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Document 1491

Summertime

Author(s): Sheila Templeton

Copyright holder(s): Sheila Templeton

Text

Summertime was the unmarried aunts
hurrying in from the ice cream van,
their booty of vanilla piled high
in an old baking bowl,
like a wedding celebration
melting in laughter.

Straightening stocking seams,
they shouted for lemonade, better still
a big bottle of American Cream Soda,
long spoons and the tallest glasses
from the kitchen press.

We sat outside, legs dangling
from a scarred bench made of old
railway sleepers, stirring our floats

pearling clear glass with sticky strands
set forever in beaded DNA of memory.

This work is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

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:

Summertime. 2026. In The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow. Retrieved 6 September 2026, from http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=1491.

MLA Style:

"Summertime." The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow, 2026. Web. 6 September 2026. http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=1491.

Chicago Style

The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech, s.v., "Summertime," accessed 6 September 2026, http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=1491.

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

The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech. 2026. Glasgow: University of Glasgow. http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk.

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Information about Document 1491

Summertime

Text

Text audience

General public
Audience size 1000+

Text details

Method of composition Wordprocessed
Year of composition 2006
Word count 86

Text medium

Book
Newspaper
Periodical/journal
Radio

Text publication details

Published
Part of larger text
Contained in Slow Road Home (Sheila Templeton) / Running Threads (Jim Hughes, Rowena M Love, Michael Malone, Sheila Templeton)

Text setting

Leisure/entertainment
Private/personal

Text type

Poem/song/ballad

Author

Author details

Author id 1075
Forenames Sheila
Surname Templeton
Gender Female
Decade of birth 1940
Educational attainment University
Age left school 18
Upbringing/religious beliefs upbringing Protestantism, now Eastern Yoga meditation practice
Occupation Retired Teacher
Place of birth Aberdeen
Region of birth Aberdeen
Birthplace CSD dialect area Abd
Country of birth Scotland
Place of residence Troon
Region of residence S Ayr
Residence CSD dialect area Ayr
Country of residence Scotland
Father's occupation Railway Engineer / originally farm worker
Father's place of birth Stoneywood
Father's region of birth Aberdeen
Father's birthplace CSD dialect area Abd
Father's country of birth Scotland
Mother's occupation Doctors' Receptionist
Mother's place of birth Dyce
Mother's region of birth Aberdeen
Mother's birthplace CSD dialect area Abd
Mother's country of birth Scotland

Languages

Language Speak Read Write Understand Circumstances
English Yes Yes Yes Yes At work, at home, writing
Scots Yes Yes Yes Yes At home, writing work mainly poetry

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