Document 130
Scots Haiku II
Author(s): Mr Bruce Leeming
Copyright holder(s): Mrs Dorothy Leeming
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Scots
Scots is now mainly a literary language, although the rudiments of its vocabulary and particular idioms are today being taught in many Scottish schools. Drawing on several origins - the Inglis of the Northumbrian Angles, the tongues of the Picts, the Celtic Gaels and the Scandinavian Norsemen, as well as, later, Dutch and the French of the Auld Alliance - Scottis was at one time the principal language at the Scottish court and used in legal documents. It was quite distinct from the English of the period (13th-16th centuries).
Great literature in Scots was produced by writers like Barbour, Henryson and Dunbar, the 'Makars'. A revival took place under Ramsay, Ferguson and Burns, then again in the time of Walter Scott. During the Scottish Literary Renaissance in the first half of the 20th century Hugh MacDiarmid, Douglas Young, Maurice Lindsay and others once more recreated the art of writing in Scots, referring to their lexis as 'Lallans'.
Scots speech lives on all over Scotland in lively dialectal versions which show marked regional variations, particularly in pronunciation. My poems are cast in a literary register of the Auld Leid. The English translations are as near literal as possible.
There is debate over a standard Scots orthography. I have tried to follow the emerging modern consensus by, for example, representing the oo sound, as in loom, by the letters ou: so trout is written thus in preference to troot. It follows that, say, the word for leap is written as lowp and not loup.
Haiku
THis form of poetic expression, deriving from ancient Chinese models, was perfected by Matsuo Basho in Japan during the 17th century. The Imagists first introduced it to the West early in the 20th century. Today haiku are being composed in the United States and all other English-speaking countries, in France, Germany, Holland, Spain, Croatia and Romania, in the Philippines, China, India and of course Japan. They are also being written in fringe languages such as Welsh, Irish and Scottish Gaelic, and now Scots.
The Haiku is restricted to three lines in a maximum syllabic pattern of 5-7-5, frequently divided by a caesura. However, this framework provides for certain Japanese linguistic devices - for example, our word 'rain' would contain three 'syllables' by Japanese reckoning - and so haiku in other languages tend to a shorter length. There is no rhyme or metrical requirement. Usually a seasonal or nature reference is incorporated. Haiku are untitled.
This is a deceptively simple poetry. It aims to keep personal feelings largely submerged and eschews 'poetical' words, similes or metaphors, preferring to deal in concrete elements, tastes, smells, sounds and textures. Its true endeavour is to capture fleeting epiphanies, 'haiku moments', insights into the heart of things, animate or inanimate. A poem's meaning may be obvious, pictorial perhaps, even gently humorous, but not uncommonly intimations of a profound character will arise, intensified by the compression of the words and, sometimes, by an unexpected internal comparison.
Moods typical in haiku are humility, compassion, serenity, paradox, acceptance, joy in nature and the company of others of like mind, paradox, wonder. It is never a vehicle for epigrams, squibs, self-referential statements or, least of all, critical moralizing.
Edinburgh, December 1999 BL
Wair
Spring
Laverocks tweedlin:
twa weans vizzy the lift
gowpin
Larks singing:
two children study the sky
gaping
Mairch blouster:
warslin corbies stertit
bi a fliein news
March gale:
struggling rooks startled
by a flying newspaper
Yon muckle dug
sneevlin - scauldit
bi a thrie year bairn
That great dog
whining - scolded
by a three year old
Throu the haar
a waik sin - fowk pass
talkin sma
Through the sea fog
a weak sun - people pass
speaking quietly
Doun i the haugh
dwammy wi haw fume -
a wumman greitin
Down by the river bank
languid with hawthorn scent -
a woman weeping
In Glesca toun
a piper sterts -
the stuckies depairt
In Glasgow town
a piper starts up -
the starlings depart
Gloamin:
the yalla puppies
steikin
Dusk:
the yellow poppies
closing
Simmer
Summer
Caller broun trout
skirlin for brakefast -
leevin is cantie!
Fresh brown trout
frying for breakfast -
life is pleasant!
Sweltrie morn
ilkane thrang: the auld cheet
steiks her een
Sweltering morning:
everyone busy: the old cat
closes her eyes
Throu the Grampians
a jet skreichs: faur abuin
an earn fidderin
Through the Grampians
a jet screams: far above
an eagle hovering
Yon fou gangrel -
doverin on a bink
in new baffs!
That drunk tramp -
dozing on a bench
in new slippers!
