Oh dear! It seems to be cows again.
But there is meaning in all this. I want to draw your attention to the wonderful work of the Poetry Archive (see link on right of page). The archive is largely due to the work done by Andrew Motion during his time as Poet Laureate and as well as text contains many voice recordings of poets reading their work. So we have the opportunity to hear some of the best contemporary Scottish poets reading their poetry with the Caledonian cadences of this part of the world.
You can also hear some of the work of Jackie Kay, Kathleen Jamie, Don Paterson, Robin Robertson and many others.
Two of my favourites are: Lochan by Kathleen Jamie and In My Country by Jackie Kay.
Many poems are about identity and I became curious about the identity of a woman I was reading about in an old local history collection put together in 1968 by a Gamrie preservation group: "a'tween troup heid & gamrie mohr". One of the records tells of a local woman whose husband, Hamelyn of Troup, died fighting for Edward I in the fourteenth century.
I felt compelled to write about her:
For Eleyne widow of Hamelyn of Troupe
"Grant her keep herself and her children a merk a week"
Eleyne,
Ellen, Aileen, Eileen, Elena?
Who
were you?
Did
it compensate for the loss of your man?
Or
was he brutal, a drunkard, a mercenary
Who
took the King’s shilling and died for his trouble?
Maybe
you and the bairns
Were
more cheery without him
Free
to make noise and laugh
To
eat odd things at odd times
Glad
of the merk a week
Glad
to have his room not his company
Or
was the hoosie hollow
Were
you bereft and slow-footed
Did
the bairns forget to play
And
the meals go uncooked
The
days seem endless?
Eleyne
and your merk a week
Who
were you?
©Sally Givertz
2013
To end on a cheery note here are some puffins photographed locally. Who can not be cheered by a puffin?
Next week I think that the local birds will be making an appearance.
Next week I think that the local birds will be making an appearance.
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