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Lost
for words?
Lost and found 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? Submitted Monday, August 25, 2008 We have been asked if Marillion's lyrics about the spider, - 'Not the regal creature of border caves .... familiar of some obscure scottish poet ...' are based on a poem - can anyone tell us?Remembered from childhood: a poem about a naughty girl possibly called Maria Jane, whose nurse wonders what she will be like when she grows up. Submitted Tuesday, August 12, 2008 'A litter of eggs and glass' This phrase is possibly from one of John Burnside's poems, post-2000; if anyone can place it please let us know. Answer (20.08.08): It's from section II, Cardiac, of the poem 'Burning a Woman' from his book Swimming in the Flood (1995). About a decade ago our enquirer read a poem by a contemporary Scottish female poet, in possibly Glasgow dialect, spoken by a witch - 'Ah'm no gaun tae the coven the nicht'. All we know of this poem is the following two lines: 'Approve the traveller who never went,/ Slippers and timetables supply his wants ...' Submitted Thursday, July 31, 2008 A poem about the Isle of Skye; the words remembered are: 'when God made the Highlands ... the Lowlands, the islands ...' Submitted Friday, July 25, 2008 First heard in the 1960s: 'go back go back / says the grouse on the moor' Recited by a granny: 'My porridge plate at granny's house was of a misty blue' Submitted Friday, July 18, 2008 On National Public Radio (USA) in the late '80s, there was an interview with a poet, probably a Scotsman, who read a romantic poem (first person) that described the night and the dawn of the next day that a man and woman spent sleeping in an open boat, perhaps tied to a dock in the bay of a seashore town. The poem may have been called 'Aberdeen'; words recalled are: sea, gulls, hair, waves slapped. Can anyone help? Submitted Tuesday, July 08, 2008 We would appreciate help in tracking down the source of this quote - not known whether Scottish poet or not: 'all the sparrows in the black and white miniature'. Possibly from a nursery rhyme? 'Chubby cheeks and big kernoddle went off to hunt/find the bogle ...' Submitted Friday, July 04, 2008 Does anyone know a poem that features a character called 'Davie Doity', or 'Davie Doit, the Laird o Loit'? First seen in Inverness in the 1970s, this is possibly by a female poet, may possibly have been called 'Exile' and our enquirers would love to read it again: 'It's a beautiful country, but it's not my country We are like cattle, driven farther from what we remember We can go back the miles maybe, the years never ... ' Submitted Monday, June 30, 2008 Can anyone tell us where to get hold of the words for the poem or recitation 'The Day I Found the Five Pound Note'? Our enquirer's father remembers this from school in N Ireland in the late 30s early 40s. If anyone can tell us who wrote it, please let us know: 'a thousand journeys around the sun what profit when that course is run will men be taller women fairer work a joy and trouble rarer will young and old ascend the sky and never walk when they can fly ... ' Submitted Monday, June 23, 2008 This poem was first heard years ago, and the enquirer cannot remember a title, but it had the names of all the Scottish islands ... Heard from a grandfather: 'this world is like a beehive and we are like the bees .... some bring in the honey' Submitted Thursday, May 29, 2008 Our enquirer read a poem about ten years ago, on the theme of time - you must take time or time will not be taken. Quite a short poem, possibly by someone called MacKenzie, possibly written about 100 years ago. If anyone has any ideas, please let us know. Answer: The poem is 'A Description of Tyme' by the 16th century Scottish poet Alexander Montgomerie: 'Tak tyme in tym, or tym will not be tane; Thairfor tak tent hou thou this tyme suld tak ...' Submitted Friday, May 23, 2008 An enquirer is trying to find a poem that was his father's favourite; the title was 'Calum Voyach' and each verse ended with "and his name was Calum Voyach". 'What is the train to heaven like dear grandpapa?' Recited by a grandmother, the poem we are looking for is basically about a grandparent explaining how the train to heaven is your life and how you should live it. A funeral reading from a Scottish clergyman: 'Some think of death as going away, think of it instead as coming to Some think of death as losing, let us think of it as gaining...' Submitted Tuesday, April 29, 2008 First seen alongside old photographs, a poem which mentions areas around Kirkcudbright, in Galloway. Called 'Memory Lane', by 'A.K.H.' 'I like to wander down memory lane To see the old haunts once again Here and there, aye, many a mile Doon and roon St. Mary's Isle...' Looking for a poem first heard from our enquirer's mother: 'The first nicht Tam cam tae see me I was never sae muckle affronted in all my life - for I was washing my feet in a bowl of cold water ...' Submitted Wednesday, April 09, 2008 About 8 years ago a poem was quoted at the public enquiry on Castle Tioram; it is by a well-known living or recently deceased Scottish poet, and starts: 'I met some American friends ...' and continues along the lines 'they visited thirteen castles in twelve days ... I thought typical American ... which ones did you like best? ...the ruined ones ... I thought typical Scottish' If you can help pinpoint this one, please let us know. Answer: The poem is 'Characteristics' by Norman MacCaig, to be found in The Poems of Norman MacCaig (Polygon, 2005). 