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  • The Free Natioun
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The Free Natioun

T. S. Law

Preeve you tae me thare’s natiounhood,
and I sall preeve thare’s nane;
an that’s as gyte as your belief
that needs nae pruif tae ken.
And I can preeve ayont belief,
ayont corollarie,
no dae the-noo means never dae
an Scotland never free.

Preeve you tae me thare’s natiouns nane,
and I shall preeve thare’s yin,
for that belief bydes ben belief
lik marra ben the baen.
And I can preeve ayont belief,
ayont corollarie,
gif we dae noo an dae nae mair,
then Scotland will be free.

Sae let the unthinkable be thocht
lik a fire-flaucht thru the haerns,
that the unsayable be said
lik thunder tae the bairns;
an let the unwurkable be wrocht
lik a spaein ben the speirin,
that the unmakkable be made
lik het and hammered airn;
an let the unseeable be seen
lik the endmaist revelatioun,
then the undaeable will be duin
an Scotland made the natioun.

18th October 1977


T. S. Law

from At the Pynt o the Pick and Other Poems (Blackford: Fingerpost Publicatiouns, 2008)

Reproduced by permission of the Estate of T.S. Law.

Tags:

identity independence nationalism pride Scotland Scotland Scots Scots
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T. S. Law1916 - 1997

T. S. Law was a prolific poet who wrote mainly in Scots and produced work in a great variety of form, his subjects being working-class culture and community, the political condition of Scotland and the world-wide imperative of freedom.
More about T. S. Law

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