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Mother

Neil Munro

Ye were ay a rowdy laddie, Jock,
Since ever ye cam hame,
Unco ill to bed at night,
And dour to wash and kaim.
It gave me many a he’rt-break,
To keep ye cosh and clean,
Now I’m he’rt-hale sorry for’t –
          Ye ken what I mean!

Your brither’s deid in New Chapelle,
Your faither’s in Kirkbride,
Ye’re a’ that’s left that made for me
The joy o’ Wanlochside.
I winna hae ye craven, mind,
Nor yet ower foolish keen,
Let caution gang wi’ courage, lad –
         Ye ken what I mean!

If ever ye come on a German chiel
That looks o’ landward breed,
Some harum-scarum ne’er-dae-weel,
Blae een and lint-white heid,
That maybe played on the hairst-field
Like you when he was a wean,
Let that yin by for his mither’s sake –
          Ye ken what I mean!

Nane yet got me repinin’,
Nor bendin’ to my load;
High heid in the market-toun,
Licht foot on the road!
There’s nane to see Jean Cameron boo
But by her bed at e’en,
And I trust you’re no forgettin’ –
          Ye ken what I mean!

I’m vexed noo when I think of it,
The way I let ye gang –
Just the wee clap on the shouther,
And nae fareweel harangue;
I couldna look ye in the face,
For the sun was in my een,
I’m a stupid auld Scots body –
          Ye ken what I mean!

If Death were but a merchant man,
To strike a bargain wi’,
The first at his booth in the Candleriggs
In the morn’s morn would be me,
To swap him a fine auld withered brench
For a stubborn twig o’ green –
But there! I’m only haverin’ –
          Ye ken what I mean!


Neil Munro

from Bagpipe Ballads and Other Poems (Kennedy & Boyd, 2010)
(poem first published in 1921)

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mothers Scots World War I
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Neil Munro1864 - 1930

Highlander Neil Munro left his native Argyll to find work in Glasgow, but the Highlands stayed in his heart, and featured in most of his literary work, most famously in his Para Handy stories.
More about Neil Munro

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