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Scots Language
Poetry and Prose Quotes |
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Awa' wi yer diddles on the pipes and
fiddles,
Awa' wi yer ballats and yer flings sae free!
Hey for the smiddy whaur the auld toun
hiddles,
And the lilt o' the hammer in the North
Countree!
Wi' the clink-clank-clour
And the sterny stour,
And the sang o' the airn on the steel sae
slee;
Eh, lease me on yon walloch for an hour
That rants in the smiddies o' the North
Countree!
frae 'The Sang o' the Smiddy' -
Lewis Spence. Lewis Spence was the first-ever
Parliamentary Candidate for the National Party
of Scotland in the North Midlothian by-election
in January 1929.
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1. But on the first day o' the week, Mary
o' Magdala comes ear' - for it was yet mirk - to the tomb ; and she sees
the stane taen awa frae the tomb.
2. Than she rins and gaes to Simon Peter,
and to the ither disciple wham Jesus lo'ed, and says to them, " They hae
ta'en awa my Lord oot o' the tomb, and we ken-na whaur they hae laid him
!"
3. Sae Peter gaed oot, and the ither
disciple, to gang to the tomb.
4. And they ran baith thegither ; and the
ither ane ootran Peter, and cam first to the tomb.
5. And he, loutin doon, saw the linen
claes lyin ; but he gaed-na in.
6. Than Peter comes, eftir him, and gaed
intil the tomb, and saw the linen claiths lyin ;
7. And the naipkin that was row't aboot
his heid, no lyin wi' the linen claiths, but row't up in a place by itsel.
8. And than gaed in the ither disciple wha
cam first to the tomb ; and he saw, and believ't.
9. For till noo they kent-na the Scriptur,
that he soud rise frae 'mang the deid.
10. The disciples than gaed awa again to
their ain hame.
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Douce granny had nowth
o' proverbial lear
The auld pawky sayin's
weel-kent in her day:
As shair as a braw
lassie's wedding drew near,
"A bride that is
bonnie's sune buskit", she'd say.
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Though Tammas the Lyar
thou call'st me,
A sooth tale I sall
tell to the:
By Aiky-side thy horse
sall ride,
He sall stumble an'
thou sall fa';
Thy neck-bane sall
brak in twa,
An' mangre all thy kin
an' the,
Thy ain belt thy bier
sall be.
- Prophesy by
Thomas the Rhymer, Thomas of Erchildoun,
in 1258 on being referred to by Alexander Comyn, 2nd Earl of Buchan, as
'Tammas-the-Lyar'. Comyn was unimpressed by Thomas the Rhymer's fame as a
prophet. He died in 1289 but not at Aikey Brae, however this was the site
on the western border of the parish of Old Deer that the final overthrow
of the Comyns by The Bruce took place in 1307 - the terrible 'hership o
Buchan'.
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They libbit William Wallace
He gar'd them bleed.
They dinna libb MacFoozle
They dinna need.
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Whan gloming grey out
o'er the welkin keeks,
Whan Batie ca's
his owsen to the byre,
Whan Thrasher John,
sair dung, his barn-door steeks,
And lusty lasses
at the dighting tire:
What bangs fu' leal
the e'enings coming cauld,
And gars
snaw-tapit winter freeze in vain:
Gars dowie mortals
look baith blyth and bauld,
Nor fley'd wi' a'
the poortith o' the plain;
Begin my Muse, and
chant in hamely strain.
This poem
inspired Robert Burns to write 'The Cottar's Saturday Night'
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1. On the
third day was a bridal at Galilee-Cana, and Jesus' mither was
thar;
2. And baith Jesus and his disciples had a
bode to the bridal.
3. And whan the wine ran dune, Jesus'
mither said till him, "The wine's a' dune !"
4. Quo' Jesus, "Eh, wumman, what hae I to
do wi' ye e'noo ? My 'oor will be here belyve !"
5. But his mither coonsell't wi' the
servants, "Whatsae he bids ye, gang and do it."
6. And thar war staunin sax stane jars,
accordin as the Jews purify't theirsels ; and ilk wad haud twa-thrie
firkins.
