18.2 A brief and very concise history of poetry in Scots
In this this section, you are going to work with three examples of poetry in Scots from across the centuries, not to attempt a comprehensive overview but to gain a sense of the historical longevity and quality of Scots-language poetry. The literary history of the Scots language can still be recognised in dialect forms of Scots today. There are some key aspects that you will come across, namely that:
- Courtly forms prevailed in some of the earliest examples of Scots poetry and are still in use, though not at court.
- At different periods in history, poetry in Scots was revived, both by a renewed effort to write new poems and a self-conscious reappraisal and republishing of older Scots poetry for a new generation of readers.
- Scots poems can be formal or informal, cool and restrained or impassioned and forceful: there is no prescription in terms of provenance or legitimacy, other than the capacity of the reader to engage with them.
Activity 7
In this activity you will work with very different kinds of poems from the 15th, 17th and 21st centuries. As in previous activities, you will read the poems and analyse their subject, imagery, form, and tone. This time, you will also compare and contrast the poems with each other in relation to their subject, imagery, form, and tone. As in previous activities, you will be able to listen to the poems and engage closely with the sound and rhythm of the Scots language the poets used and how it impacts on the reader’s/listener’s meaning making of the texts.
Part 1
1. William Dunbar (c.1460-c.1520) ‘To a Ladye’
a. Read and analyse the poem using the SIFT questions from the introduction.
Sweit rois of vertew and of gentilnes,
Delytsum lyllie of everie lustynes,
Richest in bontie and in bewtie cleir
And euerie vertew that is deir
Except onlie that ye ar mercyles.
In to your garthe this day I did persew.
Thair saw I flowris that fresche wer of hew,
Baithe quhyte and rid, moist lusty wer to seyne,
And halsum herbis vpone stalkis grene,
Yit leif nor flour fynd could I nane of rew.
I dout that Merche with his caild blastis keyne
Hes slayne this gentill herbe that I of mene,
Quhois petewous deithe dois to my hart sic pane
That I wald mak to plant his rute agane,
So confortand his levis vnto me bene.
b. Listen to the poem.
Transcript
Listen
Sweit rois of vertew and of gentilnes,
Delytsum lyllie of everie lustynes,
Richest in bontie and in bewtie cleir
And euerie vertew that is deir
Except onlie that ye ar mercyles.
In to your garthe this day I did persew.
Thair saw I flowris that fresche wer of hew,
Baithe quhyte and rid, moist lusty wer to seyne,
And halsum herbis vpone stalkis grene,
Yit leif nor flour fynd could I nane of rew.
I dout that Merche with his caild blastis keyne
Hes slayne this gentill herbe that I of mene,
Quhois petewous deithe dois to my hart sic pane
That I wald mak to plant his rute agane,
So confortand his levis vnto me bene.
Model
Sweit rois of vertew and of gentilnes,
Delytsum lyllie of everie lustynes,
Richest in bontie and in bewtie cleir
And euerie vertew that is deir
Except onlie that ye ar mercyles.
In to your garthe this day I did persew.
Thair saw I flowris that fresche wer of hew,
Baithe quhyte and rid, moist lusty wer to seyne,
And halsum herbis vpone stalkis grene,
Yit leif nor flour fynd could I nane of rew.
I dout that Merche with his caild blastis keyne
Hes slayne this gentill herbe that I of mene,
Quhois petewous deithe dois to my hart sic pane
That I wald mak to plant his rute agane,
So confortand his levis vnto me bene.
2. Anonymous ballad ‘The Twa Corbies’
a. Read and analyse the poem using the SIFT questions from the introduction.
As I was walking all alane
I heard twa corbies making a mane:
The tane unto the tither did say,
'Whar sall we gang and dine the day?'
'—In behint yon auld fail dyke
I wot there lies a new-slain knight;
And naebody kens that he lies there
But his hawk, his hound, and his lady fair.
'His hound is to the hunting gane,
His hawk to fetch the wild-fowl hame,
His lady 's ta'en anither mate,
So we may mak our dinner sweet.
'Ye'll sit on his white hause-bane,
And I'll pike out his bonny blue e'en:
Wi' ae lock o' his gowden hair
We'll theek our nest when it grows bare.
'Mony a one for him maks mane,
But nane sall ken whar he is gane:
O'er his white banes, when they are bare,
The wind sall blaw for evermair.'
Vocabulary help: Corbies - ravens. Fail - turf. Hause - neck. Theek - thatch.
a. Listen to the ballad, which is often performed as a song, in renditions by Hamish Imlach [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] and Steeleye Span.
3. Christine De Luca, ‘Hentilagets’ / ‘Odds and ends’ (2014)
This is a poem composed after studying Verbiest’s Chinese map of the world (1674), which puts China at the centre of the world. Having seen the map on display in the Hunterian Museum, Glasgow University, Christine De Luca writes in Shetlandic, and translates into English, her poem about the residual strengths and potential of the Shetland islanders whose archipelago map-makers still often enclose in a box in the corner of a map of Britain.
a. Study the map then read the poem first in Scots and then in its English version.
