Orkney Scriever Alison Miller's poem 'What we hae a keepeen on' was inspired by items from the Library's Treasures exhibition.Listen to Alison reading the poem:
What We Hae a Keepeen On
Archives carry the culture of a nation into the future and protect the memories of its people.
From a message of support to Archivists in Ukraine from UK & Irish colleagues.
'Beauty, inches close to sorrow' – Jackie Kay from 'Small', a poem in 'Bantam'
Is hid the twathree bits o cloot
that Charlie wore, the peedie piece
o the frock he pat on as Betty Burke;
the tial o the bratto shae wid worn for work;
and fae his own claes, a swatch o garter,
blue velvet, French, white silk, a buckle?
Or is hid the story o Flora,
the thrill o the bold escape, the claes
shae dressed him in, the ‘speed bonny
boat like a bird on the wing’?
The peedie bits o cloot arna muckle
tae luk at themsels, but hells bells,
the story! The Bonnie Prince’s DNA
could be on aal that things. Is that the wey
we hae a keepeen on them? Or is it
the kiss on the hand he gaed Flora
when they perted? Wis either o them
broken-herted? Or wis it more a
sweet sorrow? Wistful? Ae fond kiss?
Noo see Robert Burns ten meenits – TEN –
afore the post goes, dashan doon the song
that’s comed tae be for perteen what
Auld Lang Syne’s aye been for freends.
Hand tae pen, pen tae paeper,
the veerieorums, curlicues and loops,
the hoops he jumps through tae prove he loe’s,
nane but Nancy. Although I fancy
he geed on tae love a good few more.
Ae fond kiss?
But hid disna metter, for better
or for worse, this is the verse
we say fareweel tae. Hid’s often sung
at funerals – we sang hid at me mither’s;
a freend played it at the service for his sister
wha disappeared years ago; I sang
hid tae me aunt, lyan gaunt in her bed
a week afore she died last month.
Ae fond kiss
And luk at the bairns in Ukraine,
their hands at the window on the train
greetan as they say goodbye tae their feythers,
steyan ahint tae fight. Wan last kiss might
be aal they hae tae mind him by when done.
Ae fond kiss
Isobel Wylie Hutchison
Aer we surprised hoo much is in
this room o her? Arctic explorer,
botanist, painter, film maker, poet –
here’s a quote fae chist wan poem shae wrote:
'Over the wheatfields the sky was shot with light
And there was one large star
I looked at the wheat and said,
'[In Ukraine] the gold is red,
And to-night how still the dead must lie
With their faces stark to the open sky
Or dreadfully earthward turned ... '
Hid wis Liège in her poem, no Ukraine
But the ills o war are still the same
fae Nineteen Fourteen until noo –
Isobel Wylie Hutchison, shae knew.
But shae geed on fae war and loss,
on foot, be boat and dog sled, held her course
across the frozen Arctic, fund unkan flooers
under the ice and parcelled ower
three hunder back tae Kew.
In Umanak, January Twenty Fifth,
Nineteen Twenty Nine she wrote:
"It is Burns Night! Can one be the only Scot
in Greenland and forget to celebrate
such a festival? One cannot!"
The connections multiply: Ae fond kiss
And forbye aal that thir's this –
The journals o the Bishop o Ross,
on Bonnie Prince Charlie,
Lyon in Mourning,
the maps o Timothy Pont,
Montgomery and Polwart,
Dunbar and Henryson flyteen
The Complaint o the Black Knight an
Wheel & Herringbone Bookbindeen,
the script o Trainspotteen,
a Gutenberg Bible, Iona Psalter,
In foreign languages, Harry Potter an
Origin o the Species, Charles Darwin,
Jackie Kay’s Bantam, Openeen
o wir Parliament, Edwin Morgan.
Tak some words fae wir National Bards
when you come in here:
Open the doors! Light of the day, shine in;
light of the mind, shine out!
Across the stars and the galaxy,
The night sky’s tiny keys, the hail clamjamfrie!
And tae feenish off, a wish:
Thine be ilka joy and treasure,
Peace, enjoyment, love, and pleasure!
Ae fond kiss
References
Jackie Kay, 'Small', 'Threshold', in Bantam, (London: Picador, 2017).
Isobel Wylie Hutchison, 'Liège 1914', in Lyrics From West Lothian, (Edinburgh: For the Red Cross Fund, 191-?).
Edwin Morgan, 'Open the Doors!', for the Opening of the Scottish Parliament, 9 October 2004.
Glossary
Hae a keepen on: A desire to hold onto something for sentimental or other reasons have.
Twathree: Literally 'two or three', but more accurately 'a few', 'several'.
Peedie: Small.
Tial: The band that ties an apron.
Bratto: A coarse work apron.
Dashan: Dashing; in this context 'rushing to write down'.
Freends: Friends.
Veerieorums: Fancy bits; decorations; curlicues.
Loe: Love.
Greetan: Crying.
Feythers: Fathers.
Chist: Just.
Unkan: unknown or strange.
Forbye: extraordinary.
Clamjamfrie: a commotion.