SCOTS Project - www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk Document : 263 Title : Take-care Author(s): Anna Blair Copyright holder(s): Anna Blair Text There's no' much to say after twenty year-odd I ken he votes Labour, believes in his God, Likes his pint come a Friday, the Fair Week at Ayr Takes his tea wi'out sugar, his sausages square And food that's no' fancy or smothered in sauce. Then after he's eaten, an hour or so's doss. He enjoys playin' chess wi' old Malacky Orr And I ken what he thinks about Wages and War. He kens 'red's my favourite, so's Horlicks, and oh! That I like Nelson Eddy...my washing like snow. Now of an evening when I sit and knit And him wi' his paper, we just grunt a bit Odd words and half-phrases to say what we mean... How the day was at work, or just down the back-green, I ken him that well, what he's trying to say I can finish his sentence before he's halfway. No' very romantic, I'm grantin' you that Just mumbles and grumbles, no effort to chat. But when I'm goin' out on the street to somewhere And he stands at the stairheid and mutters 'Take-care' I 'och-aye' in reply (one of life's wee routines) Demonstrative no! But I ken what he means. 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: 215 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: