Ullans Number 12 - Solace

The good people at the Ulster-Scots Language Society were kind enough to publish two of the poems I wrote last year in the latest edition of Ullans Magazine. They were also generous enough to provide some much needed editorial advice, for which I am greatly indebted. Below I have included my poem Solace which appears on page 23 of Issue 12

                                           

Solace

Tae danner doon loast loanins

Whaur time hings thick as stoor;

An skellied een can aftimes glean

Aa that cam afore.

Tae lay agin a waarm stane waa

That croons a drumlins heid,

Betwixt tha plan o God an man

An free fae unco need.

Tae sklent tha breakers’ fickle pad,

As spate owertaks tha lan,

And ower thair bak tae learn tae tak

Solace frae tireless plan.

Tae turn yinst mair an mak fur hame

Whane’er tha day iz gan –

Oor peace new-made wi him ’at sayed

Be still, an know I am.

                                             

D. Gibson,  2011

Simmers Enn

This wee verse came to me as I worked in the garden this afternoon.

I stoop and strain tae gather in
As leaves faa roon ma heid
In broon an gowd this day fertoul
Yinst mere oor simmers deed.
D. Gibson

A guid danner

A guid danners hard tae bait

Tha Danner

Tae danner doon loast loanins
Whur time hangs thick as stoor
An squinted een can aft times gleen
aa that came befur

Tae lay agin a warm stane wa
That croons a drumlins heid
Betwixt the plan o God an man
An free fae unco need

Tae weave tha breakers fickle pad
Whur swells rise up ageen tha lan
And in there wak learn tae tak
Solace fae thur tireless plan

Tae turn yinst mere an heid fur hame
Noo tha day iz gan
Oor peace new-made wae him wha said
Be still, an know I am.

© D. Gibson

Yin o ma ain

This was one of the first poems I wrote in the hamely tongue. I had originally intended it to be a lament and indeed the first 2 verses were written after I had returned from few days 'at hame' in the low country. As I drove through  Graba, Portavoigie and Cloghey. I was dismayed by the rash of new housing that betrayed my childhood memories. Therefore the reference to Exodus 2:22.  However I am not naturally inclined to the dirge so I put the poem aside unfinished. Which was a good job as a few months later, after association with a few stout souls such as Mr Anderson and Mr Thompson, I held a more positive outlook for the future which is reflected in third verse.
If onniebodie wud like tae send me a wheen o thur ain rhymes or screvins in the hamely tongue, I wud be happy tae post them on ma blog.

Oor ain strange lan

Na mere the taak way herd as weans,

Noo aa but gan frae freenly hames,

Loast amang mere recent claims,

Left ahind an mossy stanes.

An mere than taak is loast an gan,

For aftin wurds prescribe the maun,

An leeves iz noo at dailygan,

Strangers in oor ain strange lan.

Yet still anaw a wheen are fun,

Who held their ain whun aa gave grun,

An kept alive their faithers tongue,

In hapes of better times tae cum.

© D. Gibson