Christmas
English Poems Owerset intae Scots Leid!
Parris Joyce, Learning Officer fur the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum, as pairt o Tracy Harvey’s recent Scots leid wirkshoaps, hus been owersettin some poetry intae Scots.
Owersettin is a gey gid way o engagin wae the leid an makin ye think haird aboot wit wirds wirk best. It’s a useful way o usin wirds ye already ken but micht o forgotten as weel as lairnin new yins tae.
Here is twa poems she owersit intae Scots. Enjoy!
The Walrus and the Carpenter by Lewis Carroll
(or The Muckle Flabby Selch an the Jiner)
The sin wis beekin oan the sey,
Beekin wae aw his micht!
He did his gey best tae mak
Tha billows sleekit an bricht –
An this wis unco, cause it wis
The middle o the nicht.
The muin wis beekin fungily,
Cause she thoucht tha sin
Hud goat nae business tae be thir
Efter tha day wis done –
‘It’s gey misbehadden o him’, she said,
‘Tae cum an tash the fun!’
The sey wis wet as wet cud be
The saunds were dry as dry.
Ye cuddnae see a clud, cause
Nae clud wis in the sky:
Nae burds wir fleein owerheid –
Thir wir nae burds tae fly.
The Muckle Flabby Selch an the Jiner
Wir daunerin nar at haun:
They gret lich ownyhing tae sei
Such quantities o saund:
‘If this wur only red oot’,
They said, ‘it wid be graund!’
If seeven lassies wae seeven besoms
Sweeped it fir hauf a year,
Dae ye reckin, the Muckle Flabby Selch spaikit,
‘Thit they cud git it red clear?’
‘I doot it’ said the Jiner,
An shed a wersh tear.
‘O Oysters, cum an dauner wae us!’
The Muckle Flabby Selch did fleetch.
‘A bonnie dauner, a braw blether,
Alang the briny beach:
We cannae dae wae mair thin fower,
Tae gee a haun tae each.’
The auldest Oyster luiked at hum,
But never a wird he said:
The auldest Oyster winked his ee,
And shoogled his heavy heid –
Meaning tae say he didnae choose
To leave the oyster-bed.
But fower wee Oysters scrambled up,
Aw buzzin fir the treat:
Their jaikets were brushed, their faces washed,
Their shoes were clean and neat –
And this wis unco, cause, ye ken,
They hudnae any feet.
Fower ither Oysters follaeed thum,
An yit anither fower;
An thick an fast they came at last,
An mair, an mair, an mair –
Aw hoppin through the frothy waves,
And scrambling tae the shore.
The Muckle Flabby Selch an the Jiner
Daunered oan a mile or so,
An then they rested oan a rock
Conveniently low:
An aw the wee Oysters stood
An waited in a row.
The time has come, the Muckle Flabby Selch said,
To spaikit o mony hings:
O shoes – an ships – an sealing-wax –
O cabbages – an kings –
An why the sea is bilin hoat –
An whether sows hae wings.
But wait the noo, the Oysters gret,
Afore we huv oor chat:
Fir sum o us are oot o breath,
An aw o us are fat!
Nae rush! Said the Jiner.
They thanked him much fir that.
A loaf o breed, the Muckle Flabby Selch said,
Is wit we chiefly need:
Pepper an vinegar besides
Are gey guid indeed –
Now if yer ready, Oysters dear,
We cun stairt tae feed.
But naw oan us! The Oysters gret,
Turning a wee bit blue.
After such kindness, thit wid be,
A rotten hing tae do!
The nicht is braw, the Muckle Flabby Selch spaikit.
Do you admire the view?
It wis so kind of ye tae cum!
An ye are awfy nice!
The Jiner said nowt but
Cut us inither slice:
I wish ye werenae quite so deef –
I’ve had tae ask ye twice!
It seems a shame, the Muckle Flabby Selch spaikit,
To play them such a trick,
After we’ve broucht them oot so far,
An made them trot so quick!
The Jiner said nowt but
The butter’s spread too thick!
I greet fir ye, the Muckle Flabby Selch spaikit:
I deeply sympathize.
Wae sobs and tears he sorted oot
Those o the mucklest size,
Haudin his hanky
Afore his greetin eyes.
O Oysters, said the Jiner,
Ye’ve had a bonnie run!
Shall we be trotting hame again?
But reply came there nane –
An this was scarely unco, cause
They’d scoffed every yin!
Twas The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore
(or Twis The Nicht Afore Yule)
Twas the nicht afore Yule,
when aw throu the hoose
Nae a beastie wis steerin,
nae e’en a moose;
The stockings were hung
by the lum wae care,
In houps thit St. Nic
soon wid be thir.