Aw day yon gowk
has cawed eesomelie:
a weirdlie soun
All day that cuckoo
has called seductively:
a sinister sound
Butterie drounin
i the dub: shuin pass
tentless
Butterfly drowning
in the puddle: shoes pass
heedless
This bonnie wee wick
o saun an sprots - claggit
wi plastic wrack
This pretty little cove
of sand and reeds - clogged
with plastic rubbish
At Lochranza
une het: plowtin our feet
i the jeel caul burn
At Lochranza
oven hot: plunging our feet
in the ice cold stream
I the mirknin paurk
heilant beasts staun:
gaffs frae the change
In the darkening field
highland cattle stand:
loud laughs from the inn
Dayset:
watterclearers
sketchin
Nightfall:
waterboatmen
skating
Hairst
Autumn
The lammer burn
lowpin: hou wechtie
the bouders
The amber stream
leaping: how solid
the boulders
Up bi Glencorse
quait kintra: i the hedder
tuim airmy bullets
Up by Glencorse
quiet country: in the heather
spent army bullets
Hairst onding:
the tawie kye stauns
droukit
Autumn downpour:
the obedient cattle stand
soaked
Computer rowp:
outside a larrie laidit
wi neeps
Computer sale:
outside a lorry loaded
with turnips
Back-end efternuin
lown: ane leaf
birls doun slaw
Autumn afternoon
utterly still: one leaf
spins slowly down
Owre Embro
at een the lift
emerant
Over Edinburgh
at dusk the sky
green
Halloween:
neep lantrens -
skellie-ee'd!
Halloween:
turnip lanterns -
cross-eyed!
Peat reik straught
frae the lane biggin -
he's leevin yet
Peat smoke straight
from the lonely cottage -
he's still alive
Near Spean Brig
caur rummle kemps
wi rowtin herts
Near Spean Bridge
car noise competes
with roaring stags
Graybacks
lowpin slee:
hou quait the sprots
Autumn run salmon
leaping stealthily:
how still the reeds
Wunter
Winter
Rimie morn
laddies sclyin -
an auld chiel smirks
Frosty morning
boys sliding -
an old man smiles
Cranreuch:
the lest oor o sin -
windaes smouderin
Hoar frost:
the last hour of sun -
windows smouldering
Janwar gowsts:
the maw paurliament
stane-still
January winds:
the gull parliament
stone-still
At Tarbet
ilka day the snawline
a bittock nether
At Tarbet
each day the snowline
a little lower
Sin passin doun
the linn skinkles reid:
a scoukin tod gawks
Setting sun
the waterfall sparkles red:
a skulking fox stares
In Aiberdein
a tuim maw ettlin ti eat
yon guttie die
In Aberdeen
a hungry gull trying to eat
that rubber toy
Sowpin usque
wi twa friens -
bidin the snaw
Drinking whisky
with two friends -
waiting for the snow
Muinlicht:
athort the frozent loch
a lassie kecklin
Moonlight:
across the frozen loch
a girl chuckling
Scots is now mainly a literary language, although the rudiments of its vocabulary and particular idioms are today being taught in many Scottish schools. Drawing on several origins - the Inglis of the Northumbrian Angles, the tongues of the Picts, the Celtic Gaels and the Scandinavian Norsemen, as well as, later, Dutch and the French of the Auld Alliance - Scottis was at one time the principal language at the Scottish court and used in legal documents. It was quite distinct from the English of the period (13th-16th centuries).
Great literature in Scots was produced by writers like Barbour, Henryson and Dunbar, the 'Makars'. A revival took place under Ramsay, Ferguson and Burns, then again in the time of Walter Scott. During the Scottish Literary Renaissance in the first half of the 20th century Hugh MacDiarmid, Douglas Young, Maurice Lindsay and others once more recreated the art of writing in Scots, referring to their lexis as 'Lallans'.
Scots speech lives on all over Scotland in lively dialectal versions which show marked regional variations, particularly in pronunciation. My poems are cast in a literary register of the Auld Leid. The English translations are as near literal as possible.
There is debate over a standard Scots orthography. I have tried to follow the emerging modern consensus by, for example, representing the oo sound, as in loom, by the letters ou: so trout is written thus in preference to troot. It follows that, say, the word for leap is written as lowp and not loup.
Haiku
THis form of poetic expression, deriving from ancient Chinese models, was perfected by Matsuo Basho in Japan during the 17th century. The Imagists first introduced it to the West early in the 20th century. Today haiku are being composed in the United States and all other English-speaking countries, in France, Germany, Holland, Spain, Croatia and Romania, in the Philippines, China, India and of course Japan. They are also being written in fringe languages such as Welsh, Irish and Scottish Gaelic, and now Scots.
The Haiku is restricted to three lines in a maximum syllabic pattern of 5-7-5, frequently divided by a caesura. However, this framework provides for certain Japanese linguistic devices - for example, our word 'rain' would contain three 'syllables' by Japanese reckoning - and so haiku in other languages tend to a shorter length. There is no rhyme or metrical requirement. Usually a seasonal or nature reference is incorporated. Haiku are untitled.
This is a deceptively simple poetry. It aims to keep personal feelings largely submerged and eschews 'poetical' words, similes or metaphors, preferring to deal in concrete elements, tastes, smells, sounds and textures. Its true endeavour is to capture fleeting epiphanies, 'haiku moments', insights into the heart of things, animate or inanimate. A poem's meaning may be obvious, pictorial perhaps, even gently humorous, but not uncommonly intimations of a profound character will arise, intensified by the compression of the words and, sometimes, by an unexpected internal comparison.
Moods typical in haiku are humility, compassion, serenity, paradox, acceptance, joy in nature and the company of others of like mind, paradox, wonder. It is never a vehicle for epigrams, squibs, self-referential statements or, least of all, critical moralizing.