'In ten days they visited eleven castles. I smiled. How American.' There is a Gaelic poem, for which the English rendition of the title would be something like 'A place for pulling boats up to'. We are sure we know it, but cannot put our hands on it - Gaels, please help! Answer: Apologies to the Gaels - this is in fact a poem written in English: 'Two Thieves' by Norman MacCaig. It starts: 'At the Place for Pulling up Boats (one word in Gaelic) the tide is full.' Read the full text in The Poems of Norman MacCaig (Polygon, 2005). We think it is a real place, though, in Sutherland - can anyone confirm? This one was probably heard as secondary school pupil in the late sixties: about a person walking through a garden - it might be in China - at the end of the year/his/her life, most things are dead but a hydrangea shows a defiant glow of colour. Looking for a poem recited by our enquirer's mother in the 1950s (she would have learnt it as a child in the 1920s) - remembered words are 'when Peggy joined the Kirk'. Another one recited in the 1950s: this time the remembered words are 'the works of a watch that had gone tapsalteerie'. Answer: This is from that old favourite 'Contentment' (sometimes also known as 'Wee Bobbie's Breeks') by Scots poet W.D. Cocker, all about the contents of the boy's pockets: 'A fankled bit string, then a plunker an' glassie; Wi' ane or two bools an' the heid o' a brassie; The warks o' a watch that had gane tapsalteerie ...' Read the whole poem in Cocker's Poems Scots and English, originally published in 1932. (We do lend books by post within the UK.) Heard recited at Celtic Connections about 7-9 years ago, a funny poem about only getting into heaven if you wear a bunnet ... Submitted Tuesday, April 01, 2008 Our enquirer heard a poem with the words 'rainy days, sunny days - but enjoy them all' on the programme Wainwright Walks on the 11th March - was anyone else listening, and can let us know what the poem was? Heard at a poetry reading in Glasgow, a poem about a Glasgow horse, pulling a cart around the city - remembered words are 'yer piece round yer neck'. This may be a poem on its own, or it may be from something longer. Answer: It's from the sequence called 'Glasgow Beasts, an a Burd - Haw, an Inseks, an, aw, a Fush' by the late Ian Hamilton Finlay. You will find it, complete with the original papercut graphics, in The Dancers Inherit the Party: early stories, plays and poems (Polygon, 2004). Remembered from a school poetry competition round about 1975: 'said the flech to the flea, wouldn't it be gran ti be me, ti be swach and that bonny ti look at ...' If anyone else remembers it, let us know! Submitted Wednesday, February 27, 2008 Searching for a poem called 'Hero', which starts 'One Saturday night...'; other remembered phrases are: ' a citizen as fu as five puggies', 'creating certain certainties and leaving goalies gawping'. Can anyone from the Sheffield area place this quote (recited by a grandfather from Sheffield): 'In the Wicker where the water runs over the weir'? This poem was found in a family scrapbook; the family would like to trace the author - can anyone help? 'The Happiest Man' The man is happiest, I vow, Who wears no laurel round his brow, Who has no hoard of sordid gold, Or world-wide fame that he must hold ... Submitted Thursday, February 14, 2008 We would like to find a poem which is about a spider, though this fact does not become apparent until near the end of the poem. There are are about four verses, and the remembered words are: 'Webspinner was a miser old'. Answer (19.08.08) It's 'The True Story of Web-Spinner' by the Victorian poetess Mary Howitt; the text, and the story of the poem's inspiration, can now be found on the web as her book Sketches of Natural History (1834) has been digitised. Heard on Burns Night,a poem about Sanny Benny (a native of the Vale of Leven) and his meeting with Rabbie Burns at the Pearly Gates. 'Freen Sanny' 'When Sanny drew his last short breath, and went to meet that tyrant death ... there by his side stood Rabbie Burns And in his haun you'll no believe it, a bottle o the best Glenlivet...' Can anyone give us an author for it? Submitted Monday, February 04, 2008 We are looking for a humorous poem for children from a few years ago, possibly written by Les Wheeler. 'I like dubs' is all that our enquirer can remember. (Dubs being puddles in Scots.) Seen in an article on St. Kilda, in The Press and Journal about 10 years ago: 'Farewell, farewell you lonely dreamer, go with your seas for home, and tell them that my soul lives on, in the land where the wind was born ...' Submitted Thursday, January 31, 2008 Our enquirer heard a children's author (possibly Allan Ahlberg) - though in this case the piece was not written for children - on breakfast television, and would like to know where the quote she remembers is from: 'Death is (much) smaller than you think'. We are looking for a poem called 'The Swans of Musselburgh', which was in Scots, and probably written in the early 20th century. First seen in a newspaper cutting back in the 1950s - 'Willie Wankle had a Werner, Clothed in rust and very old, Though in thorough going order, By the vender he was told. Down to Weighbridge track he sped ...' Submitted Tuesday, January 22, 2008 Heard at school - a rhyme about 'Saun saun it sticks to yer haun'. Urgently needed for a Burns Night recitation! 