The weans were cooried
aw snog in their beeds,
While veesions o sugarplums
birled in thir heids;
An Maw in her mutch
an a in ma cap,
Had juist corried doon
fir a lang winter’s nap –
When oot oan the gairdin
there heaved such a clatter,
A boonced fae ma beed
to luik wit wis the matter.
Awa tae the windae
a fleed like a flash,
Teared open the shutters
an chucked up the sash.
The muin on the breist
o the new-fawen snaw,
Gave a lustre o twaloors
tae objeects ablow.
When, wit tae ma ferlie een
Shood kythe,
But a wee sleigh
An aucht wee Yule deer,
Wae a wee auld driver
so swippert an quick,
A kent in a blink
it must be St. Nick.
Mair fest than aigles
his coursers they came,
An he fussled, an rousted,
an cried them by name –
“Noo, Dasher! Noo, Dancer!
Noo, Prancer an Vixen!
Oan, Comet! Oan, Cupid!
Oan, Donder an Blitzen!
Tae the tap o the entry,
tae the tap o the wa!
Noo, hurl awa! Hurl awa!
Hurl awa aw!”
As dry leaves afore
the gallus hurricane flicht,
When they meet wae an obstacle
rise tae the lift,
So up tae the hoosetap
the coursers they fleed away,
Wae sleigh fu o thingamajigs –
an St. Nicholas tae;
An then in a glenting,
a heard oan the roof
The linkin an luifin
o each wee huif.
As a drew in ma heid
an wis birlin aroon,
Doon the lum St. Nicholas
came wae a boond.
He wis set-on aw in fur
fae his heid to his fut,
And his claes were aw tarnished
wae ashes and suit.
A haunfie o thingamajigs
he hud chucked oan his back,
An he luiked lik a peddler
juist opening his pack.
His een hoo they twinkled!
His dimples hoo mirkie!
His chowks were lik roses,
his neb lik a cherry!
His unco wee mou
wis drawn up lik a bow,
An the baird oan his chin
wis as fite as the snaw!
The stock o a gun
He held ticht in his teeth,
An the reek it encircled
his heid lik a wreath.
He hud a braid face
an a wee roon belly
Thit shoogled when he buckled
lik a bowlie fu o jelly.
He wis pluffie an sonsie –
a richt gawsie auld elf,
an a keckled when a saw him,
in maugre o masel.
A glimmer o his een
an a skew o his heid,
Soon gave me tae ken
A hud nowt tae dreid.
He spaikit nae a wird,
but when straucht tae his wirk,
An fillt aw the stockings
then birled wae a yerk,
An pittin his pinkie
aside o his neb,
An geein a nod,
Up the lum he fled.
He legged it tae his sleigh,
tae his fleeto gave a whustle,
An awa they aw flew
like the doon o a thrissel.
But a harked him goller
as he hurled oot o sicht,
“Joco Yule tae aw
an tae aw a gid nicht!”
RBBM Year Round Up
A round up of the year at RBBM; not even including all the craft fairs, farmers markets, lunch time tours and countless other things that were all possible because of the tireless work of our volunteers and staff.
• The year kicked off in style in January with Burns Night celebrations, held in the museum and hosted by Karen Dunbar.
• Haggis-hurling was the big hit of the Alloway 1759 weekend. We’ll be doing it all again this year, so come along to give it a shot.
• February saw the first meeting of the Book Club and Cupcake Cafe, it’s still going if you want to get involved!
• March’s Brass at the Bard’s brought together a fantastic mix of brass bands and the Bard’s Birthplace, with junior bands from around the West of Scotland exceeding expectations with their level of talent.
• Chocolate, badgers and Burns, oh my! In April Badger, Moley and the rest of the Wind in the Willows gang took over the cottage and museum for the annual Easter egg hunt.
• There were a series of craft workshops during the Easter holidays, including clay-modelling and movie-making for Burns, Camera, Action.
• May saw the opening of the new Monument Garden Shop, run by the museum’s volunteers. The opening ceremony was part of the Glorious Gardens event, which had plant sales and children’s crafts.
- Also during May Nich Smith won a Scottish Design Award in the Lighting Design category, for his new lighting scheme at Alloway Auld Kirk, and is also currently for shortlisted for a Lighting Design Award.
- June started with a bang: the fantastic Third Degree Burns Festival, featuring acts such as Trusty and the Foe , Celtic Twist and Macanta!
