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Document 1399

Facing Foula

Author(s): James Hiddo Moncrieff

Copyright holder(s): James Hiddo Moncrieff

Text

As the last crow spun from sight
The small birds blew past
Like leaves in autumn
And greylags fought a wavering flight path
From the sea

The sky dragged
its moorings south in a grey shroud.

The black tarpaulin of night
Threw itself across the window frame
And snow came
Uninvited
Spitting white fury
At the glass.

Morning saw the daffodils
Rise from their knees
And the sun enter at the back door
As low cloud moved north
Against a broken blue sky
And sea, the colour of liver, break
In a white line off Loose Head.

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The SCOTS Project and the University of Glasgow do not necessarily endorse, support or recommend the views expressed in this document.

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Cite this Document

APA Style:

Facing Foula. 2024. In The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow. Retrieved 28 March 2024, from http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=1399.

MLA Style:

"Facing Foula." The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow, 2024. Web. 28 March 2024. http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=1399.

Chicago Style

The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech, s.v., "Facing Foula," accessed 28 March 2024, http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=1399.

If your style guide prefers a single bibliography entry for this resource, we recommend:

The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech. 2024. Glasgow: University of Glasgow. http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk.

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Information about Document 1399

Facing Foula

Text

Text audience

Adults (18+)
General public
Audience size 1000+

Text details

Method of composition Wordprocessed
Year of composition 2005
Word count 97

Text medium

Magazine (e-zine)

Text publication details

Published
Publication year 2005
Place of publication Shetland
Part of larger text
Contained in The New Shetlander
Editor Laureen Johnson and Brian Smith
Page numbers 20

Text setting

Journalism

Text type

Poem/song/ballad

Author

Author details

Author id 972
Forenames James Hiddo
Surname Moncrieff
Gender Male
Decade of birth 1940
Educational attainment College
Age left school 19
Upbringing/religious beliefs Working class/Socialist
Occupation Retired
Place of birth Lerwick
Region of birth Shetland
Birthplace CSD dialect area Sh
Country of birth Scotland
Place of residence Bigton
Region of residence Shetland
Residence CSD dialect area Sh
Country of residence Scotland
Father's occupation Telegraphist
Father's place of birth Lerwick
Father's region of birth Shetland
Father's birthplace CSD dialect area Sh
Father's country of birth Scotland
Mother's occupation Housewife
Mother's place of birth Loppersum
Mother's region of birth Groningen
Mother's country of birth Holland

Languages

Language Speak Read Write Understand Circumstances
English Yes Yes Yes Yes Home
Scots Yes Yes Yes Yes Home

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