Month: January 2018
My Last Farewell To Stirling
Nae lark in transport mounts the sky
Or leaves wi’ early plaintive cry,
But I will bid a last good-bye,
My last farewell to Stirling O.
Chorus:
Tho’ far awa, ma hert’s wi’ you.
Our youthful ‘oors, upon wings they flew
But I will bid a last adieu
A last farewell to Stirling O.
Nae mair I’ll meet ye in the dark
Or gang wi’ you to the King’s Park
Or raise the hare from oot their flap
When I gae far fae Stirling O.
Nae mair I’ll wander through the glen,
Disturb the roost o’ the pheasant hen.
Or chase the rabbits tae their den
When I gae far fae Stirling O.
Their one request before I go
And this is to my comrades all:
My dog and gun I’ll leave to you
When I gae far fae Stirling O.
So fare thee well my Jeannie dear
For you I’ll shed a bitter tear.
I hope you’ll find another, dear,
When I gae far fae Stirling O.
So fare thee well, for I am bound
For twenty years to Van Diemen’s Land.
But think of me, and what I’ve done
When I gae far fae Stirling O.
– Robert Burns
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31st January – On This Day In History
Born:
1981 Justin Timberlake (musician and actor)
Died:
1606 Guy Fawkes (convicted of trying to blow up the House of Parliament in the Gunpowder Plot)
On This Day:
2000 Alaskan Airlines 261 crashes into the Pacific Ocean (kills 88)
Have a good Wednesday, 31st January
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The Rigs O’ Barley
It was upon a Lammas night,
When corn rigs are bonnie,
Beneath the moon’s unclouded light,
I held away to Annie:
The time flew by wi’ tentless heed
Till ‘tween the late and early,
Wi’ sma’ persuasion, she agreed
To see me thro’ the barley.
Corn rigs, an’ barley rigs,
An’ corn rigs are bonnie:
I’ll ne’er forget that happy night,
Amang the rigs wi’ Annie.
The sky was blue, the wind was still,
The moon was shining clearly:
I set her down, wi’ right good will,
Amang the rigs o’ barley:
I ken’t her heart was a’ my ain:
I lov’d her most sincerely;
I kiss’d her owre and owre again,
Amang the rigs o’ barley.
Corn rigs…
I lock’d her in my fond embrace;
Her heart was beating rarely:
My blessings on that happy place,
Amang the rigs o’ barley!
But by the moon and stars so bright,
That shone that hour so clearly!
She aye shall bless that happy night,
Amang the rigs o’ barley.
Corn rigs…
I ha’e been blythe wi’ comrades dear;
I ha’e been merry drinkin’;
I ha’e been joyfu’ gatherin’ gear;
I ha’e been happy thinkin’:
But a’ the pleasures e’er I saw,
Tho’ three times doubled fairly,
That happy night was worth then a’,
Amang the rigs o’ barley.
Corn rigs…
– Robert Burns
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30th January – On This Day In History
Born:
1930 Gene Hackman (actor – The French Connection)
Died:
1948 Mahatma Ghandi (Indian pacifist and leader)
On This Day:
1873 Around The Word In 80 Days (Jules Verne) is published
Have a good Tuesday, 30th January
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My Heart’s In The Highlands
Farewell to the Highlands, farewell to the North,
The birth-place of Valour, the country of Worth;
Wherever I wander, wherever I rove,
The hills of the Highlands for ever I love.
My heart’s in the Highlands, my heart is not here;
My heart’s in the Highlands a-chasing the deer;
A-chasing the wild-deer, and following the roe,
My heart’s in the Highlands wherever I go.
Farewell to the mountains high covered with snow;
Farewell to the straths and green valleys below;
Farewell to the forests and wild-hanging woods;
Farewell to the torrents and loud-pouring floods.
My heart’s in the Highlands, my heart is not here;
My heart’s in the Highlands a-chasing the deer;
A-chasing the wild-deer, and following the roe,
My heart’s in the Highlands wherever I go.
– Robert Burns
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29th January – On This Day In History
Born:
1945 Tom Selleck (actor – Magnum PI)
Died:
1963 Robert Frost (poet)
On This Day:
1861 Kansas becomes 34th State of the USA
Have a good Monday, 29th January
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A Bottle And A Friend
There’s nane that’s blest of human kind,
But the cheerful and the gay, man,
Fal, la, la, &c.
Here’s a bottle and an honest friend!
What wad ye wish for mair, man?
Wha kens, before his life may end,
What his share may be o’ care, man?
Then catch the moments as they fly,
And use them as ye ought, man:
Believe me, happiness is shy,
And comes not aye when sought, man.
– Robert Burns
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28th January – On This Day In History
Born:
Jackson Pollock (expressionist painter – Lavender Mist)
Died:
814 Charlemagne (Roman / German emperor)
On This Day:
1813 Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austin) is published
Have a good Sunday, 28th January
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Address To A Haggis
Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o’ the puddin-race!
Aboon them a’ ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy of a grace
As lang’s my arm.
The groaning trencher there ye fill,
Your hurdies like a distant hill,
Your pin wad help to mend a mill
In time o’ need,
While thro’ your pores the dews distil
Like amber bead.
His knife see rustic Labour dight,
An’ cut ye up wi’ ready slight,
Trenching your gushing entrails bright
Like onie ditch;
And then, O what a glorious sight,
Warm-reekin, rich!
Then, horn for horn, they strech an’ strive:
Deil tak the hindmost! on they drive,
Till a’ their weel-swall’d kytes belyve,
Are bent like drums;
Then auld Guidman, maist like to rive,
‘Bethankit!’ hums.
Is there that owre his French ragout
Or olio that wad staw a sow,
Or fricassee wad mak her spew
Wi’ perfect sconner,
Looks down wi’ sneering, scornfu’ view
On sic a dinner?
Poor devil! see him owre his trash,
As feckless as a wither’d rash,
His spindle shank, a guid whip-lash,
His nieve a nit;
Thro’ bluidy flood or field to dash,
O how unfit!
But mark the Rustic, haggis-fed,
The trembling earth resounds his tread.
Clap in his walie nieve a blade,
He’ll make it whissle;
An’ legs, an’ arms, an’ heads will sned,
Like taps o’ thrissle.
Ye Pow’rs wha mak mankind your care,
And dish them out their bill o ‘fare,
Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware
That jaups in luggies;
But, if ye wish her gratefu’ prayer,
Gie her a Haggis!
– Robert Burns
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27th January – On This Day In History
Born:
1756 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (composer)
Died:
2010 JD Salinger (novelist – Catcher In The Rye)
On This Day:
1939 First flight of Lockheed’s P-38 Lightning
Have a good Saturday, 27th January
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