‘Kirrie’
Comin’ oot frae Kirrie, when the autumn gowd an’ sillerAt the hindmaist o’ September month has grips o’ tree an’ shaw,The mune hung, deaved wi’ sunset, no a spunk o’ pride in till her,Nae better nor a bogle, till the licht was awa;An’ the haughs below the Grampains, i’ the evenin’ they were lyin’Like a lang-socht Land o’ Promise that the cauld mist couldnasmoor;An’ tho’ ye didna see it, ye could hear the river cryin’If ye stood a while to listen on the road to Kirriemuir.
There’s an auld wife bides in Kirrie--set her up! a pridefu’ crater--And she’s crackin’ aye o’ London an’ the grand fowk ye may see;O’ the King, an’ syne his palace, till I’m sure I’m like to hate her,For the mairket-day in Kirrie is the sicht for me.But ye ken I’m sweir to fash her, an’ it’s best to be agreein’,For gin ye dinna heed her, then she’s cankered-like an’ soor,Dod, she tells o’ muckle lairnin’--but I doot the bizzar’s leein’,For it’s fules wad bide in London when they kent o’ Kirriemuir.
O, the braw, braw toon o’ Kirrie! What a years that I hae lo’ed it!And I winna seek to leave it tho’ I’m spared anither score;I’d be greetin’ like a laddie for the auld reid hooses crooditLookin’ down upon the steadin’s and the fields o’ Strathmore.Ye may speak o’ heavenly mansions, ye may say it wadna grieve yeWhen ye quit a world sae bonnie--but I canna jist be sure,For I’ll hae to wait, I’m thinkin’, or I see if I believe ye,For my first braid blink o’ Heaven, an’ my last o’ Kirriemuir!
Words in this poem
- shaw n.
- A thicket; a small wood or grove. [Obs. or Prov.Eng. & Scot.] [OE. schawe, scha, thicket, grove, AS. scaga; akin to Dan. skov, Sw. skog, Icel. sk.]
- spunk n.
- Wood that readily takes fire; touchwood; also, a kind of tinder made from a species of fungus; punk; amadou. Sir T. Browne. [Gael. spong, or Ir. sponc, tinder, sponge; cf. AS. sponge a sponge (L. spongia), spon a chip. Cf. Sponge, Punk.]
- bogle n.
- A goblin; a specter; a frightful phantom; a bogy; a bugbear. [Scot. and North Eng. bogle, bogill, bugill, specter; as a verb, to terrify, fr. W. bwgwl threatening, fear, bwg, bwgan, specter, hobgoblin. Cf. Bug.]
- smoor v. t.
- To suffocate or smother. [Obs. or Prov. [AS. smorian; akin to D. & LG. smoren, G. schmoren to stew. Cf. Smother.]
- auld a.
- Old; as, Auld Reekie (old smoky), i. e., Edinburgh. [See Old.]
- crater n.
- The basinlike opening or mouth of a volcano, through which the chief eruption comes; similarly, the mouth of a gevser, about which a cone of silica is often built up. [L. crater, cratera, a mixing vessel, the mouth of a volcano, Gr. ir to cook, Crail, in Holy Grail.]
- syne adv.
- Afterwards; since; ago. R. of Brunne. [See Since.]
- fash v. t.
- To vex; to tease; to trouble. [OF. faschier, F. f, to anger, vex; cf. Pr. fasticar, fastigar, fr. L. fastidium dilike. See Fastidious.]
- 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.]
- braw a.
- Well-dressed; handsome; smart; brave; -- used of persons or their clothing, etc.; as, a braw lad.
- 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.]
- laddie n.
- A lad; a male sweetheart.
- canna n.
- A measure of length in Italy, varying from six to seven feet. [It.]
- blink v. i.
- To wink; to twinkle with, or as with, the eye. [OE. blenken; akin to dan. blinke, Sw. blinka, G. blinken to shine, glance, wink, twinkle, D. blinken to shine; and prob. to D. blikken to glance, twinkle, G. bl]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
‘Kirrie’ 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, ‘Kirrie’, in Bonnie Joann, and Other Poems (1921), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #69484, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/jacob-bonnie-joann/kirrie.html, id L21939.
Form and metre
‘Kirrie’ is 25 lines in 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic heptameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 78%).
See other poems in iambic heptameter.
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- siller · shaw · her · awa · lyinA · couldna · smoor · cryinA · kirriemuir
- 2 -A-AB-B- crater · seeA · her · meA · agreeinB · soor · leeinB · kirriemuir
- 3 -A-AB-B- it · scoreA · croodit · strathmoreA · yeB · sure · yeB · kirriemuir
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 heptameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Comin’ oot frae Kirrie, when the autumn gowd an’ siller | 14 | /˘······/˘··/˘ |
| At the hindmaist o’ September month has grips o’ tree an’ shaw, | 15 | ·····˘/˘······· |
| The mune hung, deaved wi’ sunset, no a spunk o’ pride in till her, | 15 | ·····/········· |
| Nae better nor a bogle, till the licht was awa; | 13 | ·/˘··/˘······ |
| An’ the haughs below the Grampains, i’ the evenin’ they were lyin’ | 16 | ················ |
| Like a lang-socht Land o’ Promise that the cauld mist couldna | 14 | ······/˘······ |
| smoor; | 1 | · |
| An’ tho’ ye didna see it, ye could hear the river cryin’ | 14 | ···········/˘· |
| If ye stood a while to listen on the road to Kirriemuir. | 15 | ······/˘······· |
| There’s an auld wife bides in Kirrie--set her up! a pridefu’ crater-- | 17 | ···············/˘ |
| And she’s crackin’ aye o’ London an’ the grand fowk ye may see; | 15 | ······/˘······· |
| O’ the King, an’ syne his palace, till I’m sure I’m like to hate her, | 16 | ······/˘········ |
| For the mairket-day in Kirrie is the sicht for me. | 13 | ············· |
| But ye ken I’m sweir to fash her, an’ it’s best to be agreein’, | 15 | ··············· |
| For gin ye dinna heed her, then she’s cankered-like an’ soor, | 15 | ·········/˘˘··· |
| Dod, she tells o’ muckle lairnin’--but I doot the bizzar’s leein’, | 15 | ····/˘········· |
| For it’s fules wad bide in London when they kent o’ Kirriemuir. | 15 | ······/˘······· |
| O, the braw, braw toon o’ Kirrie! What a years that I hae lo’ed it! | 16 | ················ |
| And I winna seek to leave it tho’ I’m spared anither score; | 15 | ··············· |
| I’d be greetin’ like a laddie for the auld reid hooses croodit | 16 | ······/˘····/˘·· |
| Lookin’ down upon the steadin’s and the fields o’ Strathmore. | 14 | /˘············ |
| Ye may speak o’ heavenly mansions, ye may say it wadna grieve ye | 16 | ····/˘/˘········ |
| When ye quit a world sae bonnie--but I canna jist be sure, | 15 | ······/˘··/˘··· |
| For I’ll hae to wait, I’m thinkin’, or I see if I believe ye, | 16 | ······/˘·····˘/· |
| For my first braid blink o’ Heaven, an’ my last o’ Kirriemuir! | 15 | ······/˘······· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.