Ir Ye No Gan Awa?
Audio Only (Fer aa thon wha fin tha Ulster-Scots herd tae read)
Iver tha past twathry weeks A hae bin ast half a dizin times
whur ir ye gan on yer hoalidays? Whun A tell thum naewhur tha aa luk at mae
dumfoonthered, like they cannae git thur heid roon oanyboady stayin at hame.
Surely Am no tha ainly yin wha can mind whun gaen' awa on yer hoalidays wus a
weeks stap at yer granmithers, a wheen o minutes doon tha road.
Ay, simmer hoalidays ir quarely changed fae whun A wus a wean.
Yin o ma favourite Ulster-Scots writers Hugh Robinson summed up tha hale thing
far better than A iver cud in haes book 'Across The Fields Of Yesterday' whur
he tells iz aboot tha hoalidays o his youth. " As fair as us boys wur
consarned, hoalidays hud naethin tae dae wi sim place ye wunt awa tae in the
simmer. It wus aa aboot sim place ye didnae gan. Schuil."
Ay, tha stert o July wus a magical time whun tha eenless days o
simmer stretched oot afore iz wi promises o swemmin' in tha tide, runnin' thru
fiels an haein adventures. Tha simmer wus aa aboot freedim. But then freedim
wus easier cumby fer iz weans. Fer whun ye hae nithin yeve nithin tae loass.
Oanythin wus possible an tha hale kintrie wus oors tae plunder.
Aff coorse wae
didnae git tae rin roon aa simmer, thur wus wurk tae bae din gatherin prootas
oor bringin' in tha bales, bit even thon wus a sort o' adventure fer iz weans.
A chance tae prove oorsels. Tae enter tha wurl o oor faither's an thur
faither's. Tae be trate like men fer twathry days.
Sadly thon days ir lang gan bit whiles a michtnae bae fit tae
gaether prootas ir rin acroass a fiel, a quait danner doon tha beaches an
loanins o hame is worth a dizin weeks o leein sweetin unner an umbrella. Sae
whun sim yin tells ye thur gan naewhur fer tha simmer it micht jist bae because
naewhurs haird tae bate,
Until nixt time lang mae
yer lum reek an yer spicket dribble.
