Baltic Street
My dainty lass, lay you the blameUpon the richtfu’ heid;’Twas daft ill-luck that bigg’d yer hameThe wrang side o’ the Tweed.Ye hae yer tocher a’ complete,Ye’re bonnie as the rose,But I was born in Baltic Street,In Baltic Street, Montrose!
Lang syne on mony a waefu’ nicht,Hie owre the sea’s distress,I’ve seen the great airms o’ the lichtSwing oot frae Scurdyness;An’ prood, in sunny simmer blinks,When land-winds rase an’ fell,I’d flee my draigon on the linksWi’ callants like mysel’.
Oh, Baltic Street is cauld an’ bareAn’ mebbe nae sae grand,But ye’ll feel the smell i’ the caller airO’ kippers on the land.’Twixt kirk an’ street the deid fowk bideTheir feet towards the sea,Ill nee’bours for a new-made bride,Gin ye come hame wi’ me.
The steeple shades the kirkyaird grass,The seamen’s hidden banes,A dour-like kirk to an English lassWha kens but English lanes;And when the haar, the winter through,Creeps blind on close and wa’My hame micht get a curse frae you,Mysel’ get, mebbe, twa.
I’ll up an’ aff the morn’s mornTo seek some reid-haired queyn,Bauld-he’rted, strang-nieved, bred an’ bornIn this auld toon o’ mine.And oh! for mair I winna greet,Gin we hae meal an’ broseAnd a but an’ ben in Baltic Street,In Baltic Street, Montrose!
Words in this poem 20
- dainty n.
- Value; estimation; the gratification or pleasure taken in anything. [OE. deinie, dainte, deintie, deyntee, OF. deintié delicacy, orig., dignity, honor, fr. L. dignitas, fr. dignus worthy. See Deign, and cf. Dignity.]
- lass n.
- A youth woman; a girl; a sweetheart. [OE. lasse; prob. of Celtic origin; cf. W. llodes girl, fem. of llawd lad. (Lad a youth.]
- daft a.
- Stupid; folish; idiotic; also, delirious; insance; as, he has gone daft. [OE. daft, deft, deft, stupid; prob. the same word as E. deft. See Deft.]
- bigg n.
- Barley, especially the hardy four-rowed kind. [OE. bif, bigge; akin to Icel. bygg, Dan. byg, Sw. bjugg.]
- tweed n.
- A soft and flexible fabric for men's wear, made wholly of wool except in some inferior kinds, the wool being dyed, usually in two colors, before weaving. [Probably a corruption of twills. See Twill.]
- tocher n.
- Dowry brought by a bride to her husband. Burns. [Gael. tochradh.]
- syne adv.
- Afterwards; since; ago. R. of Brunne. [See Since.]
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
- simmer v. i.
- To boil gently, or with a gentle hissing; to begin to boil. [Prov. E. also simper; -- an onomatopoetic word.]
- rase v. t.
- To rub along the surface of; to graze. [F. raser, LL. rasare to scrape often, v. freq. fr. L. radere, rasum, to scrape, shave; cf. Skr. rad to scratch, gnaw, L. rodere to gnaw. Cf. Raze, Razee, Razor,]
- caller a.
- Cool; refreshing; fresh; as, a caller day; the caller air.
- kirk n.
- A church or the church, in the various senses of the word; esp., the Church of Scotland as distinguished from other reformed churches, or from the Roman Catholic Church. Jamieson. [Scot.; cf. Icel. kirkja, of Greek origin. See Church.]
- bide v. i.
- To dwell; to inhabit; to abide; to stay. [OE. biden, AS. bidan; akin to OHG. bitan, Goth. beidan, Icel. bi; perh. orig., to wait with trust, and akin to bid. See Bid, v. t., and cf. Abide.]
- dour a.
- Hard; inflexible; obstinate; sour in aspect; hardy; bold. [Cf. F. dur, L. durus.]
- haar n.
- A fog; esp., a fog or mist with a chill wind. T. [See Hoar.]
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- strang a.
- Strong. [Obs. or Prov. Eng. & Scot.] Halliwell. [See Strong.]
- auld a.
- Old; as, Auld Reekie (old smoky), i. e., Edinburgh. [See Old.]
- toon n.
- The reddish brown wood of an East Indian tree (Cedrela Toona) closely resembling the Spanish cedar; also. the tree itself. [Hind. tun, tun, Skr. tunna.]
- brose n.
- Pottage made by pouring some boiling liquid on meal (esp. [CF. Gael. brothas. Cf. Brewis, Broth.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Baltic Street is in the public domain. This text is taken from Bonnie Joann, and other poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #69484; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Violet Jacob, Baltic Street, in Bonnie Joann, and Other Poems (1921), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #69484, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/jacob-bonnie-joann/baltic-street.html, id L21942.
Form and metre
Baltic Street is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%).
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 A-A-BCBC blameA · heid · hameA · tweed · completeB · roseC · streetB · montroseC
- 2 ABABC-C- nichtA · distressB · lichtA · scurdynessB · blinksC · fell · linksC · mysel
- 3 ABABCDCD bareA · grandB · airA · landB · bideC · seaD · brideC · meD
- 4 ABABC-C- grassA · banesB · lassA · lanesB · throughC · wa · youC · twa
- 5 A-A-BCBC mornA · queyn · bornA · mine · greetB · broseC · streetB · montroseC
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| My dainty lass, lay you the blame | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Upon the richtfu’ heid; | 6 | ······ |
| ’Twas daft ill-luck that bigg’d yer hame | 8 | ········ |
| The wrang side o’ the Tweed. | 6 | ······ |
| Ye hae yer tocher a’ complete, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Ye’re bonnie as the rose, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| But I was born in Baltic Street, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| In Baltic Street, Montrose! | 6 | ·/˘·/· |
| Lang syne on mony a waefu’ nicht, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Hie owre the sea’s distress, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| I’ve seen the great airms o’ the licht | 8 | ········ |
| Swing oot frae Scurdyness; | 6 | ······ |
| An’ prood, in sunny simmer blinks, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| When land-winds rase an’ fell, | 6 | ······ |
| I’d flee my draigon on the links | 8 | ········ |
| Wi’ callants like mysel’. | 6 | ······ |
| Oh, Baltic Street is cauld an’ bare | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| An’ mebbe nae sae grand, | 5 | ····· |
| But ye’ll feel the smell i’ the caller air | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| O’ kippers on the land. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| ’Twixt kirk an’ street the deid fowk bide | 8 | ········ |
| Their feet towards the sea, | 6 | ······ |
| Ill nee’bours for a new-made bride, | 8 | ········ |
| Gin ye come hame wi’ me. | 6 | ······ |
| The steeple shades the kirkyaird grass, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The seamen’s hidden banes, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| A dour-like kirk to an English lass | 9 | ·/····/˘· |
| Wha kens but English lanes; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And when the haar, the winter through, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Creeps blind on close and wa’ | 6 | ······ |
| My hame micht get a curse frae you, | 8 | ········ |
| Mysel’ get, mebbe, twa. | 5 | ····· |
| I’ll up an’ aff the morn’s morn | 7 | ······· |
| To seek some reid-haired queyn, | 6 | ······ |
| Bauld-he’rted, strang-nieved, bred an’ born | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| In this auld toon o’ mine. | 6 | ······ |
| And oh! for mair I winna greet, | 8 | ········ |
| Gin we hae meal an’ brose | 6 | ······ |
| And a but an’ ben in Baltic Street, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| In Baltic Street, Montrose! | 6 | ·/˘·/· |
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