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Document 263

Take-care

Author(s): Anna Blair

Copyright holder(s): Anna Blair

Text

There's no' much to say after twenty year-odd
I ken he votes Labour, believes in his God,
Likes his pint come a Friday, the Fair Week at Ayr
Takes his tea wi'out sugar, his sausages square
And food that's no' fancy or smothered in sauce.
Then after he's eaten, an hour or so's doss.
He enjoys playin' chess wi' old Malacky Orr
And I ken what he thinks about Wages and War.
He kens 'red's my favourite, so's Horlicks, and oh!
That I like Nelson Eddy...my washing like snow.
Now of an evening when I sit and knit
And him wi' his paper, we just grunt a bit
Odd words and half-phrases to say what we mean...
How the day was at work, or just down the back-green,
I ken him that well, what he's trying to say
I can finish his sentence before he's halfway.
No' very romantic, I'm grantin' you that
Just mumbles and grumbles, no effort to chat.

But when I'm goin' out on the street to somewhere
And he stands at the stairheid and mutters 'Take-care'
I 'och-aye' in reply (one of life's wee routines)
Demonstrative no! But I ken what he means.

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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:

Take-care. 2024. In The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow. Retrieved 14 October 2024, from http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=263.

MLA Style:

"Take-care." The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow, 2024. Web. 14 October 2024. http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=263.

Chicago Style

The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech, s.v., "Take-care," accessed 14 October 2024, http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=263.

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 263

Take-care

Text

Text audience

General public
Audience size 1

Text details

Method of composition Handwritten
Year of composition 1998
Word count 215

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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