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Document 248

A Fair Deal

Author(s): Anna Blair

Copyright holder(s): Anna Blair

Text

Maisie and Molly
Changing their scraps
Sorting through pictures
Strewn in their laps.

Atwells and soldiers
Baskets of flowers
Clowns, cats and trumpets
Ladies in bowers,

Bridegrooms in top-hats
Highlander Flings
Fat sonsy cherubs
Sprouting blue wings.

Great angels, small ones
Got to arrange
Five Wee for a Big
As the rate of exchange.

Heads low in cahoots
There's a bargain to seal
Swopping and judging
To reach a fair deal.

Serious business
Trade to be done
You wouldnae go-thinking
They're just having fun.

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:

A Fair Deal. 2025. In The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow. Retrieved 1 December 2025, from http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=248.

MLA Style:

"A Fair Deal." The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow, 2025. Web. 1 December 2025. http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=248.

Chicago Style

The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech, s.v., "A Fair Deal," accessed 1 December 2025, http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=248.

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

The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech. 2025. Glasgow: University of Glasgow. http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk.

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Information about Document 248

A Fair Deal

Text

Text audience

General public
Audience size 1

Text details

Method of composition Handwritten
Year of composition 1998
Word count 88

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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