portrait....

Margaret Tait

Margaret Tait was one of Britain's most individual artist filmmakers. Over the course of 46 years she produced over 30 films including one feature, Blue Black Permanent (1992) and published five...

A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle

Listen to Hugh MacDiarmid read, A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle http://writing.upenn.edu/pennsound/x/MacDiarmid.html

The Hugh MacDiarmid memorial Langholm

Simmer Sang

The Scots Language Centre is marking midsummer with this reading of the Shetland dialect poem, Simmer Sang. Simmer Sang was written by Vagaland, the pen name of well-loved Shetland poet, Thomas...

New Translations

Translations of two medieval Scots language texts have recently been published. 'The life and miracles of St Ninian' is a translation of an anonymous early 15th Century Scots poem. Set in...

Photography inspires poetry

Derek Ross from Stranraer and Dumfries writes poetry using photographs as a foundation for much of his work. We have here two of his Scots language poems which have come from photographs he took....

Childhood memories in poetry

Childhood for some poets is a rich source of ideas, particularly when using Scots language. For many of these writers, childhood was a time of uninhibited language use, a time when Scots voices...

Walking on the Moon

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the moon landings the Scots Language Centre has put together a couple of features, along with some poems in Scots, about the moon and space. It was on 21 July...

Burns not a manic depressive

Recently a controversy erupted over claims that Scots language bard Robert Burns might have been a manic depressive. Joan Charles, who has provided ‘intuitive readings’ of handwriting for over...

The Final Frontier

The moon had always been a symbol of the impossible but, in 1969, the moon landing represented man overcoming this final frontier. The word moon appears in Anglo-Saxon in the form ‘mōna’ and is...

From 'On seeing a butterfly in the street'

DAFT gowk, in macaroni dress, Are ye come here to shew your face, Bowden wi' pride o' simmer gloss, To cast a dash at Reikie's cross; And glowr at mony twa-legg'd creature, Flees braw by art, tho'...

New Writing Scotland 27 published

The latest volume of 'New Writing Scotland', from the Association for Scottish Literary Studies, is about to hit the streets. Entitled ' In the Line of Fire' this will be number 27 in the series...

Calling Doric writers

The Annual Doric Writing Competition is calling for entries. Writers may submit up to three entries in all categories. The categories are Short Story (£50 prize, £25 runner-up), Poem (£50 & £25),...

Doric Writing Awards

The winners of the Doric Writing Competition will be announced at the awards ceremony to be held in the Gordon Arms Hotel, Huntly, beginning at 7pm. There will be entertainment by various artists....

Poetry Workshop

Liz Niven will be holding a Poetry Workshop from 2-3.30pm at the Writers' Retreat as part of the Edinburgh Book Festival. She will be giving tips about writing poems and editing your work.

Writing Poetry in Scots

As part of the Edinburgh Book Festival Liz Niven will be holding a class in writing poetry in Scots from 11am to 12.30pm, at the Writers' Retreat. Liz will discuss dialect variation, spelling and...

A Sober Student Looks at MacDiarmid

Weil, first aff I maun say "weil duin" tae Billy Kay on gettin his honorary degree frae the University of the West of Scotland (read about it i the news section o the site). He ralley deserrs...

A Song of Life and Golf

THE thing they ca' the stimy o't, I find it ilka where! Ye 'maist lie deid—an unco shot— Anither's ba' is there! Ye canna win into the hole, However gleg ye be, And aye, where'er ma ba' may roll,...

Still time to enter poetry competition

Poets have been told that there is still time to enter this year’s McCash Scots poetry competition. In a message issued today, Duncan Jones from the Association for Scottish Literary Studies, has...

Sangschaw 2009

The Scots language Society has announced its yearly literary competition, called Sangschaw. The Society administrator, John Law, commented that this competition contributes to the status of the...

SLS Annual Collogue

The Annual Collogue of the Scots Language Society will take place on Saturday 10 October 2009 at the A.K. Bell Library, York Place, Perth. This year’s theme is ‘The Interaction between Scots and...

"Words of support" for Scots Language Centre from Roseanna

The Scottish National Party's Ms Roseanna Cunningham MSP, Member of the Scottish Parliament for Perth, visited the Scots Language Centre at their base at the AK Bell Library in Perth on Friday. ...

EXCLUSIVE - ChielMeister talks to SLC

Nae Mince in Moray has been this year’s surprise Scots language hit on youtube. Writer and singer, The Chielmesiter, talks exclusively to the Scots Language Centre about mince, rowies, French...

Back Again

Twa traivlers gaed ance to the Hielans awa I' the hairst: ah ! it’s then that the Hielans are braw ! The tane he gaed — to be like the lave ; The tither his ane he’rt’s greinin’ drave. An’...

Brownsbank open to public

The farm labourer's cottage at Brownsbank, Candy Mill in South Lanarkshire, where Hugh MacDiarmid and his family lived from 1951 to 1978, will be open to the public on Saturday 12 and Sunday 13...

Remembering Wee Willie Winkie

On 2 September a new memorial was unveiled on the wall of Tennents’ Brewery, Duke Street, Glasgow, to Scots language writer William Miller (1810-72) and his most famous composition ‘Wee Willie...

Remembering William Soutar

William Soutar (1898-1943) Scots language poet, writer and diarist, died in October 1943 and this month, upon that anniversary, the Scots Language Centre visits the Soutar Hoose in Perth and...

Launch of 'For A' That'

The launch of a new book entitled 'For A' That' will take place at the Dundee Rep Theatre at 7pm. The University of Dundee has commissioned various wriers to put together an anthology celebrating...

Shetland poetry at the Winery 2009

The annual poetry event at the Cairn O'Mohr Winery near Perth will this year feature two Shetland based poets, Jen Hadfield (2008 TS Eliot prize winner) and Gordon Dargie. Coming to live in...

Annual Collogue of Scots Language Society

The Annual Collogue of the Scots Language Society will take place on Saturday 10 October 2009 at the A.K. Bell Library, York Place, Perth. This year’s theme is ‘The Interaction between Scots and...

Mither tongue in fine fettle, say Doric fans

Doric Festival report from the Press and Journal. www.pressandjournal.co.uk

A Chat with Ajay

Ajay Close is the Writer in Residence at the Soutar House in Perth and has been for the past couple of years. Ajay is an established writer who has published several works. The Soutar House is...

A Tour With Soutar

Living in the very house where William Soutar lived, wrote, and died, has given Ajay Close an intimate knowledge of the life and work of the man. There are various momentos and items of furniture...

The Friends of Soutar

In 2007 a group called 'The Friends of William Soutar' was established in Perth to do more to promote the life and work of the poet. The President of the Friends is Iain Mackintosh. In this short...

A Soutar Poem

In the following audio file, Iain Mackintosh, President of the Friends of William Soutar, reads s short poem by William Soutar. Please click your mouse on the file to hear it. Black Day A skelp...

The Fairy Man

The nicht is mirkThe house is toomO, gowls the wundAtour ma room.   The house is deidDaith’s sib tae sleepThe rain dings dounThe nicht is deep.   ‘Come ben,  ma dearWi the glentan ee,Why...

Merrier Christmas and Brawer Hogmanay at SLC

With December only weeks away, the Scots Language Centre is putting the finishing touches to what should be its best ever Christmas and New Year programme. There are many old favourites – the...

New RLS Website Now Live

A new website about the life and work of Robert Louis Stevenson is now live on the internet. With full information about RLS’s life, pictures never before seen by the public and downloadable...

Scottish Poetry Library Poet of the month

The Scottish Poetry Library have highlighted Rab Wilson as their poet of the month in December 2009. The well known Scots language poet from Ayrshire will be promoted through the library's website...

Rab Wilson's Yule poetry

Rab Wilson from Ayrshire writes in Scots about a wide range of subjects. Here we have two links to some of his Christmas poetry. http://scottishpoetrylibrary.wordpress.com/2009/12/02/rabs-rsvp/

Glamourask Gloss

Allan Harkness has kindly provided us with his translation of Yves Bonnefoy’s ‘Lieu de la Salamandre’. We reproduce it here along with his glossary and commentary.            Glamourask* Gloss  ...

The Hamecomin

Norma-Ann Coleman has written a poem inspired by a painting - La Rue du Tramway by Paul Delvaux.  Entitled The Hamecomin, it was written after viewing the painting at the Dean Gallery in...

Janet Paisley on Hugh MacDiarmid

Poet Janet Paisley follows in the footsteps of Hugh MacDiarmid in episode 5 of BBC Scotland's radio series In the Footsteps. Paisley tries to make sense of MacDiarmid's reputation. Who was the...

Burns poetry on Youtube

Some more Burns poetry.

Further online Burns information

Robert Burns WebsiteRobert BurnsRobert Burns World FederationFederation Burns resources on SCRANScranNational Trust for Scotland Robert Burns birthplace museumNTS Robert Burns Centre Dumfries

Carry a Poem

A poetry promotion campaign has revealed a widespread love of Scots language poetry. The 'Carry a poem' initiative is a project aimed at developing literary culture, partners include The Scottish...

James Hogg songs

A major research project about the early 19th century Scottish writer James Hogg is culminating in the creation of a growing and valuable online resource. It currently contains articles and talks...

James Hogg poetry about love

James Hogg lived in the Borders, Dumfries and Edinburgh in the early 19th century. A contemporary of Burns and Scott, his work was somewhat overlooked at the time and is now being reassessed by...

Scots language fowk pey tribute tae John Law

John Law, ane o the best kent Scots language steerers o raicent times, deed aa a sudden on Seturday. Cllr Law wis ane o the bodies that set up the Scots Language Resource Centre in 1993  - SLRC...

Literature Working Group

The Scottish Government's literature working group has published its policy proposals. The report contains recommendations concerning literature and publising in Scots. This page collects Scottish...

Year of Orkney Dialect

Orkney Heritage Society is leading a year of celebrations of the islands dialect. Activities will include a poetry competition and events in schools and the community. The dialect year has its...

Nicola Black sings McDiarmid

Dumfriesshire musician Nicola Black has released a CD of Scots language songs called Moonstruck. Setting Hugh McDiarmid poetry to her own compositions, she has used a variety of styles to bring...

William Soutar Lecture

Wednesday April 28th is the 112th anniversary of the birth of Perth poet William Soutar, and to mark the occasion a lecture on his life and work will be given at Perth Museum and Art...

Iseabail's list of literature in Scots language

Collections of Modern Scots Fenton, James (2000) Thonner an Thon. An Ulster Scots Collection, Belfast: Ullans Press. Poetry and prose in Ulster Scots. MacCallum Neil R and Purves, David eds...

Tannahill Weavers

Inspired by the poet Robert Tannahill, the Paisley band Tannahill Weavers have used many of Robert Tannahill's songs in performance. Here we can watch their version of the song 'The Ploo'boy...

Draft article

The Times reports that the new Robert Burns Birthplace Museum, which was finished on 12 May, will be the first in the country to use Scots to explain its collection. In addition to appearing in...

Poetry translation project

Five writers from Scottish PEN, Jim Aitken, Mary McCabe, Susie Maguire, Liz Niven and Harry D Watson teamed up with five women from Sighthill International Women's Group, all speaking different ...

Scots poetry competition

The 2010 McCash Scots poetry competition has been launched. Organised by the Glasgow Herald and the Scottish Literature department at Glasgow University, the competition seeks to encourage the...

Birds and children

Many Scots songs and poems are about birds. Here are a selection of children's songs and poetry about birds.

Ruthwell Cross

The Ruthwell Cross, with its Christian images, intertwined little animals, many fancy spirals and patterns, is very important for the history of Scots-speaking Scotland. Sited in the church of the...

The Dream of the Rood

Derrick McClure reads the Anglo-Saxon text of the poem.

The Scots translation

Derrick McClure reads the Scots translation of the poem 'The Dream of the Rood'.

A Conversation

Dauvit Horsbroch and Derrick McClure discuss the Ruthwell Cross, the Anglo-Saxon poem 'The Dream of the Rood' and its importance to Scots language academics.

Four star review for SLC - Luath event

Irene Brown's review first appeared on edinburghguide.com  This reviewer’s previous incarnation as the Stravaigin Reporter for the organisation Scots Tung, has allowed me to be on the mailing...

Mary Johnston, Doric poet

Retired teacher Mary Johnston (nee Mackie -Doric first language and considers herself bilingual), has found success in a second career as a writer, translator and poet. So far she has produced...

Sing a Sang o Soutar

On Thursday 11th November 2010 the Friends of William Soutar Society are hosting a musical celebration of William Soutar poems. Part of the Perth 800 anniversary programme the evening will be a...

New historical recordings resource

The Kist o Riches project aims to digitise, catalogue and disseminate Gaelic and Scots sound recordings. A new website for the project was this week launched in Edinburgh. This website contains...

An app’s an app for a’ that

Ahead of this year's Burns night, the Scottish Government has released a Burns app for the iPhone. As well as including more than 550 of the Bard's poems and love songs, the app gives users a...

Scottish Government Responds to Literature Working Group Report

On 4 February, the Scottish Government produced its official response to the literature working group’s report. Among many other points, the group recommended that the Government should encourage...

The Cyard's Kist

'There's nae guid comes A's wrack, fin the Cyards are here Wi a birn o bairns at their back An their hawkin gear.'Bit the lassie didna listShe wis mad tae lift the sneck On the cyard's kist.There...

Hedgehogs

A bourich o preens That's quick tae fleg; Twa bitticks o' een An a wee, wee neb;Come scooshlin oot, wi the starry mune Fin whins are dark an the walks are teem.Far they come frae, naebody kens,...

The Cyard's Coortin'

He hawked a puckle pots an' pans,Till — scunnered o' the wark,He timmered up the kindlin'Till the swat ran doon his sarkSyne he wat his whussle freelyFrae a coggie keepit handyAn' thochties turned...

