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Document 240

Daytime

Author(s): Anna Blair

Copyright holder(s): Anna Blair

Text

The magic hour before wir tea
When Tam and Ben and Jake and me
Goes down the back wi' jammy piece,
To plot wir crimes, or play RELEASE!

That time of day the green is ours
Wi' midgie bins for pirate towers
Fence-post swords and bucket drums
And prison cells in wash-house lums.

We've poles to sclim and sills to creep
Coal-shed roofs to climb and dreep
Paling-stobs and ridges...rones
Play Mafia-men v Al Capones.

But, Whiles the back-court jinkin' stops
And us weans stands aside and gawps
As other folk come on the scene
To strut their buskin' on the green.

There's this big dame in Irish clogs
Hitches her skirts and jigs her jogs,
A jauntin' hurdy-gurdy chap
Wi' monkey sportin' velvet cap.

Sand-dancers shufflin' in trays,
Flutes, melodeons and plays
Tin-whistles, jugglers, things like that,
A wilkie-tumblin' acrobat.

Your Ma throws pennies from the sink
Cries "Mind it's not to go on drink"
Or if she doubts they winnae heed
She hurls a jeely-piece insteed.

That's daytime stir in back-court life
With weans and 'stars' and washer-wife.
Then Dark brings midgie-men to comb
The bins. But that's another 'pome'.

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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:

Daytime. 2024. In The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow. Retrieved 25 April 2024, from http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=240.

MLA Style:

"Daytime." The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow, 2024. Web. 25 April 2024. http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=240.

Chicago Style

The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech, s.v., "Daytime," accessed 25 April 2024, http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=240.

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 240

Daytime

Text

Text audience

General public
Audience size 1

Text details

Method of composition Handwritten
Year of composition 1998
Word count 212

Text setting

Leisure/entertainment
Private/personal

Text type

Poem/song/ballad

Author

Author details

Author id 127
Forenames Anna
Surname Blair
Gender Female
Decade of birth 1920
Educational attainment College
Age left school 17
Upbringing/religious beliefs Protestantism
Occupation Teacher/author
Place of birth Giffnock
Region of birth Glasgow
Birthplace CSD dialect area Gsw
Country of birth Scotland
Place of residence Glasgow
Region of residence Glasgow
Residence CSD dialect area Gsw
Country of residence Scotland
Father's occupation Business
Father's place of birth Glasgow
Father's region of birth Glasgow
Father's birthplace CSD dialect area Gsw
Father's country of birth Scotland
Mother's occupation Business
Mother's place of birth Glasgow
Mother's region of birth Glasgow
Mother's birthplace CSD dialect area Gsw
Mother's country of birth Scotland

Languages

Language Speak Read Write Understand Circumstances
English Yes Yes Yes Yes
French Yes Yes Yes Yes Visits to France, correspondence
Scots Yes Yes Yes Yes

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