'The Po' - about 'That old fashion dish called the po' . Some remembered words are 'Mrs Green keeps her gey clean ... Baith Jean & Lizzie slink ben the room ...' It may be more of a story than a poem. Submitted Monday, January 21, 2008 Two recitations to find: The first was learned at school by a 78 year old: title possibly 'Jemima' - 'Come your ways inside and have a cup of tea were the very first words that Jemima said to me'. The second was learned at elocution lessons by a lady born in 1905: 'I'm sitting on the doorstep and I'm eating bread and jam And I aren't a-crying really, Though I 'spect you think I am' Answer:We now have the words to the bread and jam recitation, thanks to the excellent memory of a 98-year old, though still no author or printed source. (To 'Rab', who sent it in - our email couldn't reach you, but many thanks.) Heard at a funeral and wanted again: 'The wee wumman next door', in which the author explains how the wee wumman next door was a great human being. Submitted Thursday, January 10, 2008 This possibly war-time poem was written down by our enquirer's mother - can anyone give us an author? 'Heedless of all the hours, save those when they were ours; before the strife the hopeless battle in a failing cause and we so hopeless to support their wars they must know they are the prisoners of the night ... ' We need help in finding this poem: first line: 'It fell aboot the Lammas time in 1643, surs / That there fell oot the awful fecht between McFadden and McFie, surs ...' Answer: This is 'MacFadden and MacFee' by Scots doctor poet David Rorie (1867-1946). It can be found in the book David Rorie: poems and prose (Aberdeen University Press, 1983). Submitted Friday, December 21, 2007 Two Scots enquiries for a bit of searching over the Christmas holidays: 'oh feint a bit o lear hae I, it beats me hoo x equals y and nine times nine hooever ah try ah canna mind avaw sir ...' What is this from? The second possibly starts with 'two / twa old maids', about two sisters (Lottie and Dot?) and their cat who lived together and never went out. When one of them gets married and sends a postcard home, though the card is "scuffy of news" she does tell her sister to let pussy out now and then. Answer: The first line is from Helen Cruickshank's 'Keepit In', about a country child who can't be doing with 'Latin verbs an' trash like thae', but longs to be outside: 'Ye waste your time an' tawse on me! O, please, can I get oot, sir!' From her Collected Poems (Reprographia, 1971). Submitted Wednesday, December 19, 2007 Can anyone place this quote, from an older Scots poem? 'It's Mither and the wireless and they pass the day thegither' Answer: Yes, it's from the poem 'Mither and the wireless' by John Smellie Martin, which was included in the popular anthology Oor Mither Tongue (1938). Submitted Monday, December 10, 2007 Andy Stewart recited a poem entitled (or with the words) 'Country chiels are hardy' on The White Heather Club in the early 60's, and Robbie Shepherd may have had it on the radio program Take the Floor a couple of years ago. Now we would like to get the text - can anyone point us in the right direction? Submitted Friday, December 07, 2007 A poem possibly called 'Gin I was Great Eneuch', possibly anonymous, was found in an anthology of poems (which may have been a school text book) 35 years ago in Edinburgh. Our enquirer remembers it imperfectly now and would love to see the whole poem again. We quote some of it here: 'Gin I was great eneuch my shilpit hert wad brier sae braid as rive my briest apairt and tak the yirth for flesh the sea for bluid till a' was kent: the tirl o' ilka airt o' ilka tide and a' was kent as guid gin I was great eneuch.' Answer:Not anonymous, the poem 'Great Eneuch' was written in 1954 by the 20th century makar Alexander Scott, and is included in his Collected Poems (Mercat Press, 1994). 'The wee red headed man is a knowing sort of fellow His coat is cat's eye green and his pantaloons are yellow' Though this was first heard at our enquirer's mother's knee, it is a poem about a man who steals children away! Answer: This is 'The Children's Song' by Patrick MacGill, originally published in Songs of Donegal (1921), and now available from The Navvy Poet: the collected poetry of Patrick MacGill (Brandon, 1984) Submitted Wednesday, November 21, 2007 We are urgently seeking the Scots poem / recitation 'Miss Mirren McKee' - can you help? Answer: 'Mirren McKie' 'Miss Mirren McKie is my name, if ye please. I'm still my ain mistress at auchty-an'-fower ...' This strong-willed old lady was created by 'M.C.S', and is in A Book of Twentieth-Century Scots Verse, selected by William Robb, published in 1925. The poet behind the initials is Mary Campbell Smith, author of the perennial favourite 'The Boy in the Train'. Which Ogden Nash poem is this? It was about a man who who, in the search for office efficiency stopped, bit by bit, shaving, washing, changing his clothes, travelling home, etc. In the end, to avoid wasting time going down the stairs to the street, he stepped out of his many floors up window. Answer: It is called 'Mr. Artesian's Conscientiousness', and can be found in The Norton Book of Light Verse, edited by Russell Baker and published in the USA. Here's another request for a 'shop poem' - this one believed to be local to the Borders, by a family who emigrated from Jedburgh in 1955. 