SCOTS Project - www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk Document : 245 Title : The Fallen Horse Author(s): Anna Blair Copyright holder(s): Anna Blair Text Did you ever see On an icy street A Clydesdale horse Skliff and lose its feet. A big-big horse Sprachle, legs apart An' fankle its hooves Wi' the shafts and cart? Seen one l'ke that Just th'other day Clatter and fall On the carriage-way Its wheels goin' round An' its cart a-tilt Its nose-bag torn And the oats a' spilt. Folk stood and gaped As it whinnied and neighed And its shoes on the frost Just slithered and splayed. It's an awful thing For a fine proud beast To be lyin' like that Up Kyle Street East. It looked that wild Wi'its big teeth bared And it pechin' hard W'its nostrils flared There was great ado While two or three Helped the carter-man Till the shafts were free. They took a sack Fae the cart someplace And threw it over The cratur's face Then they cried on me And said I would need To come and sit On the horse's heid. I wasnae feart I just smoothed my breeks And sat mysel' On the poor thing's cheeks. That calmed him doon On the cobbled street Till they hauled him up To his shaggy feet. The carter gi'ed me A shilliny-piece Just for sittin' keepin' His horse at peace No, I wasnae feart... 'Fact, I would've sat On a tiger's heid For a tip like that. This work is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. The SCOTS Project and the University of Glasgow do not necessarily endorse, support or recommend the views expressed in this document. Information about document and author: Text Text audience General public: Audience size: 1 Text details Method of composition: Handwritten Year of composition: 1998 Word count: 242 Text setting Leisure/entertainment: Private/personal: Text type Poem/song/ballad: Author Author details Author id: 127 Forenames: Anna Surname: Blair Gender: Female Decade of birth: 1920 Educational attainment: College Age left school: 17 Upbringing/religious beliefs: Protestantism Occupation: Teacher/author Place of birth: Giffnock Region of birth: Glasgow Birthplace CSD dialect area: Gsw Country of birth: Scotland Place of residence: Glasgow Region of residence: Glasgow Residence CSD dialect area: Gsw Country of residence: Scotland Father's occupation: Business Father's place of birth: Glasgow Father's region of birth: Glasgow Father's birthplace CSD dialect area: Gsw Father's country of birth: Scotland Mother's occupation: Business Mother's place of birth: Glasgow Mother's region of birth: Glasgow Mother's birthplace CSD dialect area: Gsw Mother's country of birth: Scotland Languages: Language: English Speak: Yes Read: Yes Write: Yes Understand: Yes Circumstances: Language: French Speak: Yes Read: Yes Write: Yes Understand: Yes Circumstances: Visits to France, correspondence Language: Scots Speak: Yes Read: Yes Write: Yes Understand: Yes Circumstances: