Document 338
Da ballad o Maggie Reid
Author(s): Christine De Luca
Copyright holder(s): Christine De Luca
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in eichteen forty-wan.
I helpit raise his faider's bairns
fur der midder shö wis gien.
I tinkit lang, I virmished sair
at he wid come back shön.
I'd promised I wid mairry him
whin his sailin days wis dön.
I waited fur him fowr lang year
nae wird cam fae da sea.
We tocht him drooned i da ocean's
fowld; no lik ta mairry me.
His faider tocht at I wid mak
a decent wife ta wed.
His idder bairns dey likkit me
sae he took me fur his bride.
I wisna bön a six-mont wed
when I hears da voice sae dear.
Dere he staands, mi laad, mi love
wi sadness in his een.
Dat een at lang at I wis sowt
is lik ta rive mi sowl,
fur noo I canna be his wife
sae at his feet I gowl.
I canna even bring mesell
ta luik apön him eence.
I laeve da hoose, mi mind med up
a thuddin i mi breest.
Doon owre da broo bi Brough I rin
Mel beach lies snaawy white
Da peerie flooers dey drap der heids
aert-bark, tae girse, eye-bricht.
I poo some flooers fur mi hair
a bouquet fur a bride
a boannie wreath ta tak wi me
whin I geng tae his side.
Da ocean sochs ithin da gyo
dark, still an deep hit lies
a coffin shape: wir trystin place
whaar I man end mi days.
I lay mi clugs neat on da banks
wind flooers trowe mi hair.
Fur I man drap tae a willin grave
ta see dat luik nae mair.
___
laad: a young woman's boyfriend; gud: went; der: their; midder: mother; shö: she; wis gien: had died; tinkit lang: missed (someone or some place); virmished: longed anxiously; no lik: not likely; wid; would; shön: soon; wis dön: were done; faider: father; idder: other; likkit: liked; wisna bön: hadn't been; I hears: I heard; een: eyes; dat: that, those; at: that; rive: tear; canna: cannot; gowl: cry; mesell: myself; luik: look; apön: upon; eence: once; rin: run; peerie: lttle; dey: they; aert-bark: tormentil; tae girse: thyme; poo: pull; geng: go; sochs: sighs deeply; ithin: within; gyo: steep, narrow inlet; wir: our; man: must; trowe: through
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APA Style:
Da ballad o Maggie Reid. 2024. In The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow. Retrieved 25 April 2024, from http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=338&highlight=fae.
MLA Style:
"Da ballad o Maggie Reid." The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow, 2024. Web. 25 April 2024. http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=338&highlight=fae.
Chicago Style
The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech, s.v., "Da ballad o Maggie Reid," accessed 25 April 2024, http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=338&highlight=fae.
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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Da ballad o Maggie Reid
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