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Document 1402

The sound of hammers

Author(s): James Hiddo Moncrieff

Copyright holder(s): James Hiddo Moncrieff

Text

The sound of hammers
Caulking
Echo from a wooden hull
And the axe-like strokes
Of the shipwright's tool
Ring like a muted bell
Dancing a backstep
On the new-laid keel
Ahead of the swinging arc
And the follow through.

The sunlight glancing
Through the slatted wooden pier
Cuts the rippling shadow
On the sea beneath
As a cauldron filled with drift nets
Gently stews, and steams
The pungent smell
Of oak-bark in the air
And the smithy door is open - wide.

The window with its twisted frame
And drunken bricks of glass
Refracting light,
Distorting shape
In the haze from the forge inside.
And forearm bare and sinew taut
Beat the anvil drum
As the shower of sparks
From the grinding wheel
Dance along the ground.

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APA Style:

The sound of hammers. 2025. In The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow. Retrieved 2 April 2025, from http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=1402.

MLA Style:

"The sound of hammers." The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow, 2025. Web. 2 April 2025. http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=1402.

Chicago Style

The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech, s.v., "The sound of hammers," accessed 2 April 2025, http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=1402.

If your style guide prefers a single bibliography entry for this resource, we recommend:

The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech. 2025. Glasgow: University of Glasgow. http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk.

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Information about Document 1402

The sound of hammers

Text

Text audience

Adults (18+)
General public
Audience size 1000+

Text details

Method of composition Wordprocessed
Year of composition 2004
Word count 130

Text medium

Magazine (e-zine)

Text publication details

Published
Publication year 2004
Place of publication Shetland
Part of larger text
Contained in The New Shetlander
Editor Laureen Johnson and Brian Smith
Page numbers 16

Text setting

Journalism

Text type

Poem/song/ballad

Author

Author details

Author id 972
Forenames James Hiddo
Surname Moncrieff
Gender Male
Decade of birth 1940
Educational attainment College
Age left school 19
Upbringing/religious beliefs Working class/Socialist
Occupation Retired
Place of birth Lerwick
Region of birth Shetland
Birthplace CSD dialect area Sh
Country of birth Scotland
Place of residence Bigton
Region of residence Shetland
Residence CSD dialect area Sh
Country of residence Scotland
Father's occupation Telegraphist
Father's place of birth Lerwick
Father's region of birth Shetland
Father's birthplace CSD dialect area Sh
Father's country of birth Scotland
Mother's occupation Housewife
Mother's place of birth Loppersum
Mother's region of birth Groningen
Mother's country of birth Holland

Languages

Language Speak Read Write Understand Circumstances
English Yes Yes Yes Yes Home
Scots Yes Yes Yes Yes Home

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