Best Yowes Poems
Sing tae me the auld sangs that ah learnt when a bairn,
Sitting at ma mithers knee hearin the lilting tunes,
Carrying me far awa in ma mind
Wurds o the land whaur ah live
An love aw the deys o ma life.
The auld sangs o Caledonia uv heroes ,fermers an unco ithers,
Auld yins wi tales tae tell o plooghmen wi ther hoarses
Running trecks in the fields
Ready fur seed hoping tae grow,
Berley,oats and wheat an aw.
O shepherds an ther dugs so clever an quick,
Chasing the yowes ower hill an glen,
Hardy people wummin an men,
Oot in a wethers hail,rain ur sna,
Lookin fur the yin that’s lost.
Auld sangs bring memories back pintin the wey tae gaw,
Daw we daur tae learn from them wisdom an aw,
Wi a sigh an a tear in oor een,
At the end o the year wi sentiment seen
Auld sangs agin lustily sung.
Andrew mcintyre 18 lanuary 2021.
Categories:
yowes, allegory, culture, desire, grief,
Form:
Rhyme
(In the 17th c, many women were falsely accused of being witches. Many were banished, and more were burnt at the stake. Of course, none of them were witches, but due to ignorance and intolerance by so-called educated clergy, the women were falsely accused and condemned to die).
Like black rain over the meadow grass
Crows hover amid cackle and harsh laugh
To feed on seed of tomorrow's harvest
Leaving us all with meager leavings.
There they stood with gowns flapping
Like black wing of flocking crows
Cackling in judgment sober and stern
To deprive us of life and liberty.
Caged in a dungeon cold and dark
Beneath the kirks lofty roof
Without water and our daily bread
Were starved and scared into confession.
With false witness we were condemned
Sentenced before a trial took place
Tied to a stake and burned alive
Our souls travelled into paradise.
On Orkneys verdant green grass,
Graze our kye and our yowes
Since time began has it been thus
Shadows float black in sky above.
Categories:
yowes, abuse, allegory, bird, culture,
Form:
Ballad