Johnny

Fowk squattit in doorwyes —Shifty-eed, reid-biddy earls,Watchin the seamen scalin aff the docks, Scraunin the streets for a hard-faced quine, Buyin an 'oor o warmthFar the screichin seagulls...

Images

If I gaed blin the mornThere's sichts, like draps o dew, Wid bricht the dark...Wippet an warm, safe within, An' niver tyned.I can mak Winter, Spring;Fin I've a mind.Lyin, stibble-chaffed, i' the...

Lost Youth

As I gaed ower the stormy muir The sky was riven like the sea;The muir-fowl fled the onding's rage, Aroon the sleet fell cruelly.'Whaur are ye gaun on sic a nicht?'The reeshlin bracken seemed tae...

The Tryst

Twa lovers trysted bi the birk,The lass had munelicht in her een, Bit creepin saftly throw the mirk The waukrife lad had nane.Warm was his kiss an' strang his airm, The blin-sicht mowdie turned...

The Lintie

The lintie lichtit on the bough Abune twa lovers trueAn' sweet an' lang she sang her lilt Fin love wis fresh, an' new.Fin love grew auld, the bird cam' backBit didna hinner lang For `Fegs,' quo'...

A Guid New Year

Fin e're the auld year hirples oot In ilka hame the toast is raised An yet, ahin the Season's cheer Hidden awa, the hint o' fearFor the Past is safe ahin us:A barn, wi the hairst stap-fu;Fit lies...

Homecoming

The salmon swims tae the lochan's briest, The bees win hinney frae the muir, Sae 'tis wi me a tug at the hairtAn it's sair, man, sair...Tae stan at the mou o' the quate hoose Whaur ilka room is...

Glen Muick

The skies drift doon — a dreepin' blur That maks o' Ben an' brae a shroud As if grown weary o' the lan' The mountain coories i' the cloud An' naething steers within this warld 0' stormy lift, an'...

Sklaik

'Ye dinna tell me — damn the bit —' (A glimmer lichts the ee, Syne a the sklaik comes scalin oot, Like midden oozin bree.)It's pintless, syne, tae quanter them —Their argument's entire; 'There's...

Hist ye back

The howlet, teetin' frae the wid Jeloosed the moosie's track A dainty nippicky o' furA tasty hist ye backThe yowe gaed stytrin' throw the whin Oer oot-rigs lang, an' black;As hunkrin' doon, wi'...

Mither Tongue

Written on hearing the Rev. Lamont's Service in Scots,  Denburn Parish Church ’Twis a gey stammygaster, a meenister spikkin’ like yon — Nane o’ yer peely wally affairs, that hae ye hodgin’ i’ the...

The Dominie

The dominie thocht it an unca thing, The Mither tongue.Like Sabbath braws, he glorified gentility An’ hauled ma kail daily throw the rick Dubbin’ the Doric orra, coorse, ill-fared A peer realtion...

Sunday School Picnic

At first peep o’ the whussle we were aff — Hyterin by whins, a tattie wummlin’ on my speen, Pechin tae win the line.Chae cam first — a sleekit limmer o a loon, Swickin, his tattie held doon, firm,...

Hen’s Lament

It’s nae delight tae be a hen, Wi’ clooks an claws an caimb. Reestin wi the rottansIn a hen-hoose for a hame.Nae suner div I sattle doon,My clutch o’ bairns tae hatch;The fairm-wife comes — a...

Halloween

Fin nichts draw in an fires burn high An antrin bogies glower inbye An leaves gang tapsalteerie ower... Canny! Yon’s the witchin hour.Lift the neeps frae yont the dyke. Howk them oot wi muckle...

A Sair Miss

For A.J. Blackball, World Barley Champion Set doonWi the wecht o years at his back,A sklyter o yird flung ben,As a last fareweel.The mourners staun like hoodie craws Ower near the mou o the grave...

The Bogie

The Bogie bides abune the brae As queer as cannel-licht,For in a dwaum, I spied him there, Ae ghaistly, gurley nicht.His heid is hapt wi’ stringly web He hirples back an ben,A muckle humfy-backit...

Eternal Record

‘Pit yer penny on the plate,’ said Ma o’ rectitude, a pillar —(My need wis greater nor the kirk’s It AYE wis wintin siller.) ‘An dinna glower at me like yonWi’ sic a gurley look The Lord is...

Pet Shop

A hingin-luggit rabbit baps its feet, Its loupin’ snibbit in,Yarks its snoot, teetle the pen, Syne bauchles back, doup doon, Duntin the cage, in bye-gaun, Wi’ its croon.Heezin up abaneA squatter o...

Bairn-Sang

There’s a hole i’ the sky,At the back o’ the dayTae gang til’t naebody daursFor there, like a barfit bairn, stauns nicht Wi his neive stap-fu o’ starsThe day creeps oot, wi a hirplin’ gait A...

Shuffled Pack

There’s been misdeals, aboot the antrin pair A queen o’ hairts, his sattled wi’ a joker. Bit Matrimony’s an unchancy thingA gamble, like a skeely game o’ pokerThe bairns are trumps — I ken the...

Kith and Kin

He taks efter my side Man, there wisna wan o the line That couldna wheeple a tune. Black-haired as crawsAn’ kittlesome, quanter-kine.It eesed tae bamboozle me sairThe interest fowk showed in a cot...

Teem Slate

A tousie heid booed ower her latest trock (The cheapest wylins frae the sweetie shop) Bairn-pleased, an naethin blateWi twa, three, sticks o’ chalk,An’ a teem slate.A half-oor saw it cast aside...

In Absentia

‘Mak the maist o’t noo — Ye’r a lang time deid.’ Jokin’ like, the auld sang... Ay, bit it gars ye think An’ its nae sae wrang.I widna be comfyLoupin aboot wi muckle wings, Face as shiny’s a...

The Sodjer

Heatherin eerin orin aye,The drums are dirlin lood ootbye; Hiddledum diddledum deitherin deist, The pipes are willin the lads tae list.Too roo rantin reeHine awa an ower the sea; Hudderin heiderin...

The Spik o' the Lan

The clash o' the kintra claik Rins aff ma lug, as rainTeems ower the glaissy gape O' the windae pane.The chap o' the preacher's wird, Be it wise as Solomon,It fooners on iron yirdBrakks, upon...

Pastoral

Toun-fowk, wi' their cant o' couthie fairms O' reid-cheek't bairns, an hamely fare O' reemin brose bowls, sickle an the seed, Hinna the stab o' the plooIn their hairt's bluid.Like rattens i' the...

Dispossession

“See yon bit fairm on the brae-heid Stracht’s a cock’s caimb? Craw-wheeled biggins, cauld as leid, Reid, in the sun’s flame? Wir fowk aince vrocht yon lan, Kent ilkie stick an steen, Dour,...

Land Hunger

A dreep on the trough faas doon,The gate o’ the cattle- coort wallops ajee,The herdsman’s hishin the latchy kye till the byre, Sottar an tyauve, are the terms o’ a fairmer's fee.The plyter...

Land Hunger

A dreep on the trough faas doon,The gate o’ the cattle- coort wallops ajee,The herdsman’s hishin the latchy kye till the byre, Sottar an tyauve, are the terms o’ a fairmer's fee.The plyter...

The Funeral

Jock an Sandy rigged fur kirk —They vowed, they wadna missed it. Twa chiels tae bid a third adieu, The dear departit, kistit.Quo Sandy — “He's awa frae't aa, His gear is easy pairtit,Fur sic a...

Dork's No Dodo

 For Cuthbert Graham Fowk spik aboot Scots Ay, wir ain Doric leid As if 'twis a dodoWha'd drappit doon deid!As mad tae conserve an preserve the auld wirds, As a gleg taxidermist, wi putrifeed...

Horse Hurl

for Andrew Watt, Farmer, New Deer “Ye'd sic a hurl on him, as far's the gate? Ah weel, he's foonert noo, an quate.”A hard-vrocht haun, scrat-fu o girse an straeHeistit me hine ower whin an dyke,...

A Mither Tint

Isobel Booth, Hillhead of Cairnie, SkeneThe mistress o' Tipperton, couthie and kind, She winted fur naething that siller cud gie, Wi only her chuckens, an calfies till tend, There's nane hid as...

The Spae Wife

Hidden awa, in a neuk o' the fair,Slicht, an sleekit, an sly,The spae wife sits, in the spae wife's tent, Watchin the fowk gaun by.Hidden awa, in her lang-luggit lair, Her skill, the gift o' the...

Letter from a Distressed Auntie

Dear Brither —Jist a note tae say,He's settled doon rale fine... Forbye's a twa, three thingies —He's a maist inquirin mind! He's fichered wi the knobbies, Till the tractor winna start, He tint...

The Gowk and the Star

His kyte's weel happit, Fed an wattered reg'lar; His sheen are blaiked,His galluses are buttoned. He kens tae pairt his hair, If there be wint, that wint, Is nae fur claes.It's Reason, that he's...

The Country Doctor

For Dr. L.K. DawsonHe's a merriege guidance cooncillor, A dominie, a priest.It's like Jehovah's judgementYon forbiddin cry o' "Neist!”“Wee Jimmy's got the bellyache? D'ye tak me fur a feel?Wi half...

Fishie's Van

Aladdin's cave, the fishie's van, Lions hug the seerip tin,Jars, wi pearly clouds o' bubble Pickelt ingins, soor as sin.The fishie's fuskered like a walrus,Hauns as steeny-cauld's a hake, Een like...

Dalriggin

Dalriggin wis sleekit — he'd teeth like a meer's,A snicher tae match them — a tongue like a shears, That'd clip ye tae size — he'd the braidth o' yer claith, Ye'd be thrimmles an thrummles afore...

Balmennie's Nell

She'd a lip wi' a mowser,Balmennie's wife Nell,Wi' a tongue that gaed clack,Like the haimmers o' Hell.A pirn-taed, obstreperous deem, Wi' her dander sae easy caad up, Like the stoor frae a...

Noah

The Lord looked doon on Noah, Said “Turn ilkie stick an stane, An capture ivery kind o' beast Afore it sterts tae rain.”They nippit up the gang plank, Strippit, spottit, black, an broon, Syne Noah...

Jist Dan

Stringin the wirds thegither, Like a blin man threidin beads, Fu's a puggie, hyterin happily Breeks bumshayvelt, spayver lowsedAe fit forrit, three steps back: Deef, tae peety or blame.Abody's...

Halloween

A chap at the door — a lichtit neep Rikken o' cannel-flame.The pitterin-patt o' feery feet; Guisers, thrangin the lane.The fleggit myowt o' a lanely bairn, Wha kens that aa's nae richt,Wis yon a...

Four Bairn Sangs

The BatThe Bat's a midnicht falderal, An upside doon asleep, Umbrella at a funeral,Hung in the kirk, tae dreep.Oh blin-eed, blearie, fleein moo We canna as be bonnie,Bit fin the Lord dispensed...

Points of a Compass

A village voyeur, Blearie beldame,Lifts the screen on scandal.She's maistered the drapped suggestion, The sleekit question. Sookin up sklaik,Auld slorrach, Horny-gollachin her wyeBen creepy-crawly...

Gloaming

For the folk of Muick, Gairn and TullichIn the queer half-licht o' gloamin, The dreich win hauds its braith, It's then that fowk walk wary, An the birk stauns still as daith.In the queer...

Nicht Fears

Fin dweeble dwines the day awa, The meen's a yalla, rikkin ring, Steerin the cauldron o' the gloam, The howlet's horror, on the wing.Sherp-clookit futteret leaves the dyke, The bat's sma screich's...

The Tea Pairty

For Robbie and Esma Shepherd.English bedd in the wireless. We let it oot, whyles,Turnin a knob, fur a bit diversion. Min', we hidna a doonricht aversion til't It jist didna belang;Keepit fur...

Twa Bairn Days

Ile on Troubled WatterFive years auld.He caa'd me "Wee pudden"I caa'd him ower,Neived his wirds intil a ticht knot, Knuckled wi' Biblical accuracy, Richt intil his left ee.It moved, a jeely...

Wirds

Crusty, compact as a crabThe thorn o' wir hale confab, We canna lay hauns on't easyNiver say dab.Ruggin compliments frae us Is nae mean feat — Pairtin a sookin bairn Frae its mither's teat.Awkward...

Ophelia

Watter ay jives, leaves nae untidy seam. A salmon loup's bit a haun's clap, The neives knit ticht thegither,Haudin sic thochts! Derk, as Excalibur.Cast in a random steen,A muckle, gapin wound,...

The Reiver

Gin I cud haud the peesie in her flichtAn catch the sang that hovers in her throatGin I cud track the leverick ben the nichtAn reive the liltin limmer o' her noteI'd hae a sang wirth singin.Gin I...

Doon an Oot

A doon-an-oot. A wino. Her face wis minkit. Lord, she stank tae High HeavenTart's nails, beetroot reid,Braith, sickly sweet, Fit scaffie's binForgot tae pit the tin Lid on her?I tell ye I hid tae...

Condemned Building

Peint wirks winners, Happen a crack here,A death-watch beetle there ...The "For Sale" sign's doon, Naebody'd buy. Structurally spikkin,It's nae in a guid wye.It niver wis soun, i' the first place....

The Thwarted Suitor

That ony quine sud bring me doon, I' faith — it's maist provokin, I'm saft's a bap fin Belle's aroon, She disna gie a docken!I'd like tae fauld her tae ma breist, (An muckle mair beside)Bit dour's...

Tinker's Sang

The tinker sang aneth the meen,O' Love gaen wrang, the auld lament, O' aathing tint, an aathing taen, As if its sorra he hid kent.As birdies wheeple roon the gean, An pree the cherries frae the...

The Serpent's Sang

For A. Maker.Gin I wis ivy I wid twineYon lang, lean limbs, unyieldin's stare, Sear laggard thocht — a kinnelt vine, Wi' leaves o' langin fill his een.He'd learn tae loe me, quick eneuch, Gin he...

