Long Doon Poems

Oft in My Thought
by Charles D'Orleans
translation by Michael R. Burch

So often in my busy mind I sought,
Around the advent of the fledgling year,
For something pretty that I really ought
To give my lady dear;
But that sweet...

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All the guys and gals that I had graduated with, from Jimmy Dorsey High School, back in 1935,
Half a century later were dispersing all around us, surprising me with whom among my class was still...

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The Spirits of Culloden. 
This is like a pilgrimage, a try tae come every year,
Gather at the cairn, meet old friends, wipe away a tear.
Standin on that moor, that once with blood was sodden,
Paying respects...

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Me and the camel decided to see who had the greatest amount of humps . . . 
The camel jumped up crazed in the pub and started to then strut his stuff . . ....

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THE NIGHT THAT RABBIE VISITED ME
One night in spring  I couldn't sleep      I heard knocking on  the door
I got out of bed, walked to the window to have...

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A Red, Red Rose
by Robert Burns
modern English translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
 
Oh, my love is like a red, red rose
that's newly sprung in June
and my love is like the melody
that's sweetly played in tune.

And...

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Devonshire tea with Peter an' Beryl, beware,
it's no the fact that Peter disnae care.
But 88 years doon the track o' life,
an' 84 years fur Beryl, Peter's carefree wife.

Ma Bonny wife Gillian an' this Auld Yin,
oot...

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Ah had a aulder bruther whin ah wis wee,
ah wis five then an' he -wis nine yea see.
A tendid tae follow him aboot,
bit bein' aulder he widnae care a hoot.

Aw jings a remember wan day...

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Sound of a song softly sung rose in the air and through windows
Barred to let air and light in and little else.
A lament sung in Gaelic tongue foreign to ears used to French,
But its meaning...

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TRIMDON GRANGE EXPLOSION   *  
( 16 FEB  1882,  DURHAM,  ENGLAND )

Noo March is heor and the wind she’s cowld  *
But the sixty nine sowls divvent feel it ...

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'Imagine'. Life's wurth without, 'imagination',
could we iver contemplate creation?
A gif' to have in oor ain mind's een,
without it, nuthin' wundrous wid be iver seen.

Rabbie."O wad some Power the giftie gie us to see oursels as...

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Note

(Try to put your best Scottish accent on when reading this one)



Disguarded fae the workplace, rusted red distorted frame.
Mangled handles reachin' oot like a wee disguarded bairn.
Were ye pushed aroon' a factory,heavin' loads or liftin'...

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A luv ma life sae full o' joy,
I keep ma interests at full employ.
Each day fur me is sic' delight,
every day, aw' day an' ivery night.

I go tae bed an' lay doon ma heid,
aye richt...

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at night they roam
home seeds need sewn
wi joints n wine
they stan in line

troop doon the streets
in search ay geeks
tay jump on there heeds
an gee em nose bleads

oh the neds

wi trackis tucked in
an chibs up sleaves
they...

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    Tae A Mouse   
      (Whit wid Robert Burns say!)

Ha’ where ye gon ye cowrin feartie
Your impudence protects you sairly
I canna say but ye strut...

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A Top A Highland Hill

A top a windswept highland hill above Locheil land
Clansmen gathered roun and shook the princes haun
They raised the standard high cheered till they were hoarse
Followed the flying heron across the highland...

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Written in Scottish dialect.

Jack, Bernard and John, the Bandit Kings,
Hae handicaps wae too high.
Each o’ them score four points a hole,
Ah canna tell ye a lie!

Me, ah’m Rabbie, the bard o’ the course;
Ah’m lucky tae...

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THE BALLAD OF CLAN MAC AROON

 Listen ye now to a story
 The history of Clan Mac Aroon
 Tis a tale to set brave hearts a tremble
 And cause many a faint heart to swoon

...

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Tak oor grund from beneath oor hurdies 

Burn oor birches aside the lough, 

Besmirch hard fecht fur freedom, 

Dictating oor days tae come, 

No from the pint o a gun, 

Fae laws an promises ...

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Ma boatie sailed ower the mist covered sea,
I searched an sought for your hidden shore,
Shrouded in mist frae ma searching eye.
You left in a red mist o yer makin,
Stormin aff afore ah could stoap yer...

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tome in this orkney beachstead
Warm in the touch of rotting tip heat
splitskinning addies onto  top cook rock
smart eyes closed to stinking smoke
feet still wet from tidepool trapsets
Wondering when will weather break
tothers snore beneath the...

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Banks o' Doon
by Robert Burns
modern English translation by Michael R. Burch

Oh, banks and hills of lovely Doon,
How can you bloom so fresh and fair;
How can you chant, diminutive birds,
When I'm so weary, full of care!
You'll...

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TIGHT WAD
Yer cannie, as cannie be.
Nae sloutch, or frivolous, spend-thrift, ye.
Whose coin, to feered to leave the purse,
-in-case it’s ye’sd tae quench the thirst.
O, the ither, who just stood ye one.
Now sitting empty as a...

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Grouin up in Glesga wis nae mean feat
Pleyin in the back courts an dreepin the wass
Plouterin in puddles manky water sploshing aboot,
Searching in yon mucky middens fur treasure
Thrown oot by the families in the closes.
Fur...

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scotland poem

bonnie scotlands the place to be,
whar awe yae ever may want tae be,
fae glens n lochs and water to
lookin arood scotland whor thars a bonnie view,
whar the lads may wear thar kilts
whar the wumin...

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