To A Mouse, by Robet Burns

[Catriona]

I love the poetry of Robert Burns. He and other writers add strength to my belief that Lallans/Doric/Auld Scots should be valued as highly (if not more so as more of us speak the language) as the Gaelic


[B]TO A MOUSE (On Turning Her Up In Her Nest With The Plough)[/B]

Wee, sleekit, cow'rin, tim'rous beastie,
O, what a panic's in thy breastie!
Thou need na start awa sae hasty,
Wi' bickering brattle!
I wad be laith to rin an' chase thee,
Wi' murd'ring pattle!

I'm truly sorry man's dominion,
Has broken nature's social union,
An' justifies that ill opinion,
Which makes thee startle
At me, thy poor, earth-born companion,
An' fellow-mortal!

I doubt na, whiles, but thou may thieve;
What then? poor beastie, thou maun live!
A daimen licker in a thrave'
S a sma request;
I'll get a blessin wi' the lave,
An' never miss't!

Thy wee bit housie, too, in ruin!
It's silly wa's the win's are strewin!
An' naething, now, to big a new ane,
O' foggage green!
An' bleak December's winds ensuin,
Baith snell an' keen!

Thou saw the fields laid bare an' waste,
An' weary winter comin fast,
An' cozie here, beneath the blast,
Thou thought to dwell-
Till crash! the cruel coulter past
Out thro' thy cell.

That wee bit heap o' leaves an' stibble,
Has cost thee mony a weary nibble!
Now thou's turn'd out, for a' thy trouble,
But house or hald,
To thole the winter's sleety dribble,
An' cranreuch cauld!

But, Mousie, thou art no thy lane,
In proving foresight may be vain;
The best-laid schemes o' mice an 'men
Gang aft agley,
An'lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promis'd joy!

Still thou art blest, compar'd wi' me
The present only toucheth thee:
But, Och! I backward cast my e'e.
On prospects drear!
An' forward, tho' I canna see,
I guess an'' fear!

[ranger]

Hello Catriona. thank you for responding to my last inquiry about the Tain (Moray Firth area). I have only been to Scotland once. I was in the service at the time, and we spent 99% of our time in the field. It did enable me to see the most beautiful countryside I have ever seen.We spent three weeks trudging through the bogs, moors and farmland. Everything about it was beautiful. At one point we walked through a small out of the way village, much to the chagrine of it's occupants I'm sure. But the scenery is something that I will never forget. I am hoping to take my wife back there someday, maybe for an anniversary gift? No specific questions that I can think of right now, maybe just the common ones. What is the weather like there right, what season would it be. I believe Tain is in the area of the Moray Firth, but I am not sure. I have onlt been able to find it on a map once. Also, at the chance of opening up another can of worms, is there a major difference between the Lallans/Doric/ Auld Scots and the Gaelic. Are they just different dialects of the same or are the their own seperate entity? Thank you.

[Catriona]

Hello

Glad you enjoyed your time in Scotland. Yes, we are extremely lucky, we have a wonderful country with beautiful countryside - the hills and the lochs are just amazing.

Tain is about 30 or 40 minutes from Inverness - it is actually in Ross-shire (Ross & Cromarty).... Here's the URL for the ancient borough of Tain.

http://www.tain.org.uk/home.htm

If you care to look on the Scottish section of this site you will see quite a bit about the languages of Scotland.

Gaelic is an obvious separate language.... Auld Scots (and Lallans) is the language of Burns.... the Doric is the version of Scots spoken in the North Eastern portion of Scotland, particularly around Aberdeen. All Scots languages (not Gaelic) are similar, but have very specific, different words. It's not that we don't understand one another, we do........ there are regional differences.

I'd be happy to discuss this further on the Scots forum - I am afraid of encroaching on a specific area that is not about Scotland per se.... Remember, lots of the people on here have little or no Scots blood, they are Irish or Welsh!