Miss McBrodie

Hard on the meenit-heid She snibs her buik.Her schule-marm suit,Sterched stiff, in Bible black, Nae fripperies o' stertlin fite For the bairns' distraction.Perjink — "Ye'll write yon oot...

Breem Beddit

The wids are wide, the heather's thick, It wraps her roon, a bonnie plaidie, The bracken winna clype nor cheep, The lea-lang nicht, he held her steady.An fin auld age creeps in twa-fauld, Maks o'...

Narcissus

Gin Narcissus hid bin human,(Insteid o' a wee powder puff o' whimsy) He'd nae been mesmerised b' mirrors. Mebbe the chiel wis real eneuch,Findin Reality a thochtie teuch, Forgot tae dicht his...

Lot's Wife

Luikin back, she saw her maiden-sel; Her sma breist, warmIn the palm o' his langin,The sliddery girse, the broon yird Movin aneth them.Twa in ain,A Beltane jinin,Makkin a wumminOot o' a trimmlin...

Winter Wooin

Smoorichin saftly throw the fir A wooer in a silken veilIs the sleety smirr,The doon-scud, i' the burnie's dreel, Dird-dirlin roon frae tap till tail, Is the fiddler's reel.The birks staun...

The Holocaust

The futterat an the cooshie doo Looked doon frae Bennachie, An saw a skyrie mushroom, Growin hine up frae the sea.“Gweed sakes an Lord b' here,” they cried, “Fit queer-like ferlie's thon?I'd sweir...

The Roundabout

Each man's an embryo-cell, Each mither cairries,A livin waa o' bluid,Limits wir scope,Sneckit within,The derkness o' heredity.Bairnhood swaps ae confine For anither. Tethered ahin The apron...

Time Scale

Gin the clouds war teemin graves, Scalin the horde o' humanity, Back, till the hinmaist generation, Aa their pith an pooer,Doon in a steep rain,'Twid be a short shower, tummlin.Ye may rin tae the...

Bull

Hinnered b' dark,I gaed unsteady fittit.The steadin's bulk, moose-squeakin In the cat's paw, o' the torch.It fixed a hingin towe, A scaled sack,In its selective clook. The kent road wrang, Stanes...

Towser

Towser — got on a wirkin bikk, The Lord kens whaur,B' a sire that wis three quarts wolf, Touch, gin ye daur.He'd seek yer haun, sud the humour suit, A roch, weet tongue, an a powkin snoot, At a...

Hame-Drauchtit

There's waur-aff fowk;I've a hoose, an a rikkin lum, I've meat in ma wame,An a puckle o years tae come; Bit lang's the unquate nicht Fin the clash o the day is deen. An oh, it's a sair-made...

Glen Muick i' the Mither Tongue

The skies drift doon — a dreepin blur That maks o Ben an brae a shroud. As if grown weary o the lan, The mountain coories i' the cloud An naething steers within this warld O stormy lift, an...

Lochnagar in Autumn

D'ye see yon lowrin BenBroon as the brackened grun, Lordin the hale o the glen, Darklin oot the sun?Its burns come whummlin doon, Croonin their ain lament, Wheeplin their wee bit tune Wi the gowd...

Allt Darrarie

Burn of the Stunning Noise, Glen MuickSlaverin, slubberin, gibberin, gabberin, Roon wi a wallop, a sklyter, a sweel,Yonder's the burn, in its bairnhood, it's blabberin Heich-lowpin puddock, wi...

Allt an-t-Sneachda

The Snowy Burn, Glen MuickCauld as the cawin o a craw, Deid-thraa o Sorra ... Winter's loun Lays on its broo, the skirps o snaw, Black widow-weeds, its goun. In Spring, it's lowpin like a bawd,...

The Salmon

Oh tae be a salmon, comin skelpin doon the Dee! Simmer scalin ower ma tail,Lowpin through the linns,Wummlin ower the rapids, i' the cauld, snaw bree, An jinkin as the fishers wi ma fins.I widna...

River Images

There's eloquence in watter, The swack-tongued element ... A gushin Babylon,Screivin lang langamachies in puils. There's danger in keekin. Frae a heich altarThe water thunners doon a sermon....

Dee Journey

A caller skelp o stane an storm, Braeriach's sides are tempest-torn; An in yon weety, derksome wame, Whaur win is ice an sun's a flame, The birlin Dee is born. A sna-brig haps her growin tide,-...

Monaltrie's Men

for Captain A.A.C. Farquharson, Invercauld*As I cam doon the Pinkie Brae An ben the rodden den,I thocht I heard the trampin O' Monaltrie's Heilanmen... 'Twis jist the rattle o the breem, The...

Tomnaverie

for Dr. Cuthbert GrahamHeich upon muirlan girse they lie, A linkit chine o fitenin stanes Aybydan neth a shiftin sky; Weird as a boorichie o banes.The bluebells ring the girssy puil, The nichts...

Beaker Scot

I live,Anely as pairt o this braid lan,This knottit neive o cliff an furlin gull Staunin atween the neep parks an the sea.I luik,Anely as pairt o the raven lift, Gadhelic widden-dreme,O a tummelt...

War Time. 1914-1918

For Private William Middleton, Gellan, CoullI'm telt ye threw yer watchOotower the kirk. The hinmaist Thing ye did on the wye tae war. Prood o yon time-piece,Feart it wad be bladdit.Did it stop...

Peat Gaitherin, Birse

Hill-girt; the storm's stramash:A hoolet's myowt. The skelp o rain Dancin a hoolichan on the fairm pane. Kerfuffled bed claes, bairns whisperin: "Gin the morn's fine, we gaither peat."Tongues...

Twa Views o Glen Gairn

The Licht o Love“A fleerich o moosies' backs are the knowes o Mar, Fleein the raven's wing o Lochnagar.”"Oh, bit yer wrang; it's the airm o the muckle Ben, The shepherd o hind an hare, takkin care...

Ower Blate

The gangrel kittlin's feart tae raxx an purr In perfect warmth afore the forkit flameAn sae bides ootlinned-neuked, bedraiggled fur, Nur winna steer the reid hearth-heat tae claim.The table's...

The Slichtit Lassie's Sang

Hard an sudden, as the huntsman's shot Sinks i' the saftness o the snawy dove,Deep as the dirk on its derk business quests, I' the gralloch o the stag,Sae wad I loue ye, love.I'd mak my skin as...

Destiny

My bairns walk blythely on the open muir —Their path is straucht an sunny. Mine is blae. They min rejoicin; I maun hirple, sweir, I fear the howes o derksome Destiny.She sits an spins the thrums...

Spring in Cromar

Spring in Cromar is an open yett,Wi the heich rigs turned an black,Whaur the creepie-crawlie tractor climms Frae the ploo-cuts at its back.The meltin muir is rinnin weet,A hare in an ermine...

Year's End

The bonnie birds are winged an gaen, Yowes hug the dykes like driven sna: The anely cry that rings the rigs, The brukken caa'in o the craw.An cauldly cruel's the win that cuts The birks sae barely...

Last Step

by Tullich, overlooking the Coyles There's nae a finer sicht in the warld: Than the last step nearest hame.There's nae a burn, bit I ken its turnAn its roarin road's my ain.Quate they lie neth...

The Bonnie Banks o Dee

Tho Springtime gars the sna-bree rin An sweet's the day, wi blossom bricht, Oh yatterin peesie haud yer wheesht, For as tae me is constant nicht.Tho simmer turn the barley broon, The sonsie heids...

The Back o Beyond

Linn o QuoichFit div ye dae at the Back o Beyond? 'Twid tak me a year tae tell!As weel coont gowd in a goblin's crock Or steek the sea-in a shell.Ye may lizard-lie on a lazy rock, A sprig o an...

Ballater Bairnhood

Rage they did till their tongues were lair -- Faith — nettle's a gey short sting. A skelpit dowp an a grumphin glower, Ne'er clippit a lintie's wing.I niver cared, dell nur docken,They micht...

Watter

Raither than rainin cats an dugs, Whit if it rained doon fowk insteid? Dreichdoms o dominies; Lochans o artists;Puddles o Civil Servants Pitterin ower yer held?A muckle, great, clorty sea; O...

The Poacher

The meen wis a scythe new-sherpened, The burn wis a feerin black;The poacher socht him a harvest, Whaur the rinnin waves lie slack. The meen played tig wi the gloamin, Ben hidey-holes o pine,Whaur...

Haundit Doon

Granfaither. Neat-caimbed mowser. Fair the swell In yer Masonic apron. I've bin telt,Fin ye gaed on the spree,The anely thing left staunin wis the shelt.Aa weemin saften till a handsome body,...

Abyne Games

Noo — nae anither hurl on yon, I'm tellin ye — ca-cannie,Ye'd think the siller grew on trees! Oh — there's thon affa mannie;It's “Ye'll dae this,” an “Ye'll dae yon”: (He's jist a perfeck...

Twa Chiels

ChaeTam luiked at Chae, an saw a gype ... Bit Jock said,"Na — he's shy,He's eeseless, harmless, scuttery, Bit och, it's jist his wye.”Jean luiked at Chae, an thocht him dreich, Nae tuned fur...

Auld Will

Half-seas-ower wis his hooseLike a dreep on the drap,A tummelt-doon dykeWi a lum at its tap.There wis stew on the mantlepieceStrae on the rugAn the lino wis near as moth-etten's the dug.Its...

The Cuckoo Clock

Miss Hardie grippit inno a flooery peenie,The stoor o her chalk gaun screichin in pluffs o virr, Wi the chuffie-cheeks o a post-war Mussolini, Kept 40 bairns in a state o perpetual birr.A gran an...

A Dauner Ben Eden

The Tree o LifeThrough sna an sun the spurgies cheep. Hame-haudin birds their flicht is sma An ay a cheery ootluik keep,Their plain concerns a watergaw.Wing heicher up the Tree o LifeThe corbie,...

Kennin

Fin asked, fit is a yeitie?Ane wid describe its class, t'ither, its mak Its station in the hierarchy o birds, Its dietary fads, an reproduction. Nae me; a yalla yeitie's soun,A simmer cheepin in...

Heelstergowdie

On the heidy bield o the hill, Sib tae the glaissy starns, Catchin their shine in yer haun(Thon brukken spars o Infinity)Ye staun, fishin the lift For the eident meen:An ant, assumin a mantle o...

Alpha an Omega

Sang till the Unborn BairnYe slippit aneth ma breist, Murmerin thrum o life, Soomin in secret watter Kittle an blythe.I maun cairry an keep ye, Bairn i' the bane, Trimmlin sap i' the leaf, Wecht...

Dwaum

Fur William BlakeWhaun day's a closin curtain, Sun's a slippin band o reid, Ilkie flooer's a snibbit petal, Ilkie bird's a happit heid,Syne silence, in a stately goun, Walks siller-grey on green,...

Phoenix

A misanthropic meenister. A black shag. His pulpit-pouer bigged heich On a Satanic crag.I coored frae his goun that flapped, Wide as the wings o Hell,A pinioned, fledglin bairn. Bumbazed, on...

Phantasmagoria

for J.D.Gomersall]The ghaistly dancers starred abeen The crescent o the sickle meen, Slide sounless roun a seamless cave, Swingin their lanterns ower the lave.Flickerin patterns on a waa,Ilk...

From “Le Roman Inacheve”, Love which is not a word

by Louis Aragon, freely reset in Scots. Fur Rene Magritte.Ye fan me, like a stane scrauned frae the shore, Like a tint, fremmit ferlie, o unkent design, Like dulse on a sextent, scaled frae the...

Bairn Rhyme

for Morag The owl's a hoot — his lugs cock oot The gull's umbrella fittit.The coo's a coat-rack on his broo The yowie's back is knittit.The yirdy wirm is back tae front His twa weet snoots are...

The Gorblie

for Ross"Pit yer finger in the gorblie's hole, the gorblie's nae at hameHe's roon the back o the hen hoose, pykin an auld deid hen" Trad. Ye ken, yon's a jibber o havers.He's NIVER far ye wad...

The Corbie

He draps frae the dyke, a sweengin gibbetRaxxin his warlock's duds. His weird, misshapen clooks Gang wigglety-wagglety ower the girse. Untender.A render o deid flesh, he'd pyke the een frae a...

Jumbo

A humphy skyscraper, the jumboSkushles along like a lan'-locked, pensioned tar; A showdie Titanic, trailin His tooshtie o tail ahin, like a bargee's towe. Grounded, yon cargo o' guffs, Yon...

Phobias

Fin rattens chitter ahin the door Drookit an clorty, sleekit forby, Reeshlin aroon the fit o yer bed, Far'll ye fly?Fin the neuks are hotchin abeen yer heid, Wi spiders deistin doon till yer...

Deid Hawk

Twa worm-bored holesChunnerin maggots, pykin a daylicht path in the hunter's een    A secunt sicht, its riven waas, ant brewinGuffs o rot as great as its lang faBringer o Daith, levelled till...

The Rites o Hairst

The winter howe's a hermit. A pious note or twa, Faas, frae the chaste fingers o a yew.Black upon fite, convents o birksIncant their beads o snaw in nun-like silence. Spring's barfit...

Leaf

Tak ae wee leaf. A' piper o thin notesIn ony back-green symphony,Its widlan warld, thirled tae the hum o leevin.Vibrancy o rain (surely it wad reca) aince glimmered alang its stem. Yet, in...

Village Shop

There's bagfus o kinnlin, there's kebbucks o cheese There's pirls o ingins, doonhingin in queues Bit the chiel in command wi the dark dungarees Wints a boorich o blethers, a nippick o news.The...

Land

Dark druids, the meenlicht corn Wi'ts myriad een; the peeled Blades o its leaves, fite hauns That's linked in a queer ceremony. Forgotton secret, lost in the Black, black grun,That lies, as auld...