- The contemporary art exhibit Burnsiana opened, showcasing work by the world renowned photographer Calum Colvin and the accompanying poetry of celebrated Scots poet Rab Wilson.
July marked the beginning of the School holidays and the summer program of Workshops for Weans and Summer Family Fun Day.
• In August Maurice Lindsay’s The Burns Encyclopaedia was launched at the museum.
• Throughout September there were a series of talks and events, including Rambling Rosie’s Saturday Stories and an enlightening talk on Sylvander and Clarinda given by Dr Pauline Mackay from the Centre for Robert Burns Studies.
• October launched The Big Draw 2013, with visitors drawing what they imagine Burns Cottage will look like in 250 years time. See the cottage underwater or even being invaded by aliens!
• Alloween featured a spooky evening of storytelling, ghost walks and costumed characters across the whole site.
• November brought the opening of our new exhibition Savage and Tender, accompanied by a special visit from a certain John Barrowman! This exhibition will run until the 23rd March so don’t miss the opportunity to catch it in the New Year.
• Novemeber 28th was Kids in Museums Takeover Day, when Primary 6s from Alloway Primary gave us all the chance to take a day off and let them run the museum… object handling, customer service, even live tweeting!
• On St Andrew’s Day RBBM was proud to host a celebratory poetry event, A Scotsman, an Englishman and an Irishman. Many thanks to poets Rab Wilson, Andrew Forster and Terry McDonagh.
• The Independent Minds: Prison, Poems and Politics anthology was launched at the Mitchell Library with a lively debate on prisoners and the vote. It is the result of a long collaboration between RBBM, Kevin Williamson and a group of prisoners from HMP Kilmarnock who took inspiration from Burns to write their own poetry.
• With the approach of Christmas our volunteers worked hard to bring us a wonderful Christmas Craft fair and a festive plant fair.
• Santa’s visit to Burns Cottage was a great surprise, along with Gilbert the Reindeer Keeper, Mrs Claus, the Christmas Tree Fairy and jolly elves! Many hundreds of you came to see him and saved Christmas for us all!
And that rounds off a fantastic year of events, talks, workshops and exhibitions at Robert Burns Birthplace Museum… here’s to 2014!
In 1787 Robert Burns spent the Christmas period exchanging letters with Agnes MacLehose. Their new love affair was unfolding, with Agnes revealing her unhappy marriage and their agreement to take the Arcadian names of Sylvander and Clarinda.
On 28th December Robert Burns made an unsuitable outpouring of love and was fairly insincere in his contrition over Agnes’ or perhaps a more disapproving audience’s imagined displeasure:
I do love you if possible better for having so fine a taste and turn for Poesy.
I have again gone wrong in my usual unguarded way, but you may erase the word, and put esteem, respect, or any other tame Dutch expression you please in its place.
I like to think of this as significant within a certain genre of love declarations, not because of his indiscretion but the time of year in which he made it. It is the Christmas-inspired ill-advised declaration of love, made recognisable by a Christmas film that is almost unavoidable at this time of year; Richard Curtis’s Love Actually. OK, so perhaps such slushy Christmas spirit wasn’t something so commonly encountered in 18th Century Scotland as it is now, but it’s an amorous story fraught with the problems worthy of a scene in one of our favourite Christmas films nonetheless.
Merry Christmas!
Christmas, Crafts and Cyclamen
Christmas has well and truly arrived this week at Burns Cottage, with a whole host of events getting underway. Our fantastic volunteers have worked hard to bring visitors two fairs; one selling festive arts and crafts in conjunction with our monthly farmer’s market, and the other selling Christmas plants including cyclamen, holly sprigs and wreaths! A lot of time and effort went into creating these displays and they flew off the shelves, spreading some Christmas cheer to the neighbourhood. We would like to say a big thank you to everybody who helped out with the events, and also to everyone who came along on the day!
Elsewhere, Burns Cottage has been playing host to Santa Claus, Mrs Claus and various little helpers, who mistakenly ended up in Alloway after taking a wrong turning on the way back from their holidays. Christmas preparations are firmly underway, with everybody’s letters being re-directed from the North Pole. Although Santa’s arm is currently in a sling, the doctor assures us he will be fighting fit again by Christmas Eve, so don’t forget to leave out plenty of mince pies and carrots! Again a big thanks to all our volunteers and staff who have made Santa’s stay so comfortable… who knows, he may even visit us again next year!
We are also preparing for our Alloway1759 celebrations at the end of January, so watch this space for further information on the events and activities we will be running then… it promises to be a fantastic weekend for all.
We at Robert Burns Birthplace Museum hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Burns Birthplace Blog 