On these pages are the poems we have been searching for. Have a browse, and if you see one you think you know, please use our form to tell us about it!

Can you help us find these quotations?

July 2010

This is an unusual one that has us stumped (recited to an old lady by her father when she was young):
'Devil take the ass that bred thee,
and the bigger ass that fed thee,
Devil go with thee you (spolpin ??),
and the donkey went on board'.
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We are looking for a Scottish one called 'The Old Maid's Prayer' - no words known at the moment.
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Roddy Macmillan read a poem on the BBC programme 'A Little Night Music' which had the words:
' with gamebooks telling the tale of grouse
and sleepers booked on the London train ...' - does anyone remember it?
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A poem possibly called 'The Colours', about racehorses (hence 'colours').  The first line may be something like 'The horses are at the top of the field'.
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Looking for a poem about going to the dentist without an appointment:
'An appointment? How was I tae ken I would have sair teeth?'
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We have four single lost lines that we would appreciate help in finding:

'As in the houses of the Highlands' - an opening line by Iain Crichton Smith?

'A hundred thousand shades of green'

'Oh for the sound of a human voice'

'Something to spoil your day .... if you let it' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A lady remembers a poem used in her Choral Reading class at Falkirk High School in the 1950s - the poem was about the origins of coal, and how we get it. There was something about the trees that died and were buried, and it had a lovely rhythm which made it easy for a class to chant, and was about a page long.
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June 2010

We are searching for a poem with the first line 'never go back to see', and the last: 'my joy, my devotion and me'.

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These words about school were first heard at Glebe Primary School in Irvine, North Ayrshire:

It's no bad goin up there and its great coming back
its the lang bit between that I just cannae tak ...

and they are faintly familiar - can anyone help?

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These lines were read to children 50-60 years ago:

There's a wee little brownie in every house
As sure as sure can be
He's harder to see than a wee brown mouse
But oh how he troubles me.

My thimble is lost when I try to sew
And my needle case somewhere slides
And I never can tell where my scissors goes ...

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A family is trying to trace the source of this line, often quoted: 'see that old woman in the corner with yellow teeth - believe her'. Could it be from a poem?

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Our enquirer has the text (10 verses) of a poem possibly called 'Gorgie Road', and would like to find out who wrote it - please get in touch if you know. Some of the lines are:

'O Gorgie Road when we were wee
Was sicca place for fun and glee
D'ye min' Saughton Games oan summer nights
Levoi an' tig an' bonfire nights? ...'

Submitted Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Jimmy Black wrote a satire on cloning which finishes with the line: 'Just try to make sure your maw is a wumman' - does anyone know the rest?