Prodigal

Kenspeckle craiturs, the fairm-dyeuk's eggs Keepit thir ain shells An thirsels tae thirsels. The foremaist flew aff in a cloud o stoor Ower steadin an meen — the darin' een.The lave, on a tichter...

Dawn an Gloam

Dawn steers, half-drooned in sleep, droggit wi dwaumin. Dreams link hauns an flee, nicht-thistledown,Blawn, bi the lip o waukfulness. Shaddae-thochts wither awa Like frichtit fawns.The dawn's a...

Sufi Oor-glaiss

Time is a Bedouin, reengin the lanCupped frae the desert, the gangrel o san Teems, sweengin her skirts in a birlin o broon A burnie o meenits, gaun whummlin doonA jimp-wasted glaiss ye may cowp in...

Buik-Learnin

"A dominie, lass, is a man amang loons Nae denyin ye that — Bit a loon amang men.The craiturs are aa verra weel —Bit fit div they ken aboot calvin, or hyowin, Or onythin' eese?Thon oot-lyin parks,...

Intercity

Deil the skirp o burn or loch Embankments, heich an hilly. Dashin by, a streek o rock Dykes an Wanderin Willie, Sookit hard's a pandrop Swallaed bi a tunnelDark's a mowdie's drainpipe Black's a...

Unicorn in Union Street

The bigsie cooshie doos, vauntie as cooncillors, Strut i' the sun, atap their quarried Parthenon. Splay-fitted dyeuks, sploosh i' the Duthie Park In wellington-weet.Bit I delicht in half-licht, in...

Gallery

Catched concepts, caged ahin glaiss.Studies in style, pernickity or freak.Fikey perjink, bi mammoth-monumental. Ilkie ain unique. Sic eloquent quate! Nae communal contention!Flamingo-pink, a...

Nor' Sea

A rim o unhapt, drooned, unhaly, things, The beach bubbles dereliction.A brukken fish box floats,Affcast frae nets.Oot a place, oot o jointArticles, wha've tint their anchor Nae pointO'...

Last Tango in Aiberdeen

"Are ye dancing?"Torry rock, an Bon-Accordion jive.Queen B. o the hive."Na. It's jist the wye I'm staunin."The raws o wallflooers wilted,Batted petal-een o scunner an mascaraFashioned tae be...

Across a Crowded Room

after Botticelli's Primavera "Yer weirin yon glekit luik," quo ma pal. "Like ye've won the pools. Lettin yer thochts hing oot. Face rearranged like a Braque. This is the granite city. Stiff upper...

Twa Limmers

Tantalus War he a reed, she'd rax tae be his bowThe reeshlin, randy strae, she'd stap the manger War he a stag, she'd be the hummel doe An wi him, thole the brunt o ony dangerA Springtime...

Sunday Service

Twa peaks o' prayer, Kate Wabster's hauns are pyntit Her heid's held heich — bit the blessin o' God is tint An fa'd hae thocht, as ane o the Lord's annointed She'd tyne her sense, fur a chief she...

Bitter Sweet

Ye think the sun should shine as day? It widna please the gairdeners!An gin the rain ding doon the hay It fair dismays the fairmers.The snoddest rose will job yer thoomb, The aipple rot, an...

Litter o' Love

They neither winted fur claes, nur care Nur a piece fur the playtime bell Fowks quick tae gie, an slow tae blame(Far there's nocht tae blacken their ain guid name) Kennin the wye things sat at...

Sugar 'n' Spice

Hid yon guid wirds been writ fur me,“Turn ye the ither cheek”Thole twa black een, far wan wid dee. God wid hae made me meek.Sugar 'n' Spice an aathing nice?Na — bit a hill-cat's spitAn the...

Eve and Oedipus

He'd wed an enchantress — she'd turned a mishanter His sack, niver laundered, nae thocht till his care The bane o contention, his first love, byordnar Her shadow cast lang ower the ill-greein...

Granny's Pet

His seeven lives rin oot thrice ower. He's swack's a kittlin-breenge an bob. As weel he micht — my gleyin glower's A kettle, hotterin on the hob.Aince bile, an it's a clippin cloor Bit granny...

Blin Robin

A hallyrackit billie, galluses agley Roch-chinned; ye'd crack a spunk Upon the stibble(Twa days growth forby).A weel-worn chielIt seemed as thoughHe'd seen it as    dane it as Stramashes — booze —...

Joseph Gillanders

Joseph Gillanders, o a siccar raceHim, o the rovin haun, an rovin eeO passions kept a brace.Love o a comely queat, an a fat bawbeeAn whaur his brethern culled a single bloom Joseph Gillander's...

North East Neuk

For the late Dr. Cuthbert GrahamCorn maun be gaithered, sortit, stookit snod Unbiggit sheaves will niver cam tae ocht Tae showder, wullinly, anither's loadHandsel a hairst o wirds, wide-reengin...

Mither Tongue

Fit's a whigmaleerie?Dinna speir at me!Them that speirs nae questions, Arena telt a lee!Fit's a stammygaster?Fegs, ye dinna ken?Ye've as little on yer tongue's The teeth upon a hen!Fit's...

Meditation Nummer Ane

fur Ian ScorgieI drew frae the conjuror's hat A whylie's silence.Through the stage-door trap,I drapt, in unencumbered solitude Doon, in a well o' quietudeThe wheels unfurl yonderThe cardboord...

The Pearl

The pearl's a frozen shard o skaith, The ovum, in the oyster reest, A glimmerin orb o clammy daith, Pierced canker, in a rendrin breist.Cauld gem, the wastrel ocean's bairnO aa the ferlies kent on...

Archaeologist

Ah'm an archaeologist.Ah open tombs. Dream dreams. Ficherin with the jigsawO ma ain past,Ah've managed tae drap it; An illusion, in smithereens.Ithers get the sarcophagus.Ah get the curse.Ony...

Reflections

The timmer-heided tree,Dis it consider the skirp o growth, The Adam bud o its reet?Raxxed till the complexity o a twig;Dis it fear the, rot that hungers fur its fa?An wid it murn, aince yearly,The...

Strathbogie Spring

As I gaed doon b' Huntly toun I heard a cushie wheeple,A hummel doo, her cutty goun Wis hamely as her threeple."I anely sik a bittie corn A sma thing, tae be speirin. An fa wad gie a bird the...

Time Lords

Written late evening, Glen MuickTwa ferlies frae a torn poochThat fortunes winna save — Drap man an woman — coins o chanceThe derk loch claims them baith.Aa tyauve, achievement, sweetness,...

Patterns of Life

A bigsie chiel, o sma accoont,Liftit his heid ae dayAn frae the verra founs o ignorance, bespak That aa aroon, stars, sun, an warldWis some cosmic mishanter, a celestial mistak. Nae mishanter...

Visitors

Car-loads o scunners on the haik,Brigades o' Sabbath swanks,Troosers pressed hard as tramlines Thick-skinned, as Kaiser's tanks."Visitors," quo granny, "Are like fish.Kept ower lang, they...

Strangers, tak tent

Bog slumbers deep; aince breech the skin, ye'll sink. Wauk circumspect, we arena surface fowk,Spreadin wir braws fur ony gangrel tinkRaxxin wir mou', tae gibber wi a gowk.We keep a cannie clutch,...

Responsible

The aik wis michty, Samson-strang. The girnin Ivy crept alang Furlin aroon lik bough an bark Wyvin the aik a secunt sark,She speired an socht, "Look efter me!" Sookin the guidness frae yon...

Seed-Cycle

Frae seed tae bud, an hinmaist, seed again As in its prime, the blossom croons the stem Sae, in yon flooer's yirdly spanWe see the pattern o a man.I think it is the hardest thing o aa,Tae watch...

The Dall

The dall, since glen tae me Wis jeelin as dule.Wis't a gift, or a toolA likeness o whit quines sud be?Fit weird a lassie maun dree? Fyeuchie's a wirm, Fooshionless, blae, still-born Wis the dall...

Puppeteer

I liked tae pu the towes. Gar things lowp till a set threid O fancy, as ma ain devisin. Nae Punch and Judy styte. Na; high-falutin stuff. Lear, Montrose, John Knox ... Smilin as I pit them through...

Heilan Games

Anither Games. It trysts them back Like salmon up the burn — The glen fowk, the Ben fowk, sae thick ye canna turn Fur frienly Celtic bourichies; the faimlies intertwine An ay the ripple throw the...

Generation Gap

for MorvenModern bairns are additive stappit Niacin, protein, vitamin CGie them brose — they winna takk it Yoghurt, yak's-dirt MuesliModern bairns gie shears the go-by Spike hair, pink's a soo's...

The Granary

Seeven crouse years in Pharoah's lan The craps grew swete an green.Seeven coorse years in Pharoah's lan The hairstin rigs stude teem.Feint the reeshle o a grainFeint the corn tae gleanSeeven green...

Celestial Discourse

Lord,Fyle the sermon wyes yer wecht in wirdies,(The lave, heids-booed, sit stinch, on dottlit hurdies) WID YE HEAR, Omnipotence, fa plenished the sea GIN I SPEIR (presumptious tho it be)Ae...

Holy Willies

Heroes ye niver hear oGlower, mealie-mooed an beetle-brooed At Ne'er dae weels,Tow-rags, flee-ups, an ither gallus chiefs Fa mak a cheery kirk or mill o' Life, An sweeten't wi a lassie, or a...

Sisyphus

It wis a doddle; rowin yon stane till the tap Balancin peace o' Mind ower a towerin drap Deistit up frae the foun.Contrary, the stane cowped doon;A game fur the young an swack.Bein gallus, an gey...

Incommunicado

I stopped tae spik wi Wattie Spence, He wis a moosie, gaitherin corn.His hale confab, wis pounds an pence The nest, he'd feather-bed the morn.I stopped tae spik wi John McBride He cheeped...

Eurydice

I am telt, Eurydice, that ghaists maun be laid.That the heidstane maun slide on the lid o the past. That worritin auld banes, is an unhalesome pastime The last luik o ye, quine.Maun be jist yon —...

Twa Ferlies

Aince, I wis gaen twa ferlies, a keepsake an a toy. The keepsake wis a vase o sic a purityIt mirrored aathin, heicht, an depth, an licht; Greedy fur images, it sooked them inTae its reflective...

The Boundless Sea

for J.D. GomersallAn ill-yokt pair is merriment an' dule Ane's trottin trig, the tither rugs the load Heid-doon, slaw fittit, foonert in the glaur The tichtenin bit, gyan deep as ony goad.Ye grip...

Crockery in Confab

A puckle affcast crockery wid news,Jined b' Adversity, grown fell compatible, Voicin their sair predicament, their views Set doon their worries, cairds upon the table.The trimmlin tea cup only...

Twa Roads till an End

There comes a time, at the dour back end Fin the craps are in an storedThe birds flee gyte, fur the Winter's bite's On a lan, far the growth lies smored. A fairmer traivels his ain bit grun — It's...

Room fur Remembrance

Sma fire, sma-boukit fairmer. A collie, yoamin o damp fir Its een, twa blaik dowsed coals, lies sprauchled ahin the door. Ootbye's an aipple tree, rypit o its fruit.This room, aince stoot's a...

A Gibbon on Evolution

In the monkey hoose, a gibbon, orang-ootang, an baboon, War sociably flechin, fin a veesitor walked roonA scientist. He claiked aboot the origins o man On reets an evolution ... foo humanity began...

Ulysses

Neist time that yer menfowk are late winnin hame Spare a thocht fur Penelope, sittin her lane Fur twenty lang year, in byordnar ill teenRehearsin ae question ... "Jist far hiv ye been?" He hummed,...

True Tammas

True Tammas lay on Huntly bank Bi tribulations herriet;Fur seeven years lang, this mortal man Upon a fey, wis merriet.Fit wis the gift she gied tae him, Her lover's gift, in pairtin'? A tongue...

The Pudden

A haggis an a thistle-shank, began a disputation,On fa'd be best ambassador, tae serve the Scottish nation The haggis wisna blate tae spik — (the belly o a sheep, a win' — bag cornucopia, sets...

Gowd

Charles Middleton born Aboyne 1907, died Aberdeen 1988        Dwined till a dwaum yon moss-green kindly een,    His sang that raise as a shoutFin his warld wis young, crined till a myowt    Late,...

Hairst-Heirskip

The baler rummles the strae Tirred, til a tousie oxterfu Bricht bourichs on the brae.Caff flees in gowden styewAs the bales dunt on the parkIn the hash an fash tae be throw Er the mochy glimmer o...

Viva Aiberdeen!

Lovers cuddlin bi the sea ... Yon wid melt a slider:Fit's yen paiddlin in ma tea? Gyad! A muckle spider:Neive wi posies o ice cream Cones wi chocolate, tappit,Wi a beam as braid's yon deem, I wad...

Muir o Dinnet

Hard bi the heath, the loch-fowk lie In the raxxin reeds far peesies cryAn the Culblean braes that ran wi reid Saw clash o arms,o the nameless deid Sit deuce and snod,A brimmin bowl o hedder...

The Roup

The auctioneer held haimmer ower a bid; Heistin his eyebroos heich, as if tae speir Fit price a lifetime's hairst,ingaithered? The blatterin win rattled the hard-won gear.Aince, thon braes stude...

Carn-na-Cuimhne

(Muster cairn of Clan Farquharson.)For Captain A.A.C. Farquharson,sixteenth chief of Clan Fhionnlaidh, and his wife FrancesWhaur sun's a blin an a blearie eeA well o licht, in a gurly seaAn the...

A Stane by the Allt Darrarie, Spittal o Glen Muick

Bonnie muirlan stane, Egg nestled on the grun, A tear-drap neth the air, Salmon-speckled cone, Rarer nor ony pearl, Gin I cud unsteek ye, Keek at yer core,Whit ferlies wid be there?Born o win an...