7. And Jesus had them fill the water-jars
wi watir. And they teemed them lippin-fou.
8. And he spak till them, "Dip oot noo,
and tak to the Maister o' the feast !" And they gaed wi't.
9. As sune as the Maister o' the feast had
pree'd the watir-wine (and kent-na whaur it cam frae ; but the servants
kent), he cry't to the bridegroom.
10. "Ilka man wales oot his best wine to
hansel the feast ; and whan folk are weel slocken't, than feshes the
second-wale ; but ye hae hained the best wine till noo !"
11. Sae Jesus begude to do his
wunner-works in Galilee-Cana, and schawed forth his glorie : and the
disciples lippened on him.
John Chaiptit Twa, verses 1-11, frae 'The Four
Gospels in Braid Scots' - Rev William W Smith
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O Lord wha blest the
loaves and fishes
Look doun upon these
twa wee dishes
And tho the tatties be
but sma'
Lord mak them plenty
for us a'
But if our stamachs
they do fill
'Twill be anither
miracle.
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Sainit are thai wha gir thair traist til him.
Psaum 11.12
In ilka age, aye, and in our ain, is the
muckle fecht atween guid and ill. Historie is a michty bruilzie atwixt
thai michty forces. Guid sal win, is the faith o the Psaumist, and our
als, in Jesus, the victorie o His michty pooer o loe.
'This
Morning' - frae the Rev Alex S Borrowman, umquhile meenister at
Sanct Andros, Glesca i 'The Scotsman' 31 Mairch 1977
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There was a couthy
Packman, I kent him weel aneuch,
The simmer he was
quartered within the Howe o' Tough;
He sleepit in the barn
rnd amo' the barley strae,
But lang afore the
milkers he was up at skreek o' day,
An' furth upon the
cheese stane set his reekin' brose to queel
While in the caller
strype he gied his barkit face a sweel;
Syne wi' the ell-wan'
in his nieve to haud the tykes awa'
He humpit roon' the
country side to clachan, craft an ha'.
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There's a puckle
lairds in the auld house
wha haud the waas
thegither :
there's no muckle
graith in the auld house
nor smeddum
aither.
It was aince a braw
and bauld house
and guid for onie
weather :
kings and lords
thranged in the auld house
or it gaed
a'smither.
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Brissit brawnis and
brokin banis,
Stride discord and
waisite wanis;
Crukit in eild, syne
halt withal -
Thir are the bewties
of the fute-ball.
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Luve is ane
fervent fire
Kendillit without
desire;
Short pleisure, lang
displeisure,
Repentence is the
hire
Ane puir treisure
without meisure:
Luve is ane
fervent fire.
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11. He said, forbye, " A particular man
had twa sons;
12. " And the young son said till his
faither, ' Faither ! gie me my portion that wad fa' to me o' a' the gear
!' And he portioned oot till them his leevin.
13. " And, a wheen days eftir, the young
son gaither't a' his gear thegither, and gaed awa frae hame till a far-awa
lan' ; and thar sperfl't his gear in riotousness.
14. " But mair : whan a' was gane thar cam
up an awesome famine oot-throwe yon lan' ; and he begude to be wantin.
15. " And he gaed awa, and was sornin on
ane o' the men o' that lan' : and he sent him oot-by to herd swine.
16. " And he fain wad fill't his sel wi'
the hools the swine war eatin ; and nae ane gied them till him.
17. " But, comin' till his richt min',
quo' he, ' Hoo mony are the fee'd servants o' my faither, wha hae rowth o'
breid, and an ower-come ; while I, here, dee o' hung'er !
18. " ' I wull rise and gang tae my
faither, and wull say till him, My faither ! I hae dune wrang, again
Heeven, and afore you ;
19. " ' Nae mair am I fit to be ca'd yere
son ; mak me like till ane o' the fee'd servants ! ' And, sae risin, he
cam awa till his faither.
20 . " But, while he was yet haudin
far-awa, his faither spy't him, and was fu' o' compassion ; and rinnin, he
fell on his neck, and begude kissin him.
