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Laevin Hame

by James Sinclair

Wi nae guid itill his haert
da corbie tore at ribcage
da krang o da lamb spret

My name is Jeemie Androo,
sam as me fedder an his faider afore him.
Wir fock ir bidden i da sam twa hooses apo da hill at Setter
fur as lang as ony een has da mindin.
Da hairst o 1865 wis wan o poor paekins
an a starvation dat held fae afore Yule
till da second week o March. Aabody wis black-fantin.

Me, I towt dey wir nae idder
for hit but ta mak fur da toon o Lerook
an try me luck wi da Davis Strait whalers,
see if I could fill wir empty purse wi siller.
staap wir stengted bellies wi maet, I micht
even hae a shillin ur twa ta mak an honest woman o Annie o da Daeks
an as shu held me haand I felt her haet pass trowe me.
So wi strict warnins ta come back hame in ee piece,
I haeved me kist  apo me back an med wey on fit
by vye an by voder ta da steep lanes o da toon.

We hed kin dat pat me up fur ee week dan annider.
Ivery moarnin till mirk I wid staand at da hiecht o da Knab,
i da hoop o catchin a tall ship makkin for port.
Dan ee day laek hit or no, risin piece by piece
abune far horizon, a skeleton o masts an spars.
Thick coal black cloods o reek wir spewin fae da stented belly o da baess,
an I wis da first een rowin oot ta meet
dat fine riggit whaleship, da Diana, as shu drappit anchor.


The Hull whaleship Diana, trapped in the Greenland ice

A sequence of Shetland dialect poems as an interpretation of the ill-fated voyage of the Hull whaleship Diana, trapped in the Greenland ice over winter 1866-1867.

Back Fae Da EdgePoem by James Sinclair
Honest GraftPoem by James Sinclair
Laevin HamePoem by James Sinclair
Lang LippenedPoem by James Sinclair
LossPoem by James Sinclair
Lost SowlsPoem by James Sinclair
Makkin a Run Fur HitPoem by James Sinclair
MellishonPoem by James Sinclair
Mirrie DancersPoem by James Sinclair
Shaestin a FeynessPoem by James Sinclair
Shaestin wir PreyPoem by James Sinclair
Slippin AwaPoem by James Sinclair
StarvationPoem by James Sinclair
TrappitPoem by James Sinclair

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