Sna

A silent sameness, happt wi caul,The sna devours the lan wi nae devaul. Maks mockerie o milestanes,Soun faas thin. I like the sna,Nae tracks that bideAe shift o the winAn aa's creation — cleanAs a...

Fir Wid

for Jessie KessonI like tae lie deep doonIn a Scots fir wid.It disna sook nor clingIt's a phalanx o sword,Wi adequate room fur manoeuvreIn the resin kingdom, A fir is dragon-green It is honed tae...

Palette

Reid.Hips an haws.Hairt's bluid. Blue.Forget-me-not,Rue.Yalla.Coordy, gay.Breem spray. Green.Meevin girse.Black. Grievin, hearse.Broon.Peat burn, whummlin doon.Purple. Heather, thyme.Thon's mine!

The Yird an the Meen

For Dr Danny Gordon, Inverurie, Bennachie Baillie.She stude, a mystic mirror, A vauntie, siller queenThe barren mistress o the derk The prood an preenin meen.Alang the nicht, her moonbeams sped,...

Winter Burial, Tullich

Wummin, licht, warmth.Aa are a birth token. Dowie, the derksome hills. Mither Eird lies open,Ugsome as a wound.The cycle o life is brukken. Winter furls eldritch, aroon.A kinsman's airm, steadies...

Of Travel

Fureign destinations are fur fowk fa likes tae raikTae me, they're bit the harrigals — the puddens o a haikYet, set me doon b' Lochnagar, or twenty miles aroonIt's as though I'd tint a bawbee,...

The Swick

For Dr. & Mrs L.K.Dawson, Skene If there be ain fa canna see The beauty o the NorthFa canna hear the soundin geese That cry his fitsteps forth, He maun be blin — an deef, forby, A kiln o crackit...

Ballater Bairnhood

A pictur, bricht on the broo,O cantie streets, in the hap o a caller glen. Trig biggins, kirk, an green,A birn fur shops, stappit wi Celtic braws The warld steered throw, an ben.Nichtly, a...

The Lecht

Wis there iver sic a road as thon? The planner maun been fouIt dings yer pech intil yer pooch Yer hairt intil yer mou.Divil's Elbow? Divil's Oxter!It's a rhyme wi'oot a ruleIt's a humfy-backit...

Gangrel's Sang

At nicht fin the bairns are bedded doon The hash o the day set byI clim the stairs, as a wife maun dee An lie, far a wife maun lie.Twa sleepers, close as braith itsel Rowed in the linen fineHis...

Embro Toun

For Tom HubbardSalt on yer tail — she's a hotterin stew O the kent, the fremmit, the auld, the new The cassie-claik o the Embro hures Rikkin an rerr as Turkish flooers Fur coat frills on a bare...

Rab Wilson - Tradition of Scots language

BBC Scotland has produced a range of new Scots language resources. Check them out at the BBC Learning Zone.

Heilan Toast

For the members of the Deeside Field ClubSome pledge a health wi usquebaughAn ithers, wi the wine. I'd mairry malt an watterTae drink tae thee, an thine. An wi the fire, I'd wed the ice Jine wi...

Sea-Sang

For J.D.Gomersall. Burn, a mountain teems brak-neck, Nerra mill-lade, breengin beck, Ilk an ivry tribut'ry, Sikks the sea's simplicity. Inby oceans, aa is ane Skaith an tribble's dished, an...

The Win

For Brian & Mary Wright, Prony Farm,Glen Gairn.The win that shaks the trees this nicht Brings comfort in its lee,I ken it's roved by dark Ben A'nAnd skimmed the waves o Dee.It cairries hinny, in...

Vanishing Aberdeen

Fin I wis wee,I chased the seaI catched it, syne it drookit me!It made me cannie, hardy, thrawn, In short, an Aiberdonian!

Watter

For Charles & Vera King.Gin wirds war watter, Oh the ploys I'd try!I'd dook me, dyeuk-delichtfu,Drookit in puils o the things!Guddle fur oors,Doonin a fyew wee drams o the real Mackay. Oh ay, I...

Linn o Quoich

For Mrs James Forbes, The Square, Tarland.War I a stane at Linn o Quoich, I'd rule like ony queen.The velvet win wad mantle me, The bonnie birk sae green, An fur my Royal vanities,The frost wad...

The Ain that Got Awa

For the members of the Charles Murray Memorial TrustFin fishy tales wir bandied, he wis keepit in his neukFor feint the fish he'd guddled, or inveiglet on his hyeuk. Bit fowk got a stammygaster,...

The Tryst

I met Anither, b' the burnie's rim,A bairn, wi violets dauncin in her eenAn lauchter reamin there … sic joyAs airches like a wattergaw, ben quate puilsPuin the antrin buttercup, she wis, tae kep...

Dookin

Delicht taks mony forms,Yet dookin in watter's the Prince o the gowden keys. The troot in me splurges gledsome,Breengin up, in a Halloween o a bleezeO pleisur, warm as a sun-bolt,Piercin the...

Adder

Meetin the warld wi a fleerish,Ye are ...A monkish illuminationA hotterin, Hecate hissA blaik italic scroll.A rigmaroleAs lang as a swippert Ganges,A Tiber, Euphrates,A san-slidderin, nerra Nile.A...

Leaf

Tak ae wee leaf. A piper o thin notesIn ony back-green symphony,Its widlan warld, thirled tae the hum o leevin. Vibrancy o rain(Surely it wid reca)Aince glimmered alang its stem. Yet, in...

Van Gogh

Sunlicht kens nae boundsNur yet the win, the ticht grip o haudin.Nae tetherin the towes o fancy That can slip reality As quick as simmer rain.The yird may bindYon eident fingers,Mount its graissy...

For Joseph Farquharson, RA Laird of Finzean

An whau gaed ye the power, man? An whau gaed ye the airt?Tae catch the lowe o gloamin? Tae brak a body's hairt?Whaur did ye learn, tae paint the win The sab, o Autumn nicht?The eildrich mists o...

At the Gallery — Aberdeen Artist's 52nd Exhibition

Raws o windaes, picturs.Framed thocht,Spotlichts umpteen interiors. Etchins are perjink, Best-tie-an-dickie, Cannily vrocht. Action-stopper! Kamikazi colour Hollers a hulloo. There's a swatch o...

Psychiatrist

“Learn my mind … show me yours. Then go and say that you met me. Let us try each other. If I have a wrong principle, rid me of it; if you have, out with it.”Epictetus Cam richt oot wi't."Stop...

Quasimodo

The sweet rot o the bramble buss, Scratched entanglement o firs, Places o half licht,Are jungles o concealment. Shaddaes, lang i the sun, Cannibalised, amang a wab o jylers.A wounded boar, riven...

Touch

Fingerens dreepit in rain, clay, dubs,(Yon primal mellin o yird an watter)It's jeelin, creatin a feelinIn mouldable dust ... mair eloquent, vital, potent Nor an air-bubble burst o wird ...Foo...

Instinct

The umbilical cord's nae cut, Bit,Nuzzlin, guzzlin, sookinPure, warm, soothin pleisurThe new-born kens the richt road Natural as breathin.A grippit pencil Fittit.Seemed my fingers war Fashioned...

Air Raid Shelter

At the siren's wail,At the first sign o trouble,Ah dinnae rin for an air raid shelter.Ah'm nae an ostrich, Nae sand here,Could ye nae jist pictir an ostrich,Wi' a dubby heid?At the siren's wail,At...

Buts an Bens

Louis Aragon died on Christmas Eve, 1982, aged 85.“Buts an Bens” is a resetting in Scots of his poem, “Les Chambres” (1969) Aa the rooms o ma lifeWull hae thrappled me wi their waas.Yonder, the...

The Open Yett

For the members o the Scots Language SocietyThere's a yett that aye bides open, There's a gean that's iver green, There's a gledsome cup that's brimmin, Tho aathing else be teem;There's a far, far...

Doric

For Robbie ShepherdSaft, Suddron spik, that iles the converse O a fremmit lanWill ay be the rib o Cain Tae the stinch, roch wirds Quarried frae centuries, we ain. Smeddum's a wird'll tholeThin...

Secunt Birth

Weel-faird as a fresco bi Raphael, “Madonna and Son” A bonnielike basket, bucklet thegither,A buckie, sookin the pap o the boun'less sea Man-babe, an its mither. She wis his meal an ale, His...

Nancy Whisky

Tears staun thistle-jobby, in his een. Ae dunt wad shak them doon, A mill-lade, brakken;The dam-rush efter the drooth. Dinna deny the chiel his feelins! They're a hunner per cent proof! Vauntie's...

Ma Dearie

Gien her aathin.Best years o ma life. Cooker, fridge, TV. Indoor lavvy.Niver bashed her aince, In siller or skint.Fit mair cud a wummin wint?Doon the boozer, Ah'm Action manWi a ring-pull can....

Delinquent's Sang

I am o Clootie's kin,I am the rib o Cain.I gaed tae ma mither fur breid, Fur breid, an she gied me a stane.I am the scud and the skelp,The heid bang, the snot on the face.I am the slash. I'm the...

Bride

Seed, brierin, growth. Syne comes the hairst.The corn afore the scythe's a bride,A rowan blossom, in a man's lapelShakkin the bough, he pu's the flooer itsel.Toasts teemed, an blessins said,...

Canute

Auld age an dalliance are ill begun. Nae teuchit I, bit teuchsome coq au vinGin ye wid grip a tiger bi the tail Mak sure it disna turn an ett ye hale."Gae back, gae back" quo I, wi thrawness...

Tak Tent

Tak tent!Houghmagandie's addictive ...The stoon, o a stob, The tidal sook, o a Fingal's cave, agog. Lichtnin, forkin a cloud, Horn, beeriet in bog,Pestle, thuddit in mortar,A noose, thrapplin a...

Hauns

Turn the peat Mask the teaDicht the greetFrae a bairnie's ee.Kepp the kyeShear the sheep Sell an buySow an reapHack the coalFae the pit heid waa.Lay the straeIn the stirkie's staaPreen an darn...

Side-Show

Shelts pirouette their peintit timer hooves Like widden-dreams, in weel-accustomed grooves. A circlin dwaum o skyrie speed they furl, Wud deevilicks, weird dervishes, they birl, Reid agin derk …...

The Seasons' Soiree

Spring wis a wallfloor — she sat in a neuk, Ower young fur the ithers tae heed A skin like a peach — wi the antrin plook, A book, naebody winted tae read.Simmer wis plottin, fair pechin wi swat...

Bird's Eye View

For the Buchan Heritage SocietyGin ye pit knowledge in a tree, Ye'd fairly fire the thicket! Fit shelter wad a willow gie, Familiarised wi' cricket? Wi' a degree in forestry, The wid wad stump the...

As Ithers See Us

Peat-broon, a wing-beat Drappin alang avenues o air Lichtsome as thistle-web,A pulse o dauchled pouer,The eagle commandeers wir awed attention.(His eyrie, sticks an banes Ower-strewn wi chittered...

The Cricket an the Ant

For Phyllis Goodall & the members of the Banffshire Field Club I ken a chiel wha's pleisur's a straucht furrow, A trig byre, a fat beast,A weel-aired semmit on a Setturday nicht, A guid-gyan...

The Unca Guid

There wis a calvinistic cat Sat snod, in sabbath braws He dainty dined on spurgies Bit coored awa frae craws. A veritable paragon,His clooks wis lang an sure At powkin fallen carrion, The godless...

Sit Siccars

Sit siccars hae a spik — a place fur aathin, aathin in its place. A puir ootluik, o sma gumption.Nae fur me the tyke that coors frae its ain gurl.Raither, the bikk that tackles the hurly burlO...

Guid an Evil

Fower-feet patterin the futterat rins,Lowpin ark, wi a sickle's sheen Coorse quick killer, ahin the whins Een half-gyte, an a hairt o steen.Soft an creashie, the doo wings doon Mild as milk, an as...

Eve

Bird o Paradise,Spirk o Original sin,An efterthocht. A rib o the yird Rowed up in a cutty claith, A wanton, a limmer,The hurly-gush o the river's Nae fur ye.Strae-dallie, a peach, a leech, Ye're...

Nicht Visitor

Weird as a warlock's curse, the nicht Maister, may I gyang hame? Ah, bit the reeds they grip me ticht. Cauld is the watter's wame! It's I wad keep a lover's tryst Far mist an lochan mellI pledge...

Nicht Drivin

The hierarchy o metal, far newest is best, A grandiose Gran-Prix stooshie O winner-taks-aa,His ayewis, a deid-en Honda, A black Avenger.A Jaguar purrs at a Lotus Elite Bummin, replete wi the heidy...

Coal

Fossils o muckle beasts That gart trees styter, That walked the warldIn a sypin sweel o plyter,Their scrauchin, like their girth, Gargantuan, Lie obsolete, in the ribs O a lang-lummed, yirdy...

Lue Thy Neibour

Love Thy Neighbour, to Jean Rousselot, by Max Jacob (1876-1944) Max Jacob was an associate of Apollinaire and Picasso. He died in a concentration camp. The English translation appeared in MPT 2,...

The Hoast

A kittlie hoast can be a sair dement,As if ye'd chokkit on a kirn o thistles. The win gaes rochlin roon aboot yer chestFor a the ward like a kist o whussles.Ah, this damnt climate can be coorse...

Postman's Knock

Here comes Hermes. The rain's stottin aff his hat.His wings are pooched, or happit neth his breeks.A herald wi a hoast.Nae main gallavantin ben the clouds. The van's the thing fur post. A dog's...

Christmas Blues

Chap the tatties, bree the neeps, Gie the broth a steer,Dicht the bairnie's faces,Christmas denner's here!Clootie dumplin in the pan,Hotterin up an doon,Fairy lichts gyang “Plunk” again! Haun the...

