RIC
exchanging
the work of
making a state
for the task
of shaping
a community
§
power is shown
on the platform
but dealt
in the back room
§
Commission
an etching by Smith
after a vow by Brown
(after Brecht)
§
Brown has no Lordship
though his Vows accept one
(after Satie)
§
British Sign Language
how could a union
of pointy index fingers
and flapped elbows
ever last?
(In BSL Scotland is an extended elbow brought towards the body twice; England is a dominant index finger stroking a pointing index finger – the index finger represents the letter E)
messages
not flags
but food-bags
§
Torymandering
§
19.IX.14
Brownsbank
is lost
in low mist
Brownsbank,
Hugh MacDiarmid and Valda Grieve’s home
§
the losing side
renewed their alliances
the winning side split
into warring factions
§
I am
union
I am Gordon Brown
I am the son
of the manse
where the poor folk came
with their children
I am my two sons
I am the NHS
which is Bevan
and everything that is Britain
which I am saving
I am the blood and organs
which are safe in my hands
protecting them
and you know
I am football too
on Saturday afternoon
and I am
my friend Nelson
Mandela and Kofi
Annan
and when I was saving
the economy then
so I am now
making a vow
which the leaders are signing
I am saying Scotland
all of Britain
I am saving our union
I am saying
it will be almost modern
‘Home Rule’
and it must be
inside the union
I am promising a motion
the day after October
Burns Day before
March anyway
and what is happening
now
– and I know
and the vow
and the leaders
must know too
I am a petition
100,000 signatures
growing in my name
now I can do no more –
the rest is up
to Lord Kelvin
§
’45 (too Jacobite?)
45+ (too aged)
Yes (too
2014?)
Yes Scotland (too ‘team’?)
Yes Alliance (too David Owen?)
Yes Union (too much irony?)
The MacCruslick’s (too folkie?)
some
of the proposed names for a renewed Scottish alliance of Yes parties;
McCruslick – in his Tour Johnson is introduced to someone of this name on
Raasay, a pseudonym used by men who had been out’ in the ’45.
§
Addenda to Dr.
Johnson’s Dictionary
Briton : one who is cruel to
strangers (after Horace)
satire : (late 20th / early 21st
C.) an endorsement of the status quo masquerading as an attack on it; a
reactionary joke
Scot : one who, lacking a
nation anywhere, sees his own land everywhere
Scotland : a very learned nation
without any trade, any trees, any money, or any elegance
yes : a hopeful affirmation;
c.f. “hopeful, full of hope; full of
expectation of success; this sense is now almost confined to Scotland…”, SJ, Dictionary
from Out
of Books
§
GLASGOW KISS
x
§
known for not
giving
ATOSs
§
To Alex Salmond, Leader of
the Scots
for Lorna Waite
The
salmon never turns from the current,
Swimming
from dawn, on through the night.
ALEX,
we have given you our YES. By right,
The
tide of fate you meet, we complete.
praise poem, after the Scottish Latin poet Arthur Johnston, written in 2012.
§
Gestus
“Meanwhile, Prime Minister David Cameron has
invited key Tory figures to his country residence to discuss his plans for
constitutional change.”
from Dee Heddon
PLEDGE: a
promise not worth
the paper it is written on
for NC, GB,
EM, & DC
§
from Cecilia
Vicuna
I
could feel all the way from here
the
way people were
being
manipulated by fear
the
spirit that rose from the people
will
live forever in your heart
now
a whole universe of perceptions
will
open up for you
through
the pain
you
will be closer to all of us
who
were there
it
is a place beyond space
and time
the ‘there’ she speaks of is Pinochet’s Chile
§
“I have never heard a Scottish person say
something good of the English; I have never heard an English person say
something bad of the Scots.”
provocation
on social media from an eminent poet, resident in England
§
Spacehopper
politics
Brown bounced Milliband
Cameron bounced Brown
Farage bounced Cameron
§
And the poor
spoke with one voice
Charleston 70% Yes
Happyhillock 75% Yes
Dryburgh 70% Yes
Kirkton 72% Yes
Fintry 72% Yes
Some of the
deprived housing estates that voted overwhelmingly for independence
§
Devo Max’s a Mystery Cat: he's called the
Hidden Paw –
– For he's the master criminal who can defy the
Law.
