Scots Poem of the Month - June 2008

The Corbie an the Tod Sir Corbie’s in a tree at ease, Atween his beak’s a sonsie cheese. Sir Tod, led by its halesome reek, Addressed him wi this wee bit speak: “Guid day tae ye, guid Maister Craw. My goad, but ye’re uncommon braw! Withoot a lee, gin ye can sing Like tae the splendours o yer wing, ‘Mang aa the gentry o the wuid, ye’ll be the boy.” On hearin this, the Corbie’s hert near burst for joy: Tae show them aa his dulcet caw, He gawpit wide his muckle mou – an lat his cheesie faa. Tod nabbed it in his chafts an said: “My bonnie Sir, Learn noo that ilka flatterer Lives high on whasae harkens tae his crack: A lesson cheap bocht at the cheesie ye lack.” The Corbie aa abaysit an bumbaze, Owre late, sware never tae be gowkt again thru aa his days. by Walter Perrie from Twelve Fables by Jean de La Fontaine made owre intil Scots Blair Atholl: Fras Publications, 2007 Poem supplied courtesy of the Scottish Poetry Library

Note on the origins of the poem La Fontaine, erudite and courtly, liked to give the impression of being just a simple country fellow. His French is technically superb and vigorous. But the fables are made to sound easy and somewhat homespun. They work in Scots, which has a long history of animal fables, far more effectively than in English. They are also entertaining and no less apposite today than when they were composed in the seventeenth century.

About the Poet Walter Perrie was born in Lanarkshire in 1949 and was educated at Hamilton Academy and at the universities of Edinburgh and Stirling. Since the 1970s he has worked as an editor, poet, critic and travel writer. Along with John Herdman he edits and publishes the literary magazine Fras and Fras Publications. The Corbie an the Tod first appeared in Duncan Glen's Zed2 O, number 22. and was later included in a pamphlet from Fras Publications: Twelve Fables of La Fontaine made owre intil Scots. (Blair Atholl 2007). He lives in Dunning, Perthshire.