The Heiress

A hoose is a byre, gin the mistress be roch Wi mainners an habits tae scunner a tink, Far etiquette's wintin — a table's a troch Bit nae wi Jean Foubister — she wis perjink.She'd the cream o...

Lang-Legged Tam

A hudderie-heidit, tattie-bogle tyke Wis lang-legged, whusslin Tam,The bik aye bowfin at his back,Herdin his black-faced yowesAn the muckle ram.Drivin his hung-tee tractor(He caa'd it a hotterin...

Laik-Waik Lament

For my father.A worn, ferfochan eagle,Dinged, ooto the lift,His neive, a fierce clook, clawin, Hungersome, fur the derkMoo, steek't, een, snibbit. Cauld's A midnicht tarn,Strang, in contempt fur...

For George Bruce

Curly the wave, that's gray wi the grue o storm, Eastlin the win, frae the mirlygo, blae Nor' Sea, O'erswack the faem, Fauvist in virr, in form Rattlin fou wi the touzlet ocean's bree!Gleg is the...

Jean; Buchan Ward, Cornhill

A doo, plunked in a dooket, Jean cud beOny young mither, hashin the bairns tae schule Bletherin on-gauns ower a cup o teaAboot her Joe or Harry, Dauvit, Frank or Sam, Until her bonnie mou (framed...

Nae Boundarie

“Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.And the selfsame well from which your laughter risesWas oftentimes filled with your tears.And how else can it be?”     Kahlil Gibran.Hinney is hedder, bizz is bee...

Haud Gaun

“A monk once went to Gensha, and wanted to learn where the entrance to the path of truth was. Gensha asked him, 'Do you hear the murmuring of the brook?' 'Yes, I hearit,' answered the monk. 'There...

Ninety

for Dr Danny Gordon, Bennachie BaillieRoon the rigs o Bennachie They caa a spaad a spaad Silk purses may be fancifu Soo's lugs dinna blaadTen year aff the century Ither blossoms faaDanny stauns as...

Overheard at the Synod

for the late Rev James Wood "Yon's Jeems awa. At echty-twaTwa-fauld in darg an deed.""Didna ye ken the Herd o MenIs blate tae cull the guid?""Jeems keepit braw the stirkie's staa A chiel baith...

Bydand

Raised wi a kiss an a shillin“The cock o the north's” their craw Mony's the loun fae a North East toun Jyned them, tae fecht an faaFor a better warld at YpresFar the bluid-reid poppy's blaw.The...

Last Rites

A dowie day, o win an derkA day as cauldrife as the meenI glisked a yowie, fite an sterkThat hoodie craws gaed flap abeen Dinged doon bi Fate, yon deuk o Daith The antrin peck ay drummed her side...

The Dog o the Midden

"The dog o the midden, he lay, he lay The dog o the midden, he lay he layHe luikit abeen him, an saw the meen shinin He cockt his tail an away away" Bairn rhyme collected by Charles Middleton,...

Mister McCafferty

The McCafferty's en' hoose fairly hums Wi a pit bull terrier barin its gums Mister McCafferty signs on the brooThen it's intae the pub tae get ram-stam-fu Knee-heich tae a chunty on bowdy legs He...

Donna

Donna Buchan ... it 's disco time Clart the lipstick onno yer moo Skyte deod'rant up yer oxtersBig Jock's gaun. Will he ask ye hame? Coort ye roon the back o the chippy? Kinnel yer caunle intae a...

Kelpie

Wechtless in wafter I gallop A witch o a watter meerMa mane 's a-birl in the wave I paint the spray wi a door Ma flank is hinney-smooth Licht-fit's a deerI soom frae the salmon's caveTae the...

Nicht in the Biggin bi the Burn

Tu Fu (713-770) Gloamin sypes doon the Ben Tae the biggin ayont the dyke.Bi heich cavesThe licht clouds strikk their camp.The meen rowes ower i the wavesIn the quate at the dowp o a flicht o...

from Fighting on the South Frontier

Li Po (701-762) There's nae foun tae war.Ower the killin rigs, the sodgers warssle an deeTheir cuddies belloch their grue tae the liftHoodies an kites, reive the intimmers o menSyne takkin...

Gloamin

Fur Chang Chi an Chou K'uangHan Yu ( 768-824)The gloarnin dwines, the view teems:Hame frae a traivle, I sprauchle aneth the eavesLichtsome clouds are tooshts o ooAn the meen's a sherpened scythe.A...

The Poem

Frae ben the derk wellheid o waes The wirds like watter rainFur mony's the mither's bonnie bairn Is born wi rowth o painFrae derk tae licht soar siller thochts Like peesies wingin freeTill sudden,...

Mairtimas

The trees hae tyned their clootsNippicks o leaves, like tapsalteerie fire Turn reeftaps, cassies, burn, brae an byre Bluid-reid-organdie, aawye colour-ableeze A swatch o wud Matisse ower lum an...

Christmas Grotto

St Nicholas Kirkyaird. Hiv ye nae heard? Santa's hereSlap in the hairt o the toun, he's yarkitHis gifties doon across frae WooliesFar's his reindeer parkit?St Nick, or Santie (Frien o bairns an...

Doric-Reggae-Spider-Rap

Zippin up an doon a stringA yo-yo daein the Heilan flingPit-mirk's ane o Dracula's dothersLegs in as the airtsLike an octopus's oxters Aa drapt stitchesYon's her wyvinEtts mochs n' midgies Wippit...

Single Parent

I am the boatie, tiller, captain, crew I navigate a roch, uncharted tide Bi galaxies wi starnies far an fyew Sherp-teethed razor-reefs on ilkie sideStreeked like a tent agin Sirocco's cloor A neuk...

Moose

Yawns like a crocodile Flechs like a tyke Etts like a duchess Wi a ficher an a fyke Weirs a model's bearskin Up till her snootDraps like an airman Wioot a parachute Intil a sugarbowl Suppin up the...

Evil

There is a shadda hauds tae ilkie shapeMen caa it Evil. Like an orra stainIts reets rin deep an wideIll-will, Ill-natur, skaith, aa o its bitter blooms The fear that chitters in the eildritch...

The Clunie Burn

Sweet reiver o the Simmer's gowdFa ryped the pheasant's broons & braws Her dimplin watters spirk & showd Like weety wauchts o wattergaws.The fite Scots roses crest her broo Her amber bluid's a...

Ripple

It furls, birls, an twinesA troot-lowp, wyvin a circle An OH that raxxes an dwines.

Dother

Sure o her reestShe glimmers. A precious ferlie, Preened in her faither's breist.

Reeds

Drumsticks, pammerin the deid mairch o war Reeds dird a laich lamentOn Winter's haar.

Waves

A slocken smile, scaled frae a burnie's mou Waves rowe the crib o SimmerSaft as oo.

The Hen's Fareweel tae the Midden

Tuck-tuck-tuck-tuck-TUCKY Scrat-scrat-scrattin in the styewWi ma sherp wee cleuksFur howin in the neuksI'm wytin in the kailyaird queue Fur seeds o bar-bar-BARLEYTae powk-powk-gobble-gobble-powk...

Gun

Awarded the Hugh MacDiarmid Tassie as best poem in the 1990 Scots Language Society Competition.A bluidied cloot syped on the kitchie fleer Clorty aneth the thrappled pheasant's dowp. The breet's...

Yalla

Yalla's a playschule sun on a bairn's pictur A budgie's poop o a colourSkrie's a fried eggA meenister wadna gie it a secant luikIt's the margarine clort we butter on public laavies Ye see it,...

Raggie Maggie

Raggie Maggie doon oor street's Got twa gley-een & pirn-taed feetGot sheen that wallop wide as flippers Tide-merks broon as toastit kippersHer shanks are thin as drinkin straas Her shins are...

Dole Q Blues

“First richt. Upstairs. Alang the corridor Collect yer ticketWyte yer turn. Staun in line.Fa ca'ad this Stalag 99?An the baa-heid duntin the bucket,I dinna inten tae 'fuck it' as ye suggest. If ye...

Gerbils

Een like preens Spurgies' beensTails as shargeret as tinned sardinesLowp lowp wallop gae the gerbil gangUp 'n' doon, up 'n' doonAa day lang.

The Bodach's Byre (Eventide Home)

Crined leaves frae crabbit treesAre the fowk i the bodach's byre .Some cannie kinsman, hearin the daith-watch beetle Speein the dry rot, the guff o disease Cried in the flittin van.Yarked awa the...

Charlie Chatts

Charlie Chatts, he milkit the cats And Gollachy made the cheese And Wee Willy Fite-BrikksFleggit Awa the bees.*The three o them bedd in a thummel Wi a pirn fur an automobileAn if ye believe fit...

Autumn Nichtfaa

Matsuo Basho (1644-1694) On a wizzened tree-airm, A craw sattles.Autumn nichtfaa.

The Butterflee

Sora Abune the rigs o barley, Steekin them thegither, A butterflee.

Pairtin

BusonMe, gyangin Ye, bidin.Twa Autumns.

Heat-Haze

ShikiA simmer burn.Wioot a brigMa cuddy wauks throw watter

The Warld Tapsalteerie

OnitsuraA troot lowps heichAneth, in watter,Clouds sweem laich.

Kob Antelope

Resetting in Scots, from a translation from the Yoruba.A craitur tae pet, tae connachLike a bairn.Smeeth-coatit,Waukin cannie ben the yalla girseRoon an sonsieLike a new-wad wifeThe thrapple,...

Forth Rail Brig Centenary Poem

A hunner year … a hunner yearThe brig's ootflang its girdered girthA hunner year … a hunner yearGlimmerin strang abune the FirthHeich an sweir … heich an sweir Founs i the watter … heid i the...

The Queen o Bon Accord

Glint an glimmer, breenge an birl See the siller leddie furlSilken queen, sliddrin slawFar the briney billows blawGranite grey wir spires ariseBirn o muckle enterpriseThis, the toun that shares...

Omens

Frae Ceit Macinnes, cotter, Arisaig Weel tae the fore o a Monday foreneen, I lippent tae a lammie's loweAn the bairn-like scraich o a snipeFin dowdy dowped-doon, booed; An the blae, blae, gowk An...

Sun

Frae a bodach o 99 yrs, in the Sooth en o Sooth Uist The ee o the Michty God The ee o the God o glory The ee o the King o Hosts The ee o the King o the leevin Poorin ower's, at ilkie time an...

Gaelic Blessin

Deep peace o the rinnin wave tae yeDeep peace o the cushlin win tae yeDeep peace o the quaet yird tae yeDeep peace o the glimmrin starns tae ye Deep peace o the saftsome nicht tae yeMune an...

Alaneness

Rattens, rabbits, crawsMaun ay rin thrang thegither Biggit wi'in their makk's A need tae be a boorichBreets o the mellin breed.I dinna bide ower near tae ithers' brods Am sweir,...

The Stane

A stane stauns siccar in storm, Is Samson-strang in hail.Sud oor Scots leid o suddenty blossom gendersThis daud o Creation By Certes, wad be male.Maister Stane, I likeYer kirk-pew-plain physog Yer...

The Halflin's Joe

His hairt's an aipple ony Eve micht pu Gin I cud wyle fur him a quineI'd pyke him ain fa's kisses brimmed the mou Lang, swete, an slokin as the pearly dyew.Her spik wad be a madrigal o SpringShe'd...

Nicht

Lang clouds, like mort-claiths, blaik the lan Taed-blichtit nicht's as grim as daith Tongue-tackt as ony gowk, I staun Pitched forrit intae fear o skaith. A bony-shankit, crackit, birkThat...

Corrichie

A widden giant, aixed, striddled the knowe Its muckle airms ootflang, reets riven oot Bi yestreen’s storm.Its heid, laigh i’ the stoor, smored amang girse Coddlit wi thrissle, seggs, an wummlin...

Hogmanay

A fite bleeze birls aroon the meen Blin drift, on lowrin seasWino an wabster toast an teem A twal-month tae the lees.The warld may heist a gledsome glaissTae hish the New Year hameBit oorie oorie...

Letter fae a Distressed Heidie

Dear Mrs McRae,Aboot yer Sam,I doot we’ve expelled the little lambHe birssled Miss Bruce wi a Bunsen burnerDrew fuskers ower a print bi Turner Aa throw Science he played his trannie Gied a “Glesga...

Rabbit

Fur an flesh since cleekit on yon hullA hinneypot, that predators pyked clean Shines blae’s a nyaakit egg, the shriven skull Dwines sterkly ben the jobby uplan girse. Obscene. Twa boss, teem,...

Forhooied

Hippen rowe, hippen rowe, hippen rowe the feeties o’t I niver kent I hid a bairn Until I heard the greeties o’t.* Gin luv war awye like the win Then naebody wad ken its wint Some lassies winna...

The Scottish Antisyzygy

Neivie neivie nick nackFit tongue’ll YE tak?Schule-Sassenach, or back-yaird Scots, Deep-reeted as the thrussle?Pit plainer … Heid or hairt?The forkit tongue o Scotia’s lion(Cleft frae the crib, wi...

Autumn

Blae, blae, blae, is the dwinin simmerFin craws are a squallich o midnicht i the liftThe win that knells the aik is an eildritch drummer Garrin the fleggit leaves uptail an shiftWylin the wing...

Maisie C: A Cautionary Tale

A halflin quine caad Maisie Cotter AY left her ferlies in a sotterHer fooshty socks, her orra duddies The verra drawers frae aff her hurdies In ilkie airt frae stead tae stairPlayed laldy wi the...

The Toun in Merch

Van Gogh, an honest Brueghel, peinterly Catched the wye the darg o howkin in the yird Makks dubs o fowk amang the peasantry Roch neive an lirkit broo’s,Anely reward frae the styewO dingin wealth...

Still Life

“Dinna deave a mither hamster,Sooklin her young” ma bairnie’s pet buik said. Bit Teenie, warm’s a bosieCuddly-cosie, Bambi-broonSae roly-poly teddy-beary saft as eiderdoon We trysted, frae her...

