Scottish Poetry Selection
- The Herd's House
The Herd's House
The wee herd laddie has biggit a hoose?
He's biggit it a' his lane;
And there he can lie and watch his kye,
And fear na win' nor rain.He has pickit the place wi' a skeely thocht?
On a knowe at the end o' the bicht;
And the door looks east, where the win' blaws least,
And his chairge are a' in sicht.Its twa-foot wa's are o' tide-mark stanes
That the waves hae masoned roun';
And ilka bit chink, where the day micht blink,
Wi' fog he has oakumed soun'.It's roofed and theekit? - a tradesman's job!
The rafters are runts o' whin,
Wi' bracken and heather weel soddit thegither,
And wechtin' stanes abune.There's an ingle neuk at the benmaist en',
And the lum was a pail in its day;
And out at the back there's a wee peat stack,
As a bien bit hoose sud hae.He'll fen' for himsel', a laddie like yon;
And lang may he leeve to tell?
When he's feathered his nest, and come hame for a rest?
O' the hoose he biggit himsel' !Meaning of unusual words:
biggit=build
a' his lane=all on his own
kye=cattle
skeely thocht=skillful thought
knowe=hillock
bicht=winding path
ilka=every
fog=lichen, moss
theekit=thatch
soddit=settled in
wechtin'=weighting
abune=above
ingle neuk=corner by the fire
benmaist=furthest through
lum=chimney
bien bit=well built
sud hae=should have
fen' for himsel'=look after himself
Where else would you like to go in Scotland?
