The poems

Metadist Metafir

Ati'da plen widdin chappil
at da Noarbie koarnir,
ati'da pierie Metadist kirk,

he likks an stikks
da mukkil kullirt stamps
a 'Chiesis an' is mieriekils.

Jun en a' Him ati'da bow a'da boat
on Galilie – 'Pæs be still.'
An him choost waakin owir da shien!

He tinks – Quhitna kind a'krættir
kood waak apo da waatir,
kood pæsiefy da storm?

Oh, holie holie holie,
sjörlie Gød's æin bærn,
næ iddir en ava.

He sings – 'An I will makk ju
fyshirs a'men, fyshirs a'men,
fyshirs a'men.'

An thinks – Quhitna mesh a'net
wid du nied fir a shaal a'men?
Ir wid du choost harpoon dim?

Na, hit's aniddir kjettil d'ir kaatchin,
hit's jun iddir wy a'spækin
Mestir Milin kaas 'metafir'.

Hit mann bie a tekkil
fir a metad-fyshin.

*

In the plain wooden chapel, at the Norby corner, in the small
            Methodist church,
he licks and sticks the large coloured stamps of Jesus and his
            miracles.
That picture of Him, in the bow of the boat on Galilee, - 'Peace, be still.'
            And Him just walking over the surface of the water!
He thinks – What kind of creature could walk on water, could calm
            the storm?
O, holy, holy, holy, surely God's own child, no other.
He sings – 'And I will make ye fishers of men, fishers of men, fishers
            of men.'
And thinks – What size of net would you need for a shoal of men? Or
            would you just harpoon them?
No, it's another kettle they're catching, it's that other way of
            speaking Mister Milne calls 'metaphor'.
It must be the tackle for method-fishing.

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Source

From Nort Atlantik Drift (Luath, 2007)

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Author's note

Methodism became popular in Shetland during the 19th century, when evangelising missions swept over the islands, saving souls and preaching temperance. Through this conduit, a more colourful English model crept in to the islands' religious habits, more joyous than the established Church of Scotland with its emphasis on Calvinist theology, and socially much less dictatorial than the extreme forms of Protestantism in other sea-faring parts of Scotland. The importance of religious belief in communities where loss at sea is a regular fact of existence is no less prominent today. The poem represents a kind coming into awareness of language and the variance between the local tongue and the English of the chapel.

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Editors' comment

Only a Shetlander would get the full meaning out of the original version of this poem without first reading its English translation, although there are lines that speak loud and clear without any help: "he likks and stikks da muckkil kullirt stamps a 'Cheisis an' is mieriekils." Metadist Metafir is a luminous sliver of far-northerly life, where Christianity sits lightly on the surface of a community probably more alien to mainland Scotland than Palestine was two thousand years ago. Robert Alan Jamieson's language and style work together in an evocative, word-perfect double-act. Using an incantatory beat reminiscent of classroom rote, he conveys a child's willingness to take on new stories and ideas while retaining an innate commonsense and irreverence. If only everyone in Scotland's history, when faced with the bible, could have treated it with such sceptical respect.

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Biography

Alan Jamieson was born in 1958 in the crofting community of Sandness on Shetland. After publishing two novels (Soor Hearts and Thin Wealth) and a collection of poetry, Shoormal, during the 1980s, Alan Jamieson studied English Literature at the University of Edinburgh as a mature student, before taking up the William Soutar Fellowship in Perth (1993-96). He co-edited Edinburgh Review from 1993 until 1998, and was Creative Writing Fellow at the Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde, 1998-2001.

He currently teaches on the Creative Writing course at Edinburgh University. His most recent publications are a collaboration with the painter Graeme Todd, Mount Hiddenabyss (Fruitmarket Gallery, 2000), Ansin T'Sjaetlin: Some Responses To The Language Question (Samisdat, 2005) and Nort Atlantik Drift (Luath, 2007).

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Related links

› SPL holdings

› www.robertalanjamieson.info