Hentilagets*
No dat I’d lippen dee, Verbiest, sae trang wi
da Chinese Emperor, ta ken aboot dis hentilagets
o skerries. Or, for dat maitter, wi der namin.
Even da best map-makkers missed wis oot or,
whan dey fan wis, prammed wis ida Moray Firt
ithin a peerie box. Maistlins we wir jöst owre
da horizon, a vague prospect, Ultima Thule.
I canna blame dem, for dat nordern ocean
stipplt apö first maps wis buskit wi wrecks
an sea munsters; hed da likkly o a graveyard.
Hendrik Hondius man a read da starns wi
a Davis quadrant an checkit better charts,
Mercator’s, afore he teckled terra incognito,
dat Orcades and Schetlandia Blaeu engraved.
An sae da box appeared: tree dimensions flatcht
ta twa; latitude an longitude forgien;
laand scaled doon, crubbit up, sae da rest could braethe.
But tap dat box an, boy, we’ll loup oot! Gie you
sic a gluff, you’ll nivver trust a Verbiest again!
We’ll rex wis, i wir ain place, prood an prunk
boannie as a weel-med gansey, newly dressed.*
*Hentilagets are tufts of sheep’s wool often caught in heather; usually the softest.
*Dressing a newly knitted garment involves washing and stretching.
Translation:
Odds and ends
Not that I’d expect you, Verbiest, so busy with
the Chinese Emperor, to know about these oddments
of skerries. Or, for that matter, with their naming.
Even the best map-makers missed us out or,
when they found us, crammed us into the Moray Firth
in a little box. Mostly we were just over
the horizon, a vague prospect, Ultima Thule.
I cannot blame them, for that northern ocean
stippled on to first maps was decorated with wrecks
and sea monsters; had the appearance of a graveyard.
Hendrik Hondius must have read the stars with
a Davis quadrant and checked better charts,
Mercator’s, before he tackled terra incognito,
that Orcades and Schetlandia Blaeu engraved.
And so the box appeared: three dimensions flattened
into two; latitude and longitude compromised;
land scaled down, confined, so the rest could breathe.
But tap that box and, boy, we’ll leap out! Give you
such a fright, you’ll never trust a Verbiest again!
We’ll stretch out, in our own place, visible and confident,
beautiful as a well-made jumper, newly finished.
b. Now listen to Christine De Luca introducing and reading her poem. Then read it out recording yourself.
Transcript
Listen
Hentilagets*
No dat I’d lippen dee, Verbiest, sae trang wi
da Chinese Emperor, ta ken aboot dis hentilagets
o skerries. Or, for dat maitter, wi der namin.
Even da best map-makkers missed wis oot or,
whan dey fan wis, prammed wis ida Moray Firt
ithin a peerie box. Maistlins we wir jöst owre
da horizon, a vague prospect, Ultima Thule.
I canna blame dem, for dat nordern ocean
stipplt apö first maps wis buskit wi wrecks
an sea munsters; hed da likkly o a graveyard.
Hendrik Hondius man a read da starns wi
a Davis quadrant an checkit better charts,
Mercator’s, afore he teckled terra incognito,
dat Orcades and Schetlandia Blaeu engraved.
An sae da box appeared: tree dimensions flatcht
ta twa; latitude an longitude forgien;
laand scaled doon, crubbit up, sae da rest could braethe.
But tap dat box an, boy, we’ll loup oot! Gie you
sic a gluff, you’ll nivver trust a Verbiest again!
We’ll rex wis, i wir ain place, prood an prunk
boannie as a weel-med gansey, newly dressed.*
Model
Hentilagets*
No dat I’d lippen dee, Verbiest, sae trang wi
da Chinese Emperor, ta ken aboot dis hentilagets
o skerries. Or, for dat maitter, wi der namin.
Even da best map-makkers missed wis oot or,
whan dey fan wis, prammed wis ida Moray Firt
ithin a peerie box. Maistlins we wir jöst owre
da horizon, a vague prospect, Ultima Thule.
I canna blame dem, for dat nordern ocean
stipplt apö first maps wis buskit wi wrecks
an sea munsters; hed da likkly o a graveyard.
Hendrik Hondius man a read da starns wi
a Davis quadrant an checkit better charts,
Mercator’s, afore he teckled terra incognito,
dat Orcades and Schetlandia Blaeu engraved.
An sae da box appeared: tree dimensions flatcht
ta twa; latitude an longitude forgien;
laand scaled doon, crubbit up, sae da rest could braethe.
But tap dat box an, boy, we’ll loup oot! Gie you
sic a gluff, you’ll nivver trust a Verbiest again!
We’ll rex wis, i wir ain place, prood an prunk
boannie as a weel-med gansey, newly dressed.*
The range of Scots dialects in three poems – continued