21. " And the son said till him, ' My
faither ! I did wrang again Heeven, and afore you : I am nae mair wordie
to be ca'd yere son !'
22. " But the faither said to the
servants, ' Waste nae time ! bring oot a robe - the first and best ane -
and pit it on him ; and gie a ring for his fing'er, and shoon for his feet
;
23. " ' And bring oot the stall'd cauf,
and kill it, that we may eat and be joyfu' !
24. " ' For he my son was deid, and cam to
life again ; he had been tint, and is fund again ! ' And they begude to be
joyfu'.
25. " But his auld brither was i' the
field : and, as he cam in, he drew nar the hoose, and heard music and
dancin.
26. " And beckonin till him ane o' the
fee'd folk, he spier't what aiblins a' this micht mean ?
27. " And he said till him, ' Yere brither
has come back again ; and yere faither has kill't the stall'd cauf, for
that he gat him hame again a' safe and soun'. '
28. " But he was fu' o' ang'er and wadna
gang in. His faither, tho', cam oot, and was entreatin him.
29. " But he answerin him, said till his
faither, ' See ! a' thir years hae I se't ye ; and never did I gang ayont
yere commauns ; and hae at nae time did ye gie me e'en a kid, that I micht
mak a feast for my freends ;
30. " ' But whane'er this yere son, wha
has devoor't yere leevin wi' harlots, cam, ye killed the stall'd cauf ! '
31. " But he said till him, ' Bairn ! thou
art aye wi' me ! and a' that is mine is thine !
32. " ' But it was richt we soud mak merry
and rejoice ; for he, thy brither, was deid, and cam back to life again ;
he had been tint, and was fund ! ' "
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Lang syne the Lord
created Man
Accordin' to His
weel-thocht plan,
An' beasts, an' birds,
an' creepin' things
That hap about on legs
or wings ;
But jealous Nick, to
show his mettle,
Thocht some creation
he maun ettle,
An' did his best - or
warst, for, fegs !
It was the Deil
created clegs.
frae 'Clegs'
- W D Cocker
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Auld Neibour,
I'm three times doubly
owre your debtor,
For your auld-farrant,
fien'ly letter;
Tho' I maun say't, I
doubt ye flatter,
Ye
speak sae fair;
For my puir, silly,
rhymin' clatter
Some less maun sair.
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Ane tellt me it
was time I learned to write -
round-haund, he meant
- and saw about my hair:
I mind of him,
beld-heidit, wi a kyte.
Ane sneerit
quarterly - I cuidna square
my savings bank - and
sniftert in his spite.
Weill, gin they arna
deid, it's time they were.
frae 'Elgy' -
Robert Garioch
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At gloamin, now, the
bagpipe's dumb,
When weary owsen
hameward come;
Sae sweetly as it
won't to bum,
An' pibrochs
skreed;
We never hear its
warlike hum,
For Music's dead.
MacGibbon's gane! ah
wae my heart!
The man in music maist
expert;
Wha cou'd sweet melody
impart,
An' tune the reed,
Wi' sic a slee an'
pawky art;
But now he's dead.
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Hundreds of mothers throughout Aberdeenshire
and Banff every night put their 'little wee bit loonikies' and 'little wee
bit lassickies' to their 'bedies', while the infant of the household,
described as the 'little wee eenickie', that is a 'teeny weeny enie' -
lies in its 'cradlie'. A thousand and one examples will leap to your minds
- 'The boatie rows' ; 'sic mannie, sic horsie' ; 'the ewie wi the crookit
horn' - as against Burns's 'Ca' the ewes tae the knowes' ; a 'sheltie' ; a
'sheepie' ; a 'lammie' ; a 'burnie' ; a 'quinie' and so on through a whole
catalogue of diminutives, sometimes five and six thick. Indeed, 'a little
wee bit loonikie' represents five diminutives. These diminutives are, I
say, just as frequently used as ever they have been.
