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Document 245

The Fallen Horse

Author(s): Anna Blair

Copyright holder(s): Anna Blair

Text

Did you ever see
On an icy street
A Clydesdale horse
Skliff and lose its feet.
A big-big horse
Sprachle, legs apart
An' fankle its hooves
Wi' the shafts and cart?

Seen one l'ke that
Just th'other day
Clatter and fall
On the carriage-way
Its wheels goin' round
An' its cart a-tilt
Its nose-bag torn
And the oats a' spilt.

Folk stood and gaped
As it whinnied and neighed
And its shoes on the frost
Just slithered and splayed.
It's an awful thing
For a fine proud beast
To be lyin' like that
Up Kyle Street East.

It looked that wild
Wi'its big teeth bared
And it pechin' hard
W'its nostrils flared
There was great ado
While two or three
Helped the carter-man
Till the shafts were free.

They took a sack
Fae the cart someplace
And threw it over
The cratur's face
Then they cried on me
And said I would need
To come and sit
On the horse's heid.

I wasnae feart
I just smoothed my breeks
And sat mysel'
On the poor thing's cheeks.
That calmed him doon
On the cobbled street
Till they hauled him up
To his shaggy feet.

The carter gi'ed me
A shilliny-piece
Just for sittin' keepin'
His horse at peace
No, I wasnae feart...
'Fact, I would've sat
On a tiger's heid
For a tip like that.

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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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APA Style:

The Fallen Horse. 2024. In The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow. Retrieved 16 April 2024, from http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=245.

MLA Style:

"The Fallen Horse." The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow, 2024. Web. 16 April 2024. http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=245.

Chicago Style

The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech, s.v., "The Fallen Horse," accessed 16 April 2024, http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=245.

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 245

The Fallen Horse

Text

Text audience

General public
Audience size 1

Text details

Method of composition Handwritten
Year of composition 1998
Word count 242

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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