The Tramp to the Tattie-Dulie
Thrawn-leggit carle wi’ airms on hieAnd jist a hole for ilka ee,Ye needna lift yer hand to meAs though ye’d strike me;Ye’re threits abune an’ strae below,But what-like use is sic a show?Ye maun respec’ me, bogle, tho’Ye mauna like me!
To gutsy doo or thievin’ crawYe mebbe represent the lawWhen they come fleein’ owre the wa’To tak’ an airin’,Dod, I’ll no say they arena richtWhen sic a fell, unchancy sichtGars them think twice afore they licht--But I’m no carin’!
Yer heid’s a neep, yer wame’s a sack,Yer ill-faured face gars bairnies shak’,But yet the likes o’ you can mak’A livin’ frae it;Sma’ use to me! It isna fairFor though there’s mony wad declareThat I’m no far ahint ye there,I canna dae it!
Life’s a disgust wi’ a’ its ways,For free o’ chairge ye get yer claes,Nae luck hae I on washin’-days--There’s plenty dryin’,But gin I see a usefu’ sarkAn’ bide or gloamin’ help my wark,The guidwife’s oot afore it’s dark--And leaves nane lyin’.
Weel, weel, I’m aff. It’s little pleasureTo see ye standin’ at yer leisureWhen I’ve sae mony miles to measureTo get a meal!Ye idle dog! My bonnet’s through,An’ yours is no exac’ly new,But a’ the same I’ll hae’t frae you,And faur-ye-weel!
Words in this poem
- 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.]
- unchancy a.
- Happening at a bad time; unseasonable; inconvenient. A. Trollope. [Pref un- + Scot. chancy fortunate, safe.]
- afore prep.
- Before (in all its senses).
- canna n.
- A measure of length in Italy, varying from six to seven feet. [It.]
- sark v. t.
- To cover with sarking, or thin boards.
- 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.]
- wark n.
- Work; a building. [See Work.]
- weel
- A kind of trap or snare for fish, made of twigs. Carew. [Prov. E. weel, weal, a wicker basket to catch eels; prob. akin to willow, and so called as made of willow twigs.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Tramp to the Tattie-Dulie 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, The Tramp to the Tattie-Dulie, in Bonnie Joann, and Other Poems (1921), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #69484, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/jacob-bonnie-joann/the-tramp-to-the-tattie-dulie.html, id L21934.
Form and metre
The Tramp to the Tattie-Dulie is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 -AAABBBA hie · eeA · meA · meA · belowB · showB · thoB · meA
- 2 AA--BBB- crawA · lawA · wa · airin · richtB · sichtB · lichtB · carin
- 3 A-ABCCCB sackA · shak · makA · itB · fairC · declareC · thereC · itB
- 4 AAABC-CB waysA · claesA · daysA · dryinB · sarkC · wark · darkC · lyinB
- 5 AAABCCCB pleasureA · leisureA · measureA · mealB · throughC · newC · youC · weelB
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Thrawn-leggit carle wi’ airms on hie | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| And jist a hole for ilka ee, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Ye needna lift yer hand to me | 8 | ········ |
| As though ye’d strike me; | 5 | ····· |
| Ye’re threits abune an’ strae below, | 8 | ········ |
| But what-like use is sic a show? | 8 | ········ |
| Ye maun respec’ me, bogle, tho’ | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Ye mauna like me! | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| To gutsy doo or thievin’ craw | 8 | ·//····· |
| Ye mebbe represent the law | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| When they come fleein’ owre the wa’ | 7 | ······· |
| To tak’ an airin’, | 5 | ····· |
| Dod, I’ll no say they arena richt | 9 | ·····˘/˘· |
| When sic a fell, unchancy sicht | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Gars them think twice afore they licht-- | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| But I’m no carin’! | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Yer heid’s a neep, yer wame’s a sack, | 8 | ········ |
| Yer ill-faured face gars bairnies shak’, | 8 | ···˘···· |
| But yet the likes o’ you can mak’ | 8 | ········ |
| A livin’ frae it; | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Sma’ use to me! It isna fair | 8 | ········ |
| For though there’s mony wad declare | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| That I’m no far ahint ye there, | 8 | ········ |
| I canna dae it! | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Life’s a disgust wi’ a’ its ways, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| For free o’ chairge ye get yer claes, | 8 | ········ |
| Nae luck hae I on washin’-days-- | 8 | ········ |
| There’s plenty dryin’, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| But gin I see a usefu’ sark | 9 | ········· |
| An’ bide or gloamin’ help my wark, | 8 | ········ |
| The guidwife’s oot afore it’s dark-- | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| And leaves nane lyin’. | 4 | ···· |
| Weel, weel, I’m aff. It’s little pleasure | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| To see ye standin’ at yer leisure | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| When I’ve sae mony miles to measure | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| To get a meal! | 4 | ···· |
| Ye idle dog! My bonnet’s through, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| An’ yours is no exac’ly new, | 8 | ········ |
| But a’ the same I’ll hae’t frae you, | 8 | ········ |
| And faur-ye-weel! | 4 | ···· |
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.