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Listen to this poem here read by Stanley Bruce
A concrete ship, foo can ‘at be?
Wid it nae be o’r hivvy, tae float in ‘e sea?
Biggit in Aberdein min, yer hae’in’ a laff.
No, min it’s richt enuff!
They biggit ‘em in Torry, durin’ ‘e
Great War,
Fer ships wir needed tae carry iron ore,
‘ere wis a shortage o’ steel, bit plinty san’,
So concrete wis used here in Scotlan’.
Concrete ships biggit here in Aberdein,
‘At’s something I’d wish I’d seen!
I wish I’d seen, ‘e great muckle moulds,
Wi’ steel reinforcin’, fer her bow, stern, an’ holds.
An’ I wish I’d bin ‘ere tae see’,
‘e workers mixin’, poorin’, an’ chappin’,
Tae see ‘em launched intae ‘e Dee,
An’ tae hear ‘e launch crowd cheerin’ an’ clappin’.
Oh, fit I’d gee,
Tae eence again, be on a boat,
As it slides doon ‘e launch-wyes,
It’s first time afloat.
Wid, iron, concrete, or steel,
It widnae mak ony odds tae me,
I’d jist be a happy man,
Tae eence again be floatin’ on the Dee!
Stanley Bruce,
6th August 2018. |