Ballad

Rock-a-by-lily the watter is deepBinorie, binorie, ah, fain wad I sleepRing-ring-a-rosies, the corn weirs a crounThe reaper strides forrit … an aa tummles doon.I glimsked in the cradle — a viper...

Hauns

Swack’s a puddock’s lowp, a bairn’s haun needs nae needle Tae threid it a chyne o violetsSnippin in twa a boorich o primadonnasSnod hi a raw.A bairn’s neive, is a butterflee wi a biteIt’ll swype...

Rugged Rascal

Roon an roon the rugged rucks  The rugged rascal ran *The hoodie craw let oot a caw Syne daunced a hoolichanHe wadna bide wi bawdrons Nor puddock, sharny-green He lowpit ower the lang rigs An...

Dentist

Open wide. Fit a view!Waur nor luikin doon a bugs’ H.Q. This set o teeths’ like extinct volcanoes Aa the hues o a palettefu o rainbows Chocolate, aniseed, peppermint, bananas Mair dirt there than...

Cooper & Hay

Cannie AiberdonianObleeged tae gyang tae law Oxter deep in taiglesPlagued bi ithers’ jawEager tae unraivelRoups, deeds, wills anaHie ye tae the mids o tounAa screeds o hoose an haYe’ll convey tae...

Rab wilson

Rab Wilson wis born at Polquhirter Cottage, New Cumnock, in Ayrshire. He is a poet wha screives maistly in Scots and his wark appears regularly in the likes o Lallans magazine, Holyrood Magazine,...

Mark Thomson - His writing

In the autumn of 2010, the Scots Language Centre visited Mark Thomson and discussed his writing career, the Scots language and how it has helped him develop as a poet. Here we have an extract from...

Mark Thomson on Youtube

On youtube there are a number of short videos of Mark Thomson performing his poetry or talking about the Scots language. He also has his own channel - markthomsonpoet.  

Mark Thomson and the Scots Language

In the autumn of 2010, the Scots Language Centre visited Mark Thomson and discussed his writing career, the Scots language and how it has helped him develop as a poet. Here we have an extract from...

Sauchs, Scaurs and Signage

I want them back, the written-over names that gentrifying fashion anglicised, that bland or blind tuition vandalised. I want the stories that the map disclaims. the Brig o Allan, Corntoun, Chuckie...

Sang o the Five Fiers

Korean, Yun Son-Do (1587-1671) Foo mony fiers hae I?Coont them ...Watter & stane,Bamboo an pine sae brawThe risin meen on the eastern BenWeel-lued, a frien anna. We niver striveNae need say ITae...

Twa Traditional Malay Pantuns

1They weir bangles on their airms I weir bangles roon ma queats. They say, “Dinna dae yon, ye tyke.” I dae fit I damnt weel like!    2Aaeech! Jobbit ma fit On a stob in the bog. Aaeech! Hurtit ma...

Kin (Oreruravanar)

Tamil Like a deer, catched in a tinchel On the braid fite, satty shore Flayed hide turned ootside inYe may rin,Taste freedom sweet ... Bidin wi kinsmenAnely chynes the feet.   Like a deer,...

Veesion

Sklentin oot, ower victory’s field across,  Æthelstan’s airmy, routit, bate an brucken, Nou Óengus minds his wird forenenst the veesion; Cloods that formt the shape o Andra’s cross. That eemage...

Christmas Cam tae Sauchiehall Street

Sauchiehall street, mobbed wi Christmas shoppers,reluctant dads hing aboot shop doorways;Primark, Millets, TK Maxx, Pound Crazy,gairdin wares bocht by their ‘Shop-till-ye-droppers!’Sad tae say, ah...

Happyland

A new CD of Scots poems and and poetry set to song is now available from Fras publications. Featuring William Hershaw and Tony Duffy, this CD has been short listed for the 2012 Callum Macdonald...

"Let the wee trauchled life-god inby"

Let the wee trauchled life-god inbyRive his cloots frae the still sowelHis tiger-strips o guidness an coorsenessHis stramash & glamourie, his thole & wae.   Sri Aurobindo... 'Musa...

"Knowe efter knowe we dimmed an noo"

Knowe efter knowe we dimmed an nooWe spied the hinmaist muckle brooThe towerin crag that nane hae trodAe stride, an aa is lift, an God. Sri Aurobindo: 'One Day the Little More'.

Scots Owersettin Freely Transcribed frae the Inglis Translations wi'in the Elek Buik o Oriental Verse (General ed., Keith Bosley, 1979)

Hoose-Warmin SangTagalog (Phillipines) Auld caimb, auld caimb,Untaigle the raivelled thochtsO them wi'in, tae guid frae wirseAs ye've whyles caimbed ma hairFan yirdit wi dubs an girse,May they fa...

"Enjoy the yird doucely"

Enjoy the yird doucelyEnjoy the yird doucelyFur gin the yird be bladditIt canna be made haleEnjoy the yird doucely(from a West African Yoruba poem)

"The lan is oor mither"

The lan is oor mitherThe bluid o oor beinOor speerit- guide, oor kin-makkTae us, the lan is leevin.We are a part o lanAn lan is pairt o us.    Australian Aborigine

A Wizzent Tree

Chinese 8 Line SonnetHan Yu (768-824) (Late Tang)Nae twig, nae leaf on the auld treeAyont the hairm o cranreuch or o winA chiel cud wanner ben the hole in its teem wameEttercaps wummle aneth its...

Screived fur a Pictur

Tang Yin (1470-1523)Yestreen, the geanTint its flooers amang draps o rainThe faa o petals, sae slicht, sae easy-bladditWis bonnie ayont aa wirdsMa dearie, waukenin early,Quit her bedroomHaudin a...

"Mindin on him"

Lady Ono No Komachi  (834-880)Mindin on him,I sleepit, anely tae see himRise up afore me sae lythelyHid I kent it wis anely a dreamI'd niver hae waukened sae blythely.Flooers crine, their hues...

"If anely, fin ye war telt"

Anonymous Japanese Bard (pre 905)If anely, fin ye war teltAuld Age wis at haunYe cud sneck the door wi a dystCry "Nae at hame"Sae daein, jink the tryst!

Zen Death Poem

Owersett frae an Inglis translation o the JapaneseFower an fifty yearsI've strung the lift wi starnsNoo I lowp throw,Aa's caad tae crockanation!… Dogen

by Kito

Strivin ...Kirk bell,Winter win.

by Lady Kana-Jo

Reeshlin thegither —Heids o barley,Butterflee.

by Masahide

Steadin's brunt doon.Noo,I can see the meen!

by Buson

Ma clachan;DragonfleesDane, fite waas.Auld puil.Lowp-splyter!A puddock!Bens o Yoshino ...Drappin petals,Quaffin doon the lift.

Mair Owersettins in Scots Frae Extracts in "Prayer Handbook 1988 — Encounters"

Chinese SayingI wis angeret fur I hid nae sheen.Syne, I met a chiel fa hid nae feet.Samuel Rayan, IndiaA caunle-licht is a protest at midnicht.It is a Wee Free.It says tae the derkness,"Wi ye,...

The Leddie She Rides Jimp n' Sma

*The leddie she rides jimp n' smaJimp n' sma, imp n' smaThe leddie she rides jimp n' smaBit the gentleman he ridesCreels n' aa creels n' aa creels n' aa*The sheltie he rides weel on snawWeel on...

The Hindu & The Panda

"Ye wint mair savoir-faire, Jamal", they saidAn gied the job tae Willy Bloggs insteadA peely-wally eejit, bit I gaitherThe chiel fa did the hirin kent his father."Jamal", I speired, "Dis it nae...

Moosie

*There wis a little moosieAn it left its little hoosieAn it sneakit up, an creepit upIntil the baimie's bosie*It powked its pynted nosieIn the bosie warm n' cosie.An it curled up an kittled upWi...

Stinkie

Chin-chinnie, mou merryEe winkie, broo brinkieAn ower the hillies An awa tae stinkie*The stinkie is a fearsome placeThe hippens hap frae sichtAn whyles, the bairnie skirls tae sayThe stinkie needs...

The Bitin Game

*Knock on the doorie,Teetie inLift the sneckieDicht the feetiesAn walkie in*A bairn's mouIs stappit fuWi nesty raws o teethAn gin it nips yer fingersYe'll be heard at Monyfeith!ACTIONS*Tap on the...

A Thistle Luiks at a Drunk Man

A thistle luiks upon a chiel deid-drunkAa pish an blethers ... fu o fusky-spunk"His wife will bairn nae Wallace wi yon randyFaith aa he's fit tae play is cock-a-bendyThe Flooers o the Forest's...

The Punk

Ye throwither sumph. Fur aa yer wirthYe sud hae bin drooned in a pail at birth!Ay.. turn yer back on's.. powk yer plonksYer heid sud be doon in yer science buiksSpikkin o heids ... ye needna...

Snoot 'n' Mou

Gritty, nutty, sheltie-broonA guff o coffee lowps the yettA furly, birly snake o rikkTwines frae the kitchie, birsslin hettWersh in the mou, yon seerip, soorJeelip o potion fur a hoastAs nippy's...

Of Pharaohs and Sardines

Tut-ankh-amen, heid-yin o the dunesCairriet a veritable TescosO wine, fruit, guid fite breidDoon tae the fooshtie dwellin o the deid.(Fur iver an ay yon wizzened runkled pruneEmbalmed loon, maun...

The Gowfer

For Charles KingThere's some say "Lowp"An t'ithers, “Foo far?”In poleetical maitters ye maun shakk a legTae satisfee cooncil, constituent craitursFeenancial dictators, ye hae tae be gleg.Publishin...

The Shelt

Wis there IVER a bairn tae heed fit it's telt?Fur the 99th time, YER NAE GETTIN A SHELTTae prance like a laird roon a show or gymkhanaI'd raither ye speired fur a snake, or pirhana.I bocht ye a...

The Dinosaur

A dinosaur! A dinosaur!We niver saw the like aforeThe beastie makks the bairnies roarFrae Sumburgh tae Singapore!A dinosaur! His muckle mooHas teeth as lang as knives,An fin he roars the...

Tak the Buckles frae yer Sheen

Traditional verse, sung to Kelvin GroveTak the buckles frae yer sheen, bonnie lassie-ohFor yer dauncin days are deen, bonnie lassie-ohTho they say yer feet are flatYe are nane the waur o thatTakk...

The Tattiebogle

The tattiebogle wags his heidDerk shadda ower the yirdHe's hingin sterk an crucifeedThe dreid o ilkie birdHis jaiket pooch, a moosie haudsHis kyte's a kirn o straeAn ben the air his fooshty...

Ballad

Oh cauld's the doonrush o a burnIn Winter's iron thraaBit caulder still's a merriege bedFin luv his stowen awaFar niver gowden sun luiks doonSae derk's the gairden booerBit derker yet's the hairt...

Owersettins o haiku

Daybrak.The storm beerietIn the snaw frae Shiro (1742-1813)In a doon-pish in JuneThe reef is dreepinAs I gyang tae the wattery frae KanroOntae the cauld san'Waves cam breenginOoto pit-mirk frae...

October

Near Mairtimas the lowerin liftIs blae's the breistie o a dooThat rochles in the shargeret widFar thrissledown wauchts by like ooCrammosie, yalla, tod-reid-broonThe lowsin leaves yark aff the...

Care

Wisna easy, y’unnerstaun ... Ye war her flesh an bluid Seed o er seedBit she jist cudna haunle it Jist cudna thole it, see? Nae wye fur a hame tae beWi a bairn, boss o the hoose Oot on the...

Simmer’s End: Deeside

The Dee lies smeeth’s a kelpie’s keekin-glaiss The swallin rose-hip skirps the brae wi reid Drookit wi sun, the purple heather blooms Forget-me-not uplifts her winsome heidA kirn o craws, blawn...

Daith

Daith meeves amang us, sleekit vratch His victim’s ill tee ken He makks a gairden o us fowk Syne pues ane bi ane

The Quoich

Fin pibroch lingers on the lug Fin wauchts o simmer come unsocht Fin saftsome wins, the laricks, rug, The Quoich rins aften ben ma thocht.A Heilan cateran, its puilsAre targs o crystal, purest...

The Bombing

“Faither, fit kinno birdie’s yon?” Speired a loon at the door “Anely a seagull hashin on Fur the cauld sea shore.”“Faither, fit kinno soun is yon I hear croon?”“Anely the birr o traffic, bairn,...

Bog

Secrets bide in the bogO warld, an weird, an wid Still, an quate as a thocht Sooked deep doon, an hid.Midnicht meens lie there Happt bi broon peat breeLike coins in a kelpie’s lair Ye’ve tyned, an...

Skyscraper Faimly

Skyscraper faimly , it maun be a choreBidin twenty storeys frae yer ain front door.Bi day ye’ve gulls fur neebors, syne ye’ve stars aa nicht Save on the electric wi the meen fur licht.Skyscraper...

The Keepsake

Nae as muckle’s a fitscraperNee as muckle’s a braisse bawbee Did Aunt Margity pairt wi.An ye canna come richt oot ’n speir Wi the corp nae cauld.Bit dam’t, I wis sweirTae leave yon bottle o...

Garlogie School, Circa 1915

A bairn-play on the ‘Burial of Sir John Moore at Corunna’ taught to the poet by her mother, Winifred Booth.Slowly an sadly we laid him doonWe rubbit his nose in butter We pit him in a sardine...

Quasimodo

The sweet rot o the bramble buss, Scratched entanglement o firs, Places o half licht,Are jungles o concealment.Shaddaes, lang i the sun,Cannibalised, amang a wab o jylers. A wounded boar, riven wi...

