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Document 1488

Hairst Meen

Author(s): Sheila Templeton

Copyright holder(s): Sheila Templeton

Text

Sleekit stoats, we slippet ower i dyke
through coorse thistles, reeshlin stalks.
Boo't twa-faal lik half shut knives, mowdied
a labyrinth far nae minotaur cud roar,
nae hostages be sacrificed fur ony king.
A warld o whisperin paths, swirlin
in still green corn, far we jinket and ran,
caa'd wirsels deen, sprauchlin lik pups
in beaten halla chaumers. Breathin
in each ithers hert hemmer, fyle
i hairst meen's wyme swalled gowd
through lang licht nichts. Ontil
i corn wis ready fir cuttin and bindin
and biggin intil glitterin stooks. Ontil
i clatterin combine chased aabody
oot, doon ti i hinmaist squaar heezen
wi little herts, lugs pented flat,
ready ti rin fir life itsel. Ontil
i stooks stood sillered, leeful-leen,
ooner i licht i sich a different meen.

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APA Style:

Hairst Meen. 2025. In The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow. Retrieved 2 April 2025, from http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=1488.

MLA Style:

"Hairst Meen." The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow, 2025. Web. 2 April 2025. http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=1488.

Chicago Style

The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech, s.v., "Hairst Meen," accessed 2 April 2025, http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=1488.

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 1488

Hairst Meen

Text

Text audience

General public
Audience size 1000+

Text details

Method of composition Wordprocessed
Year of composition 2006
Word count 133

Text medium

Book
Newspaper
Periodical/journal
Radio

Text publication details

Published
Part of larger text
Contained in Slow Road Home (Sheila Templeton) / Running Threads (Jim Hughes, Rowena M Love, Michael Malone, Sheila Templeton)

Text setting

Leisure/entertainment
Private/personal

Text type

Poem/song/ballad

Author

Author details

Author id 1075
Forenames Sheila
Surname Templeton
Gender Female
Decade of birth 1940
Educational attainment University
Age left school 18
Upbringing/religious beliefs upbringing Protestantism, now Eastern Yoga meditation practice
Occupation Retired Teacher
Place of birth Aberdeen
Region of birth Aberdeen
Birthplace CSD dialect area Abd
Country of birth Scotland
Place of residence Troon
Region of residence S Ayr
Residence CSD dialect area Ayr
Country of residence Scotland
Father's occupation Railway Engineer / originally farm worker
Father's place of birth Stoneywood
Father's region of birth Aberdeen
Father's birthplace CSD dialect area Abd
Father's country of birth Scotland
Mother's occupation Doctors' Receptionist
Mother's place of birth Dyce
Mother's region of birth Aberdeen
Mother's birthplace CSD dialect area Abd
Mother's country of birth Scotland

Languages

Language Speak Read Write Understand Circumstances
English Yes Yes Yes Yes At work, at home, writing
Scots Yes Yes Yes Yes At home, writing work mainly poetry

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