He's the bafflement of Scottish voters, the
Electorate's despair:
For when they reach the polling booth –
Devo Max’s not there!
You may seek him in the papers, you may look up
on the airwaves
– But I tell you once and once again, Devo
Max’s not there!
Devo Max , Devo Max, there's nothing like Devo
Max,
He's broken every enquiry, he breaks the law of
gravity.
His powers of manipulation would make a voter
scare,
And when you reach the polling booth
Devo Max’s not there!
You may seek him in the papers, you may look up
on the airwaves
– But I tell you once and once again, Devo
Max’s not there!
Devo Max, Devo Max, there's no one like Devo
Max
For he's a fiend in wolf’s clothing, a monster
of deception.
You may meet him in a leaflet, you may see him
on an advert –
But when the result’s discovered, then Devo
Max’s not there!
With few
apologies to T. S. Eliot
§
Scotland
a
compass-point by weather
a
satellite by media
a
country by Westminster
a
mandate by oil
a
nation by resolution
§
Anglo-Scottish
Breakfast
cereal
§
a rare species, now threatened with extinction
Devo
maximalis
§
after it was all over
and the old order
was secure
the Queen was heard
to purr
purrr purrr
§
for
Ed Milliband
I was told a story about the new Minister
arriving at the kirk at Dunsyre in the 1950s. He was a keen gardener and one of
the parishioners asked if he would like some manure. A horse and cart from Dunsrye
Mains delivered a fresh load the next day. The following Sunday, as the flock
left after the service, the Minister thanked Jimmy Barr, of Dunsyre Mains, for
his kind gift. Jimmy replied” “Meenester,
fir a sermon the like o’ the one you gave the day I would gladly hae’ given TWA
carts o’ manure.”
§
as
Gerry says
the thing that hurts the most
is being called a NATIONALIST
§
the First Minister
remains popular
with most Scots
so much so
that he is booed
by golfers
§
HIDDEN
FUTURE
seed
§
equality
is balancing
different
things
§
after
WB
the rich are all romance
but without the beggar
there’s no myth
§
from shieling
to shooting butt
a rise in class
a fall from grace
§
N A T
I N A L M E M R Y
§
Muir’s Law (for KILTR)
COMPULSORY
RECREATION
after
John Muir
§
A PATCHED SAIL
community
The
St Kildans shared a single boat and each contributed a piece of cloth to the
sail
§
after Broch
the rich have the poor
to do their work for them
conserving light, heating,
eating less, or nothing
§
The Third
Horseman
I send ye these saws
Kneedeep i’ The Rotten Burn
up tae ma oxters in the Stinkin Lochie
Lost and
Rotten
hae a’
been ill-begotten
Sourfold
and Scrapehard
hae came
tae Windyraw
Wha bit a
beggar wad gang tae Poorhouse
Whit bit
a Pyke wid swim i’ Drywells
You’ll
gain yir fill at Dish Pot
e’en it
is Green Swile
Frosty
Nibs and Blackmiddens
are gaan to Reekimlane
Badchear and Mirydubs Burn
haste ye
return
Bakebare
and Peeled Egg
they’ll noo cam back ava!
fetch me
tae Goryhill
lay me
oot on Dead Wife’s Hillock
Semi-Ironic Coda
Playlands
Paradise
Maiden
Paps
Naked
Hill
Williehead
Burn
Trembling Tree
after verses on place-names, from letters published
in The Deeside Field (1924),
contributed by a farm servant who used the pen-name ‘The Second Horseman’.
§
live
as if you live in an independent Scotland
I joined the Green Party
I donated to Commonweal
I ended my TV license
I gave to a food bank
we sorted the recycling
