A’ THE MARQUIS’S

Otago Witness, Issue 3757, 16 March 1926, Page 81

A’ THE MARQUIS’S

A LITERARY CURIOSITY (!) In earlier times Scottish landlordism was accompanied by grave evils which ia turn were productive of much bitterness, expressed in many forms. An es* teemed citizen has handed us the follow* ing lines with the information that they were composed and dictated by a blind Scotcli peasant woman who was quite illiterate, and preserved by the woman who committed them to paper so many years ago. (The lines at first reading appeared to be familiar to us, but we could not at the moment find them in any publication):— Frae Benmore to Kenmore v 1 The land is a’ the Markiss’s (Marqu’s's), I Beyond Kenmore, aroon the shore, Each place where you embark is his, While a’ the troot, wild ducks, and coot, And salmon are the Markiss’s. Up in the skies each bird that flies—• From eagle c’ >n to lark—is his; The very bats, the mice, and rats. And puddocks are the Markiss's. Upon the land by his command Whoever can do wark is his. The hill you tilled, the house you build, Alust therefore be the Markiss’s. The moss, the mire, the peats, the fire, Its very coal and spark is his; The very smoke that makes you choke Is, like the rest, the Markiss’s. The mossy howes, the heather knowes, And ilka bonnie park is his; The bearded goats, the toosie stoats, And a’ the braxy carcases. Ilk crofter's rent, ilk tinkler’s tent, And ilka collie’s bark is his. The muir cock’s craw, the piper’s blaw, The ghillie’s hard day’s wark is his. Frae Benmore to Kenmore The warld is a’ the Markiss’s.