Simmer Strand, North Sea Beach

The simmer sea’s a keekin glaissThe lift, saft as a cooshie dooTeets in o’t, wi an ee o ooDrappin feathers, pink, an grey, an pearl The sun skytes doon a sunbeam ower the swirl O buttercup-bobbin...

Willie Tawse

Fin e’re the hoolet cried “hoot-toot” Willie Tawse stravaiged aboot Like a futterat he wid prance At a rave, he’d heid the danceHe’d shakk, he’d lowp, like fire in’t smiddy Like ony wino on...

The Auld Curiousity Shop

Fower ferlies bedd in a neuk A clarsach, a clock, a plateWi a caunlestick, yalla’s a stook Fa keepit his coonsel quate.The clarsach’s trimmlin note Aince gart a laird takk tent Ae pluck o her...

A Bumbee Stang Me

traditionalA bumbee stang meI winna tell ye far A bumbee stang me I winna tell ye far A bumbee stang me I winna tell ye far Roon at the back o My jeely jar!

Davie Green the Grocer-Oh

A fragment of a cornkister composed by the poet’s grandfather Alexander Middleton, born Gellan Coull 1877, died East Mains Aboyne 1935.to the tune Rothseay-ohA kintra chiel made up his min’ Tae...

Tammy Tod

Tammy tod ahin the dykeDid ye steal Dan Wabster’s bike? Faither says that we maun watch Ye, ye tarry fingered vratchIn the hen hoose on the leaAre twa hens, far there war threeWi a dyeukie in yer...

The Futterat

The futterat snaps up mice, fur a wagerHis mowser’s brave as a serjeant majorHis een are hat preens Pink’s yer crannieHe likes bluid,Sae ye’d best ca-cannie He’d hae yer haun aff Flesh, thoomb,...

The Heilan Fling

Licht’s a harebell on the BenStraucht’s a thrissle doon the glen Bob an birl like Jenny WrenTae daunce the Heilan fling ohLike a stag wi kinnelt bluidAirm, razzed heich abune her heid Ilkie step,...

Daddylanglegs

Daddylanglegs, like a crane Stots aroon the windae pane On his stilts he styters ben Wandrin Willies in the fen Like a muckle lang giraffe Ower mony legs bi hauf!

Midgies

Vampires roon the campfires Heeze heeze heezeMidgies midgies midgies Dinna bite please!Gang tae Transylvania Gang an takk a dookMidgies midgies midgies Yer naethin bit a sook!

ABC

From a traditional bairn rhyme, spoken by Charles Middleton A B CFin I wis threeI eesed tae like a tattyNoo I’m fower,Fowk staun an glowerAn aabody caas me fatty...,.

Doon in the Glen

Doon in the glen Wi horns like lums The snailie sleeps An the wyver thrums An the mavis threips Her sma sma tune Doon in the glenAt the broon beech foun

Dauncers

The rottens daunced alang the barnThe glegs they pranced abune the sharn Up bi the burn, fur a braisse bawbee Willie McArthur daunced wi me!

Mistress Craw

Mistress Craw Sat doon tae jaw Bit aa her neebors Ran awa!

The Hornygollach

I met a hornygollach. I winna tell ye far —His heid wis facin North an EastAn fit wis even waurHis airms an legs war bandy, fegs, His teeth bedd in a jar.I met a hornygollach. I likit him rale...

Snailie

Snailie snailie on the waa Are ye niver feart ye’d faa? Wi yer hoosie on yer backLike a hiker wi a pack?Feech, snailie, dicht yer snoot Slivvrin ower the waiter spoot!

Winter

The sna’s here It drappit doonA duvet ower the parkLet oot a sneeze Amang the treesOn ilkie timmer barkJack Frost he peintit sillerOn the fir tree’s sark.The sna’s hereThe robin wytesFur me tae...

Traditional Bairn Sangs

as taught to the poet by her father, Charles Middleton, AboyneMy mither saidI maun goWi ma daddy’s denner-oChappit tatties, beef an steakTwa reid herrin an a bawbee cakeI cam tae a riverI cudna...

Dandy

My lad’s a bonnie lad My lad’s a dandyMy lad’s a bonnie lad He likes sugar candyGin ye wint tae gie him a dramDinna gie him brandyTakk the bottle frae his heidAn gie him sugar candy

Doric Food Rap

Birssle! Birssle! sing the twa broon kippers Catched fur the grill bi the North East skippers Oatcakes, cornflakes, da likes haddies “Weetabix fur us” cry growin laddies! Granda’s suppin up...

Fairm Toun

Cross rinnin watter — turn a nippy neuk Skiff roon a dyke an wauk a ferny brae Sheep dover in the gloamin. Rowans, dwaum The mist amang the birks is furlin, fey.It rings the fairm biggins like a...

"The days are riggin us in blaik"

Al-Maarri: Persian Poet, died 1058. Inglis Translator Henry Baerlein. The days are riggin us in blaikFur Him fa’d hing us like craws.There’s nae daith fur the sun. I kenThe centuries are nippicks...

Puil wi Turtles

Ibn Sara: Moorish Poet. Inglis Translation, Harold Moorland.Deep is the puil, that ower-reamsAneth the cweel, bricht, shooersSome like a greetin ee anethLashes o trimmlin flooersSee foo the...

The Coo’s-Lick

Al-Husri: Moorish Poet. Inglis translation, A.J. Arberry.A coo’s-lick curl, hung doon tae furl, Ma hairt sae teuch, doon in the sheugh.The blaik coo’s lick, wis fleetin rikk Yon fite physog, wis...

Lament in Andalucia

Al-Husri: Moorish Poet. Inglis translation, A.J. Arberry.In Andalusia,Fowk’s keenin-claes are fiteAn yon’s nae styte!I weir the stamp o ’ts truthIn ilkie fitenin hairThat murns fur ma tint...

The Prophet/The Druid

Quo a wife wi a bairn at her breist“Spik till’s o littlins”Sae he made repon, “Yer bairns arena yer bairns They’re the bairns o Life’s Langin fur leevin.They traivel ben ye, Bit arena pairt o ye....

Wyceness an Luv

Owersettins Freely Made in Scots o Yunus Emre’s Verses o Wyceness an Luv Frae the Inglis settins o his wark in the buik ‘City of the Heart; Screived bi Suha Faiz, 1992 (Element) UNESCO made 1991...

The Scottish Bairnies’ Makker

“Is Jimmy Annand hereaboots? Tell him tae come ben”Cries auld St Andrew crousely “There arena mony menCan reel a rhyme as guid’s a gird The little fowk tae cheerThrow monys the stoory classroom...

“Tak tent. Ma wirds are steerin again”

Tak tent. Ma wirds are steerin again Claikin tae thirsels, wi meHarknin tae them, fooshionless.Puir Colotes, vratch an gadaboot o the thochtsAywis harknin tae the wirds reamin ower Sayin, “Ye,...

“Tae the hungeret, blytheness is meet”

Tae the hungeret, blytheness is meetTae the blin, blytheness is sichtTae the droothy, it’s watter melled wi wine Tae Dolophon, it’s his teethTae the forhooied,It’s their deid kin in the moolsTae...

“Dreichly, the days caa aff”

Dreichly, the days caa aff Wir roch neuks.They hakk us inno trim Or they brakk us.

“The sea’s satty”

The sea’s satty The sea’s blue. Ma tongue says(Gin I’m up tae ma neb in the ocean)I can sup the satt.Hyne awe free the sea,I spy the blue. Bit I canna dae baith thegither —An fa bit me wad...

“The sotter ma sheens’ in ...”

The sotter ma sheens’ in, ’s fair orra.Neebors caa it scunnerin, ’speecially the weemin.They winna trauchle on wi meMuckle langer … Caad tae crockanation!An syne far’ll they fin A hame an...

“Whyles, I’m gled”

Whyles, I’m gledThe sea blootersThe scrats Screived DoonItsMargins.It dichts itselClean like a bawdronsEfter’n aa …Think o the sossGin aa the sansWere merkedForiver an ayeWi the names an graffitiO...

The Man in the Meen

The man in the meen is a hardy gurranWi ice in his ee , an stars in his sporranHe teets in the windaes, the burns, the lochs The puils in the cassies, the stirkies’ trochs He strikks a glint frae...

Here's the Kirk

Here’s the kirk, an here’s the steeple Open the yetts, an here’s the people The meenister preached tae Thee an me “Aabody’s damned bit us,” quo he “The Turks, the Hindis, the Chinee tee Fur we are...

Trial by Cutlery

Serviette ower lap or thrapple? Blaw on soup — or brunt yer mou? Ett yer pudden wi a fork. Yon’s a stammygaster, noo!Brakk a croissant wi yer fingers? (Fur it skytes aneth a knife Flees across yer...

Roman Villa, Alcudia

Sun, shadda, palm.Thrush’s clashin anvil Teem shellSun, shadda, palm Time’s sounless file Teem lairach.

George Philp

Scots poets have been saddened by the death of George Philp on 3 November 2012. He was a weel kent and very enthusiastic figure in poetry in Scots.      This poem by George was published in...

Toun Blues

Gairdens are stane Bastilles Waas spiked wi shards o glaisse Far fat-arsed corgiesFyle smaa squars o girse.Gin ye stravaig tae a parkThe warld an its wife are there Tirrin a creashie sarkTae the...

AIDS

The act o luv brings daith insteid o lifeThe plague o AIDS strikks silent as a scythe The Reaper skitters skulls mangst bits o bairns Takks flooers frae luvers’ hauns, tae hansel cairns.

A Thing of Beauty is a Joy Forever/ Birse Farmer, Circa 1963

Heich simmer makks the hochs a love-juice cauldron. Dauchlin astride a sunshine-drookit dykeI heard an engine purr, an iron bawdron.The bowfin o a coo’s-lick touslie tyke.Syne suddent, frae ayont...

Januar

The year birls on its axleRikk frae a wintry reefIs a ribbon o grey frae a cauldron Furled like a cassen leafHyne in the wast, cauld cailleachs The ghaists o the Grampians lieBack o the ploo far...

The Sang o Amheirgin

The 1st Irish poet, Amheirgin, came to Ireland in 1268 BC & composed “The Song of Amheirgin”, which has been handed down orally. It appears in English in The Celts by Frank Delaney. Here, it is...

Yule & Simmer

Owerset in Scots frae the Welsh poet Thomas Telynog Evans(1840-65) Aa the blytheness o NaturBeeriet in the mools o blaikest Yule! The win sang a dowie lament — Sic dule in its cauld cry keenin!...

The Burn an the Ben

Owerset in Scots frae the Welsh poet John Ceirog Hughes (1833-87) Burn o the Bens, slokin an pureBirlin doon tae the glenFusperin sangs i’ the girseWad that I war as ye!Heathery knowes in flooerAt...

Tae the Sun

Owerset in Scots, frae the Heirskip o the Scots Gaels “Guidday tae ye, sun o the Sizzens.As ye traivel the lift hyne abuneStinch is yer fit on the cloudsBlythe mither o the starnies.”“Ye coorie...

Heich fur Houghmagandie!

The makk o man is richt designed A wummin’s pud tae pleisurGin he’s weel-hung, she’ll draa the bung Tae praise him in guid meisur An he may chap his tirlin-pin Her yett tae caa ajeeFur ilkie merry...

“In This Braif Toun”: No363 Union Street (Bruce Miller’s)

Afore that this braif toun wis bigged ava Langsyne the lan wis roch, an taiged wi whin A puckle staunin stanes raise tae the sky A Druid circle in the keenin winThe pagan priests were maisters o...

Ins an Oots

They skelp a baa aroon a park, aimin fur a hole Preenin aa their veesion on a flag abune a pole —Or kick a baa aroon the girse, dubs frae buits tae kneeRinnin back an forrit, like a reid-ersed...

Sandie Craigie, Just ae bit ae majik

Sandie Craigie, Scots poet (1963-2005) is rightly of the current generation but she died in 2005 in tragic circumstances in the centre of Edinburgh, where she spent most of her life.  She was a...

The Lanely Daith o Maggie Thatcher

The day they’re mindin her wi hauf-mast flags,Neist week they’ll spend ten million oan her kistin,Whiles Tony Blair, wi grief his een are mistin,Nae dout he’ll bray wi aa the ither windbags,Wha’ll...

Tom Leonard night

Glasgow poet and writer Tom Leonard will be speaking about his new work 'Definite Articles' at CCA, 350 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, from 7.30pm. For more information please contact CCA on 0141...

A Braw Nicht Oot

Storyteller Tim Porteus is hosting another Braw Nicht Oot at the Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High Street, Edinburgh, beginning at 7pm. Tickets cost £7 (£5 concession). For a night of...

Borders Bards

Borders Bards Story Circle meets at 7.30pm in The Councty Inn, 35 High Street, Peebles to tell stories, exchange ideas and provide a space for performance. Please contact Daru Macaleece on...

Singin The Sea

The Scottish Fisheries Museum, St Ayles, Harbourhead, Anstruther Easter, Fife, is hosting 'Singin The Sea', a special workshop devoted to the traditional tales and songs of the Scottish fishing...

Scots Language Society Collogue

The Scots Language Society Collogue, or annual gathering, will be taking place this year at Hillhead Baptish Church, 53 Cresswell Street, Glasgow. Tickets cost £20. Please download the programme...

Sangschaw 2013

The deadline for entries to Sangschaw 2013. Each entry costs £3. Prose must not be more than 3000 words, and poems and drama no more than 60 lines. Please put your name, address and contact...

Crackin wi Mark Thomson

On Tuesday 30 April Dauvit Horsbroch and Katrina MacLeod from the SLC caught up with Dundonian poet Mark Thomson. For the past few years Mark has been making a name for himself through his poetry...

Eneados 500

Five hundred years ago, on St Mary Magdalene’s Day (22 July) 1513, Scots master poet, or makar, Gavin Douglas completed his translation into Scots of the Roman Virgil’s (70-19 BC) Latin work The...