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Inglis, alang wi Scots belangs i the Germanic
faimily o leids alang wi ithers sic as Dutch but he'd be a gey spunkie
chiel wha'd ettle tae tell the Dutch or the Danes at they'd be better aff
tae gie up their ain speak an tae scrieve an gab i German. Aa at I hae
learnit fae the time I wis a bairn i Angus, whaur aa I heard ootside o
schuill wis the strang speak o the North-East, gars me ken at Scots
differs as muckle frae Inglis as Dutch dis fae German.
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Gin I speak wi the tungs o men an angels, but
hae nae luve i my hairt, I am na nane better nor dunnerin bress nor a
ringing cymbol.
These words are laid across the threshhold to
the Queensferry House courtyard, the main entrance to the new Holyrood
Parliament building for MSPs. Created by artist Gary Breeze, the words
feature lettering of steel inlaid into cut whinstone.
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A MONSTER, fegs! Is't
no' a scunner
The way I'm made a nine
days' wun'er?
Monster indeed! Folk
glower an' keckle,
I may be jist a wee
kenspeckle,
But though mair muckle
than I'd wish,
Let me alane, I'm jist
a fish.
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The tea-time edition o STV's Scotland Today on
Friday 3 September (2004) wis somethin different aw thegither. The hail
warld wis bein stoundit wi reports comin oot o Russia aboot aw thae wee
bairns bein hauden hostage at thon schuil in Beslan an Scotland Today pit
this story richt at the stert o its program. The twa praisenters, John
MacKay an Shereen Nanjiani, alang wi Neil Connery speakin direct frae the
scene, did a richt wyce-like an professional job o pittin this
hert-stoundin international news ower tae the Scots public in a hamelt
vice an accent they wad aw be acquent wi. This is whit the sae cried
Scottish Six is aw aboot. News, guid or bad, frae aw the airts an no juist
frae this country, comin intae oor hooses in a vice or accent that's aw
oor ain raither nor in thon cauld, foreign, RP accents o the English
estaiblishment that comes frae folk that's juist no ane o oo.
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Now mourn, ye college
masters a'!
And frae your ein a
tear lat fa',
Fam'd Gregory death
has taen awa'
Without remeid;
The skaith ye've met
wi's nae that sma',
Sin Gregory's dead.
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1. Syne a' thae things war by, Jesus gaed ower to the ither side o' the Loch
o' Galilee, ca'd the Loch o' Tiberias.
2. And
great thrangs cam eftir him, for that they saw the ferlies he wrocht on sick
folk.
3. And
Jesus gaed up intil a mountain, and sat doon thar amang his disciples.
4. And the
Pasche was nar-haun, a Feast o' the Jews.
5. Whan
Jesus had liftit up his een, and had seen sic a great company come till him,
he says to Philip, " Hoo sal we buy breid, that a' thae may eat?"
6. And
this he said to try him : for he kent his sel what he wad do.
7. Quo'
Philip, " Twa hunder siller pennies in breid wadna be eneuch for them a',
that ilk soud hae a wee."
8. And ane
o' the disciples, Andro, Simon Peter's brither, says till him,
9. "
Thar's a callant here, wha has fyve barley-bannocks, and twa wee speldrins ;
but what wad be amang sae mony?"
10. Quo'
Jesus, " Mak the men sit doon !" Noo thar was a rowth o' gerss i' the place.
Sae the men sat a' doon, aboot fyve thoosand o' them.
11. And
Jesus tuik the bannocks, and whan he had gien thanks, he gied to the
disciples, and the disciples to them that war sutten doon ; and eke o' the
speldrins, as mickle as they wad.
12. Whan
they war a' satisfy't, quo' he till his disciples, " Gaither up the mools
and bits that are ower, sae that thar be naething wastit."
13. Sae
they gaither't them up, and filled twal baskets wi' the broken bits o' the
fyve barley-bannocks, remainin ower to them wha had eaten.
14. Than
thae men whan they had seen the ferlie wrocht by Jesus, cry't a', " This is,
o' a' certaintie, yon Prophet that was to come intil the warld !"
15. Whan
Jesus kent that they wad come, and tak him wi' the strang haun to mak him a
King, he withdrew again intil a mountain, by his sel alane.