'Andrew McIntoddy's Universal Store' The first line might be: 'I'm Andrew McIntoddy, my name's above the door' Some of the things this shop sells are: 'Dr.Scholls cushions for straightening out the toes ... Semolina, oatmeal, cakes & scones / Bedsheets & blankets & stays without the bones ...' Submitted Wednesday, November 07, 2007 Does anyone have the words for 'John Allan's Shop'? Our enquirer used to hear a version recited in rural Perthshire in the early 1950s, when a common saying was 'It's like John Allan's shop' - meaning 'like Aladin's cave'. There is a short piece in My Village by R. Menzies Fergusson (1893) in which he refers to a song called 'John A'thing's shop'. The fictional village is based on Stanley, Perthshire, and his version went like this: 'John A'thing's [Allan's] was the place for gear, for everything you'd mention; You would get heuks that's fit to shear, and swords to gang a-fencin'; For beef and mutton, pork and fish, John A'thing had in store; I never saw a shop like John's, it was groaning to the door'. Submitted Tuesday, November 06, 2007 We have had a plea from a lady in her 90th year; she heard Dame Sybil Thorndike read a poem during one of the early Edinburgh Festivals (late 1940s), and would dearly love to hear it again. All she remembers from the poem is the phrase 'that certain spring', and that the theme was really about death. (It is not Laurence Binyon's 'Burning of the Leaves') This was probably a song rather than a poem, possibly a music hall favourite from the 1920s or 30s, but if anyone can find all the words please let us know: The Day we Packed the Basket for the Coast ... The guid wife says tae me, noo Watty a'll tell ye what, Wi'd better pit in the fryin pan, the kettle an the pat, Sez I in case ther's mice doon there Wi'd better pit in the cat ... some tripe, some glue, some Irish stew, some marmalade an jam, A quarter a stane o tatties, an the carcass ae a lamb ... Submitted Thursday, October 04, 2007 'my ain lamb o' the fold' These are words from a sad poem recited by our enquirer's mother as a schoolgirl. It is about a widowed shepherd whose only daughter died. If you can help us find the poem, please let us know. Looking for a poem about 'the Cameronian men' - it may have something to do with the Covenanters. We have been asked to trace a poem which was written down on the back of a New Year's menu on the ship Caledonia sailing back from India in 1949. It begins: 'If you have ships upon the seas'; the next verse starts 'If you have caravans afar'. Seen as a print in a tourist shop in Inverness - a text about a Scottish clansman being left to die after a battle with the English, includes the words 'last man standing'. There is a poem we would like to find which is centred round the shocking image of rats gnawing at the cage they are being drowned in. The poet was a mature student at Edinburgh University; as a boy he had been taken by his uncle to drown rats, and the memory wakes him up at night. The poem was read out on BBC radio between 1967-69. Answer: This is Alasdair Maclean's 'Question and Answer', recently reprinted in The Edinburgh Book of Twentieth-Century Scottish Poetry (EUP, 2005). Submitted Friday, September 07, 2007 'skin looked like this by candlelight ten thousand years ago' This is the only line remembered from a poem (possibly by a Scottish author)copied out twenty-two years ago. We are now urgently looking for the full text for a wedding reading. Submitted Monday, September 03, 2007 There is a rueful poem about an old country lane we are trying to trace; it was learned at school in rural Herefordshire in the early 1940's. The title isn't known, but remembered lines are: 'they made you straight and broad and true...' 'a dirt track in the long ago / a haunt for lovers strolling slow / and smugglers when the moon was low and dark the narrow lane.....' An enquirer is trying to find out where to get hold of a poem, probably by Alfred Noyes, which he read in a school poetry book 40 years ago. About snow, the remembered words are: 'a pure white mantle blotted out the world I used to know'. Answer: It is indeed by Alfred Noyes - from the poem 'A Friend of Carlyle'. It is a section of five verses, possibly anthologised on its own. The whole can be found in Noyes' Collected Poems, Vol. II (Blackwood, 1912). This section uses Blogger If you are interested in seeing more of one of the poems we have found, contact librarian2@spl.org.uk
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