HUGH MacDiarmid’s early little poem in Scots (from Sangschaw, 1925) combines a touch of cosmic imagination with a more earthly sense of humour.
THE BONNIE BROUKIT BAIRN
Mars is braw in crammasy,
Venus in a green silk goun,
The auld mune shak’s her gowden feathers,
Their starry talk’s a wheen o’ blethers,
Nane for thee a thochtie sparin’,
Earth, thou bonnie broukit bairn!
But greet, an’ in your tears ye’ll droun
The haill clanjamfrie!
SCOTS POETRY COMPETITION
A REMINDER
THERE is still time to enter the James McCash Scots Poetry Competition, which this year offers generous prizes worth in total £3500.
The competition, run jointly by The Herald and Glasgow University, aims both to celebrate and to encourage the use of the Scots language in all its rich diversity. There is a first prize of £1000; a second of £750; a third of £500; a fourth of £300; and a fifth of £250. In addition there are four special prizes for junior entrants: a first prize of £200 and second of £150 for primary-school children, and a first prize of £200 and second of £150 for secondary-school students. We are particularly keen to encourage participation from these younger age groups, who are of course the future guardians of Scotland’s cultural and linguistic heritage.
All forms of the language are equally acceptable, from the classical cadences of the sixteenth-century Makars and MacDiarmid’s literary Scots, to the Doric of the north-east, the everyday speech of Burns country and the south-west, the distinctive voices of the Northern Isles, and, not least, the witty, irreverent, demotic of Scotland’s cities.
There is no theme this year. The poems (up to three from each entrant) can be in any form, from sonnet to free verse, with a 30-line maximum.
Entries, printed on A4 paper with name and contact details on the back, should be sent to Lesley Duncan, c/o The Herald, 200 Renfield Street, Glasgow G2 3QB, to arrive by September 20. Contestants in the junior categories should add their age and the name of their school. If it is not possible to post material, entries may be emailed (in the body of the text) to lesley.duncan@heraldandtimes.co.uk with the same information included. Poets who have already submitted by email should resend their entries.
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