Laurel · Violet Jacob · Bonnie Joann, and Other Poems

Old Song Among Angus Farm Servants.)

Violet Jacob (1863–1946) · 1921

common measure · ABAB · 36 lines · from Bonnie Joann, and Other Poems

Frae Hallowe’en to MartinmasThere’s little time to fill,And yet there’s mony a warkin’ lassThinks a’ the days stand still.

Oh, cauld the mornin’ creeps on nichtAlang the eerie skies,An’ cauld the blink o’ caun’le-lichtThat lets me see to rise.

For late an’ airly at the fairmThe wark seems niver past,But a week, come Monday, brings the tairmWhen I may flit at last.

My mither hauds her docters ticht,My mither’s hoose is sma’,An’ I niver lo’ed my mither richtUntil I gaed awa.

But yestere’en was Hallowe’enWhen a’ may dance an’ sing;The auld guidwife shut doon her e’en,The young anes got their fling;

Set up, the fiddler wrocht. Below,The reel swang ilka ane,But my feet danced oot to meet my joeBy the licht o’ Charlewayn.

My mither’s hame’s a happy hameWhaur easy I may lie,And o’ mysel’ I’m thinkin’ shame,Sic a feckless queyn am I.

For, by the licht o’ Charlewayn,It’s Rab that gar’d me lairnTo see a lover’s lass mair plainE’en than a mither’s bairn.

Aye, yestere’en was Hallowe’en,An’ Martinmas is near;It’s wae for Martinmas I’ve beenBut it’s like to find me here!

Words in this poem

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.]
eerie a.: Serving to inspire fear, esp. a dread of seeing ghosts; wild; weird; as, eerie stories. [Scotch, fr. AS. earh timid.]
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]
wark n.: Work; a building. [See Work.]
flit a.: Nimble; quick; swift. See Fleet.
auld a.: Old; as, Auld Reekie (old smoky), i. e., Edinburgh. [See Old.]
fiddler n.: One who plays on a fiddle or violin. [AS. fi.]
feckless a.: Spiritless; weak; worthless. [Perh. a corruption of effectless.]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

Old Song Among Angus Farm Servants.) 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, Old Song Among Angus Farm Servants.), in Bonnie Joann, and Other Poems (1921), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #69484, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/jacob-bonnie-joann/old-song-among-angus-farm-servants.html, id L21945.

Form and metre

Old Song Among Angus Farm Servants.) is 36 lines in 9 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 6 of its 9 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).

See other poems in common measure.

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 martinmas · fill^A · lass · still^A
2 ABAB nicht^A · skies^B · licht^A · rise^B
3 ABAB fairm^A · past^B · tairm^A · last^B
4 A-A- ticht^A · sma · richt^A · awa
5 ABAB hallowe'en^A · sing^B · e'en^A · fling^B
6 ABAB below^A · ane^B · joe^A · charlewayn^B
7 ABAB hame^A · lie^B · shame^A · i^B
8 ABAB charlewayn^A · lairn^B · plain^A · bairn^B
9 -A-A hallowe'en · near^A · been · here^A

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 common measure. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
Frae Hallowe’en to Martinmas	8	··˘/·/˘˘
There’s little time to fill,	6	·/˘···
And yet there’s mony a warkin’ lass	9	···/˘····
Thinks a’ the days stand still.	6	······
Oh, cauld the mornin’ creeps on nicht	8	········
Alang the eerie skies,	6	···/˘·
An’ cauld the blink o’ caun’le-licht	8	········
That lets me see to rise.	6	······
For late an’ airly at the fairm	8	········
The wark seems niver past,	6	···/˘·
But a week, come Monday, brings the tairm	9	····/˘···
When I may flit at last.	6	······
My mither hauds her docters ticht,	8	········
My mither’s hoose is sma’,	6	······
An’ I niver lo’ed my mither richt	8	··/·····
Until I gaed awa.	6	······
But yestere’en was Hallowe’en	8	······˘/
When a’ may dance an’ sing;	6	······
The auld guidwife shut doon her e’en,	8	········
The young anes got their fling;	6	······
Set up, the fiddler wrocht. Below,	8	···/˘···
The reel swang ilka ane,	6	···/˘·
But my feet danced oot to meet my joe	9	·········
By the licht o’ Charlewayn.	7	·······
My mither’s hame’s a happy hame	8	·····/˘·
Whaur easy I may lie,	6	·/˘···
And o’ mysel’ I’m thinkin’ shame,	8	·····/˘·
Sic a feckless queyn am I.	7	··/˘···
For, by the licht o’ Charlewayn,	8	········
It’s Rab that gar’d me lairn	7	···/˘··
To see a lover’s lass mair plain	8	···/˘···
E’en than a mither’s bairn.	6	······
Aye, yestere’en was Hallowe’en,	8	······˘/
An’ Martinmas is near;	6	·/˘˘··
It’s wae for Martinmas I’ve been	8	···/˘˘··
But it’s like to find me here!	7	·······

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