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Document 487

Scotland

Author(s): Janet Paisley

Copyright holder(s): Janet Paisley

Text

she’s a haurd mither, sair
scartit wi braes an glens
oot-stravaigin ony craw’s feet.

hur face glowers wi heuchs
hur vyce teems a burn in spate
ower broon-teeth jaggit scaurs.

she pits oan clinty craigs are briests,
belts hur waist wi forfochen industry,
in hur airms, she gethers firs.

aywis a thrawn, crabbit fechter, she’s
boardered by fuller hips, flytin
fire-dairts wi thunnered micht.

nae season lichtens hur, she drags
hur bairns up oan kail an whin,
winters thaim athoot guidness.

she kennles the grate wi chitterin hail,
coups snaw tae shaw hoo saft she is.
spring claeths hur aulder in green.

if she coories ye in tae hur breist
it is tae skail a linn’s white-watter
torrent o snash oantae yer heid.

liltin, she bokes up craikin maws.
sleepin, she bumphles a runkled pilla
ower the mune, batters oot twa three staurs.

she’ll smoor yer dreams wi Scotch mist,
nit kaim yer hair wi chuggin wind,
slounge yer faces wi rain.

in yer mooth she staps a leid
naebody kens, in yer hert a stane.
but gang awa fae hur

a rantin sang an dance’ll folley
tae reel ye in as son or dochter,
mak ye seik fur hame.

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:

Scotland. 2024. In The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow. Retrieved 18 April 2024, from http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=487.

MLA Style:

"Scotland." The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow, 2024. Web. 18 April 2024. http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=487.

Chicago Style

The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech, s.v., "Scotland," accessed 18 April 2024, http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=487.

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 487

Scotland

Text

Text audience

Audience size N/A

Text details

Method of composition Wordprocessed
Year of composition 2001
Title of original (if translation) Scotland
Author of original (if translation) Janet Paisley
Language of original (if translation) English
Word count 210

Text medium

Magazine (e-zine)

Text publication details

Part of larger text
Contained in www.wordswithoutborders.org
Editor Sally Harris
Page numbers June 2004

Text type

Poem/song/ballad

Author

Author details

Author id 103
Forenames Janet
Surname Paisley
Gender Female
Decade of birth 1940
Educational attainment College
Age left school 17
Upbringing/religious beliefs Protestantism and Paganism
Occupation Writer
Place of birth Ilford
Region of birth Essex
Country of birth England
Place of residence Falkirk
Region of residence Stirling
Residence CSD dialect area Stlg
Country of residence Scotland
Father's occupation Factory Processor
Father's place of birth Balloch
Father's region of birth Dunbarton
Father's birthplace CSD dialect area Dnbt
Father's country of birth Scotland
Mother's occupation Nurse
Mother's place of birth Avonbridge
Mother's region of birth Stirling
Mother's birthplace CSD dialect area Stlg
Mother's country of birth Scotland

Languages

Language Speak Read Write Understand Circumstances
English Yes Yes Yes Yes Work, home, social, public
Scots Yes Yes Yes Yes Work, home, social, public

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