John
Chaiptir Sax, verses 1 - 15, frae 'The Four
Gospels in Braid Scots' - Rev William W Smith
'Wi' merry sangs and frien'ly cracks
I wat they didna weary;
And unco tales, and funny jokes,
Their sports were cheap and cheery
Till buttered so'ens, wi' fragrant lunt,
Set a' their gabs a steerin';
Syne wi' a social glass o' strunt
They parted aff careerin
Fu' blythe that nicht.'
Frae 'Halloween' - Robert Burns |
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No livin man I'll lou again
Syne that my bonnie man is slain;
Wi ane lock o his black hair
I'll chain my hert for evermair.
Frae 'The
Widow's Lament' - Old Border Ballad |
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Dumfoonert wisnae the word for it when
folk fund oot that the Scottish Saltire wisna gaun tae be alloued tae flee
frae the new Holyrood Pairlament, excep for on special occasions an e,en
then it wad be alangside o ither nationalities.
Whit a disappyntment for a nation that's switherin atween a
new pride in its national identity an its auld imposed native creenge that
in itsel is the ootcome o a similar want o political imagination in Scottish
education for ower a century. It's
no that lang syne oor creenge ridden Executive spent the third pairt o £1m
tae fund oot whit wis the maist weel kent symbol o Scotland juist tae be
telt whit awebody else kent, that the maist kenspeckle symbol o Scotland is
its ain Scottish Saltire. Frae
A Parliament Wantin a Saltire
- Scots Tung Wittens nummer 132 November 2004 |
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Edinburgh haes been appyntit the verra
first UNESCO City o Literature. Athin oors o pittin in a formal
bid for the title, the proposal wis gien absolute approval bi mair nor a
hunder ambassadors wi muckle praise an ratified the follaein day bi the
Executive Comatee. It wis thocht that awe this wad tak months.
Auld Reekie's submission includit a threap on hou Scotland's minority
languages haed played sic a major pairt in its literary history. The
Warld City o Literature wabsteid can be seen at the follaein URL:-
http://www.worldcityofliterature.com/.. Frae
City o
Literature - Scots Tung Wittens nummer 132 November 2004 |
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Stottie baw, stottie baw, tell to me
Hou monie bairns am A to hae?
Yin to leeve, an yin to dee,
An yin to sit on its nurse's knee.
- bairn's rhyme whilst bouncing a ball.
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In the same yeir (1511) the King buildit a
great schipe called the Micheall, quilk was ane verie monstrous great schip;
for this schip tuck so meikle timber that schoe wasted all the woods in Fyfe
except Falkland Wood, by the timber that cam out o Norway.
Frae The Chronicle of Scotland
- Lindsay of Pitscottie (16th centuary). |
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An' aye he gied the tozy drab
The tither skelpin' kiss,
While she held up her greedy gab,
Juist like an oumous dish.
Frae
The Jolly Beggars - Robert Burns
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O in gweed King Dauvid's Toon
a bonnie bairn was born
O in gweed King Dauvid's Toon
a bonnie bairn was born
O in gweed King Dauvid's Toon
Lay a saviour wi nae croon:
Far the muckle starn shone doon
a bonnie bairn was born.
Frae
A Bonnie Bairn Was Born - Leslie
Wheeler
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And as the Angels gaed awa frae them
to Heeven, the shepherds said ane till anither, 'Lat us gan noo to
Bethlehem, and see this thing that has come aboot, that the Lord has
made kent till us!'
-
And they gaed, makin haste, and fund
Mary, and Joseph, and the bairn lyin in a manger.
-
And whan they saw it, they tauld
abreid the words that war tell't to them anent this bairn.
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And a' that heard it ferlied at the
things tauld them by the shepherds.
-
But Mary keepit a' thae things,
ponderin on them in her heart.
-
And the shepherds returned, giean
glorie to God, for a' thae things thay saw and heard; e'en as it was
tell't them.
Luke Chaiptir Twa, verses 15-20, frae
The Four Gospels in Braid Scots
- Rev William W Smith
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Up in the morning's no' for me,
Up in the morning early;
When a' the hills are covered wi' snaw,
I'm sure it's winter fairly.
frae Up in the
Morning Early by Robert Burns
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