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Document 794

Dipper: 57 - Bank Pit

Author(s): Dr James A Begg

Copyright holder(s): Dr James A Begg

Audio transcription

M623 Bank Pit

The 'Auld Pit', Bank Nummer ane, was worked continuously for ower a hunner years and lay only a quarter mile across the moss fae our cottage at Knowetap. Nearhaun, were the miners' rows of Burnfoot and Bank, where I spent my boyhood, inhabited by ower twa thoosand folk for at that time there were seeven working pits in New Cumnock alane. Nou there are three pits in the hale o Scotland. An this poem is a memorial tae a vanished community an a deein industry.

Snaw-white steam rents the blue veil
O a spring morn
As the sax o'clock horn steirs
Day-shift men frae their set-in beds;
An muckle horls birl coonter-wise,
As the piston pouer
O windin engines
Plays yo-yo
Wi mens' lives.

Drawn by the gliff o daylicht
Faur abune, the risin cage
Dunts an shoogles its wey
On pitch-pine sliders
Tae the surface.
White een in bleck faces
Screw at the sunrise,
As the wearit nicht-shift
Swaps tokens
For het baths
An fresh air.

Syne, doun the shank,
The day-shift men - strippers -
Braid o back an strang o limb
- Bred for the job -
Ride a roller-coaster
Tae the coalface doun The Douk.
Nae level Glesca Subway this -
- The Southern Upland Faut
Has seen tae that;

Wi inclines, steps an folds
That shatter seams
Like traicle toffee in a tin,
An mak winnin coal
Mair o a loasin gemm!

Back up abune, the Wee Pit Pug
Worries its waggons
Tae the bing -
- An coups its load o fossil stanes
Ower the heather moss;
While doun the line,
The Big Engine clanks awa
Wi a load o hard-wrocht coal
For smeekit Glesca.

Dugs bark. A sherp aixe
Splits kinnlers aff a clog.
Raws echo tae the chap
O hemmers brekkin coal,
An the scrape o shuils
Fillin tuim pails.
Blue reek spews
Frae a hunner lums
As cauld tea's jawed
Oot the back door,
An a fresh pot masked
On the bleck-leid grate
For the bairns' breakfast.

Anither day begun...
Anither time...
Anither warld.

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:

Dipper: 57 - Bank Pit. 2025. In The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow. Retrieved 27 August 2025, from http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=794.

MLA Style:

"Dipper: 57 - Bank Pit." The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow, 2025. Web. 27 August 2025. http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=794.

Chicago Style

The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech, s.v., "Dipper: 57 - Bank Pit," accessed 27 August 2025, http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=794.

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 794

Dipper: 57 - Bank Pit

Audio

Audio audience

General public
For gender Mixed
Audience size 1000+

Audio awareness & spontaneity

Speaker awareness Aware
Degree of spontaneity Fully scripted

Audio footage information

Original title The Dipper an the Three Wee Deils
Year of recording 1993
Recording person id 752
Size (min) 2
Size (mb) 9

Audio footage publication details

Published
Publisher/Broadcaster Scotsoun
Publication/Broadcast date 1993-01-01
Place of publication/broadcast Glasgow

Audio medium

Radio/audio

Audio setting

Leisure/entertainment
Private/personal

Audio relationship between recorder/interviewer and speakers

Friend
Speakers knew each other Yes

Audio speaker relationships

Friend
Other Co-authors of book from which recording was made

Audio transcription information

Title of original The Dipper an the Three Wee Deils
Transcriber id 689
Year of transcription 2005
Year material recorded 1993
Word count 350

Audio transcription publication details

Published
Publisher/Broadcaster Luath Press
Publication/Broadcast date 1991-01-01
Place of publication/broadcast Barr, Ayrshire
ISBN/ISSN 0946487227

Audio type

Poetry reading/song/ballad performance
General description From a recording of a selection of short stories and prize winning poems (Scottish National Open Poetry Competition)

Author

Author details

Author id 623
Title Dr
Forenames James
Initials A
Surname Begg
Gender Male
Decade of birth 1940
Educational attainment University
Age left school 17
Upbringing/religious beliefs Protestantism
Occupation Medical Practitioner
Place of birth New Cumnock
Region of birth S Ayr
Birthplace CSD dialect area Ayr
Country of birth Scotland
Place of residence Ayr
Region of residence S Ayr
Residence CSD dialect area Ayr
Country of residence Scotland
Father's occupation Clerical Officer, NCB
Father's place of birth Sandbank
Father's region of birth Argyll
Father's birthplace CSD dialect area Arg
Father's country of birth Scotland
Mother's occupation Primary Teacher
Mother's place of birth New Cumnock
Mother's region of birth S Ayr
Mother's birthplace CSD dialect area Ayr
Mother's country of birth Scotland

Languages

Language Speak Read Write Understand Circumstances
Danish No No No No A little
English Yes Yes Yes Yes Home, socially, at work
French Yes Yes Yes Yes Holidaying in France
Norwegian No No No No A little
Scots Yes Yes Yes Yes Home, socially, at work

Participant

Participant details

Participant id 623
Gender Male
Decade of birth 1940
Educational attainment University
Age left school 17
Upbringing/religious beliefs Protestantism
Occupation Medical Practitioner
Place of birth New Cumnock
Region of birth S Ayr
Birthplace CSD dialect area Ayr
Country of birth Scotland
Place of residence Ayr
Region of residence S Ayr
Residence CSD dialect area Ayr
Country of residence Scotland
Father's occupation Clerical Officer, NCB
Father's place of birth Sandbank
Father's region of birth Argyll
Father's birthplace CSD dialect area Arg
Father's country of birth Scotland
Mother's occupation Primary Teacher
Mother's place of birth New Cumnock
Mother's region of birth S Ayr
Mother's birthplace CSD dialect area Ayr
Mother's country of birth Scotland

Languages

Language Speak Read Write Understand Circumstances
Danish No No No No A little
English Yes Yes Yes Yes Home, socially, at work
French Yes Yes Yes Yes Holidaying in France
Norwegian No No No No A little
Scots Yes Yes Yes Yes Home, socially, at work

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