Edinburgh, December 1999 BL
Wair
Spring
Laverocks tweedlin:
twa weans vizzy the lift
gowpin
Larks singing:
two children study the sky
gaping
Mairch blouster:
warslin corbies stertit
bi a fliein news
March gale:
struggling rooks startled
by a flying newspaper
Yon muckle dug
sneevlin - scauldit
bi a thrie year bairn
That great dog
whining - scolded
by a three year old
Throu the haar
a waik sin - fowk pass
talkin sma
Through the sea fog
a weak sun - people pass
speaking quietly
Doun i the haugh
dwammy wi haw fume -
a wumman greitin
Down by the river bank
languid with hawthorn scent -
a woman weeping
In Glesca toun
a piper sterts -
the stuckies depairt
In Glasgow town
a piper starts up -
the starlings depart
Gloamin:
the yalla puppies
steikin
Dusk:
the yellow poppies
closing
Simmer
Summer
Caller broun trout
skirlin for brakefast -
leevin is cantie!
Fresh brown trout
frying for breakfast -
life is pleasant!
Sweltrie morn
ilkane thrang: the auld cheet
steiks her een
Sweltering morning:
everyone busy: the old cat
closes her eyes
Throu the Grampians
a jet skreichs: faur abuin
an earn fidderin
Through the Grampians
a jet screams: far above
an eagle hovering
Yon fou gangrel -
doverin on a bink
in new baffs!
That drunk tramp -
dozing on a bench
in new slippers!
Aw day yon gowk
has cawed eesomelie:
a weirdlie soun
All day that cuckoo
has called seductively:
a sinister sound
Butterie drounin
i the dub: shuin pass
tentless
Butterfly drowning
in the puddle: shoes pass
heedless
This bonnie wee wick
o saun an sprots - claggit
wi plastic wrack
This pretty little cove
of sand and reeds - clogged
with plastic rubbish
At Lochranza
une het: plowtin our feet
i the jeel caul burn
At Lochranza
oven hot: plunging our feet
in the ice cold stream
I the mirknin paurk
heilant beasts staun:
gaffs frae the change
In the darkening field
highland cattle stand:
loud laughs from the inn
Dayset:
watterclearers
sketchin
Nightfall:
waterboatmen
skating
Hairst
Autumn
The lammer burn
lowpin: hou wechtie
the bouders
The amber stream
leaping: how solid
the boulders
Up bi Glencorse
quait kintra: i the hedder
tuim airmy bullets
Up by Glencorse
quiet country: in the heather
spent army bullets
Hairst onding:
the tawie kye stauns
droukit
Autumn downpour:
the obedient cattle stand
soaked
Computer rowp:
outside a larrie laidit
wi neeps
Computer sale:
outside a lorry loaded
with turnips
Back-end efternuin
lown: ane leaf
birls doun slaw
Autumn afternoon
utterly still: one leaf
spins slowly down
Owre Embro
at een the lift
emerant
Over Edinburgh
at dusk the sky
green
Halloween:
neep lantrens -
skellie-ee'd!
Halloween:
turnip lanterns -
cross-eyed!
Peat reik straught
frae the lane biggin -
he's leevin yet
Peat smoke straight
from the lonely cottage -
he's still alive
Near Spean Brig
caur rummle kemps
wi rowtin herts
Near Spean Bridge
car noise competes
with roaring stags
Graybacks
lowpin slee:
hou quait the sprots
Autumn run salmon
leaping stealthily:
how still the reeds
Wunter
Winter
Rimie morn
laddies sclyin -
an auld chiel smirks
Frosty morning
boys sliding -
an old man smiles
Cranreuch:
the lest oor o sin -
windaes smouderin
Hoar frost:
the last hour of sun -
windows smouldering
Janwar gowsts:
the maw paurliament
stane-still
January winds:
the gull parliament
stone-still
At Tarbet
ilka day the snawline
a bittock nether
At Tarbet
each day the snowline
a little lower
Sin passin doun
the linn skinkles reid:
a scoukin tod gawks
Setting sun
the waterfall sparkles red:
a skulking fox stares
In Aiberdein
a tuim maw ettlin ti eat
yon guttie die
In Aberdeen
a hungry gull trying to eat
that rubber toy
Sowpin usque
wi twa friens -
bidin the snaw
Drinking whisky
with two friends -
waiting for the snow
Muinlicht:
athort the frozent loch
a lassie kecklin
Moonlight:
across the frozen loch
a girl chuckling
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The SCOTS Project and the University of Glasgow do not necessarily endorse, support or recommend the views expressed in this document.
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APA Style:
Scots Haiku II. 2024. In The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow. Retrieved 21 November 2024, from http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=130.
MLA Style:
"Scots Haiku II." The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow, 2024. Web. 21 November 2024. http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=130.
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The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech, s.v., "Scots Haiku II," accessed 21 November 2024, http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=130.
If your style guide prefers a single bibliography entry for this resource, we recommend:
The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech. 2024. Glasgow: University of Glasgow. http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk.
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Scots Haiku II
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