POEM OF THE DAY

SCOTCH grannies, or, more precisely, the tongues of

Scotch grannies, are given a new dimension in this satirical little poem from Kathleen Jamie’s collection, The Queen Of Sheba (Bloodaxe Books, 1994) It can also be found in The Edinburgh Book of Twentieth-century Scottish Poetry, EUP, 2005).

ARRAHEIDS

See thon raws o flint arraheids in oor gret museums o antiquities awful grand in Embro –

Dae’ye near’n daur wunner at wur histrie?

Weel then, Bewaur!

The museums of Scotland are wrang. They urnae arraheids but a show o’ grannies’ tongues, the hard tongues o grannies aa deid an gaun back to thur peat and burns, but for thur sherp chert tongues, that lee fur generations in the land like wicked cherms, that lee aa douce in the glessy cases in the gloom o oor museums, an they arenae lettin oan. But if you daur sorn aboot an fancy the vanished hunter, the wise deer runnin on; wheesht . . . an you’ll hear them, fur they cannae keep fae muttering ye arenae here tae wonder, whae dae ye think ye ur?

Poets wishing to enter the 2020 Mccash Scots Poetry Competition should note the closing date for entries has now be set for June 30. Entries can be in any form of Scots. This year’s theme is Travelling Hopefully. Up to three entries of new, unpublished work, up to 30 lines long, on A4 paper, should be submitted by post to James Mccash Scots Poetry Competition, c/o Lesley Duncan, The Herald, 200 Renfield Street, Glasgow, G2 3QB.