January 25th, 2011, family life, Robert Burns Style

This excerpt from A Cotter's Saturday Night is Robert Burns' idyll of family life in a small farmer's cottage in 18th century Scotland. A cotter was given accommodation which he paid for by giving his labour to neighbouring farmers who either owned, or tenanted their farms. Does such a family exist now either in fact or in spirit ? Let's hope so.



November chill blaws loud wi' angry sugh;
The short'ning winter-day is near a close;
The miry beasts retreating frae the pleugh;
The black'ning trains o' craws to their repose:
The toil-worn Cotter frae his labor goes --
This night his weekly moil is at an end,
Collects his spades, his mattocks, and his hoes,
Hoping the morn in ease and rest to spend,
And weary, o'er the moor, his course does hameward bend.

At length his lonely cot appears in view,
Beneath the shelter of an aged tree;
Th' expectant wee-things, toddlin, stacher through
To meet their dad, wi' flichterin' noise and glee.
His wee bit ingle, blinkin bonilie,
His clean hearth-stane, his thrifty wifie's smile,
His lisping infants, prattling on his knee,
Does a' his weary carking cares beguile,
And makes him quite forget his labor and his toil.



Belyve, the elder bairns come drapping in,
At service out, amang the farmers roun';
Some ca' the pleugh, some herd, some tentie rin
A cannie errand to a neebor town:
Their eldest hope, their Jenny, woman grown,
In youthfu' bloom, love sparkling in her e'e,
Comes hame; perhaps, to shew a braw new gown,
Or deposite her sair-won penny-fee,
To help her parents dear, if they in hardship be.


With joy unfeign'd, brothers and sisters meet,
And each for other's weelfare kindly spiers:
The social hours, swift-wing'd, unnotic'd fleet;
Each tells the uncos that he sees or hears.
The parents partial eye their hopeful years;
Anticipation forward points the view;
The mother, wi' her needle and her sheers,
Gars auld claes look amainst as weel's the new;
The father mixes a' wi' admonition due.


Their master's and their mistress's command
The younkers a' are warned to obey
And mind their labors wi' an eydent hand,
And ne'er, tho' out o' sight, to jauk or play:
And O! be sure to fear the Lord always,
And mind your duty, duly, morn and night;
Lest in temptation's path ye gang astray,
Implore His counsel and assisting might:
They never sought in vain that sought the Lord aright.'


But hark! a rap comes gently to the door;
Jenny, wha kens the meaning o' the same,
Tells how a neebor lad came o'er the moor,
To do some errands, and convoy her hame.
The wily mother sees the conscious flame
Sparkle in Jenny's e'e, and flush her cheek;
With heart-struck anxious care, enquires his name,
While Jenny hafflins is afraid to speak;
Weel-pleas'd the mother hears, it's nae wild worthless rake.


With kindly welcome, Jenny brings him ben;
A strappin' youth, he takes the mother's eye;
Blythe Jenny sees the visit's no ill taen;
The father cracks of horses, pleughs, and kye.
The youngster's artless heart o'erflows wi' joy,
But blate and laithfu', scarce can weel behave;
The mother, wi' a woman's wiles, can spy
What makes the youth sae bashfu' and sae grave;
Weel-pleas'd to think her bairn's respected like the lave.


O happy love! where love like this is found:
O heart-felt raptures! bliss beyond compare!
I've paced much this weary, mortal round,
And sage experience bids me this declare:-
'If Heaven a draught of heavenly pleasure spare,
One cordial in this melancholy vale,
'Tis when a youthful, loving, modest pair,
In other's arms, breathe out the tender tale
Beneath the milk-white thorn that scents the ev'ning gale.'


Is there, in human form, that bears a heart,
A wretch! a villain! lost to love and truth!
That can, with studied, sly, ensnaring art,
Betray sweet Jenny's unsuspecting youth?
Curse on his perjur'd arts! dissembling, smooth!
Are honor, virtue, conscience, all exil'd?
Is there no pity, no relenting ruth,
Points to the parents fondling o'er their child?
Then paints the ruin'd maid, and their distraction wild?


Comments

Calum Strathie comments : Thanks for a Cotter's Saturday Nicht. What a wonderful observer of the human condition was oor Rabbie. I'm sure that in another age he would have made use of his communication and interpersonal skills to inspire and activate others. He would have had great pleasure in pricking pomposities and giant egos with his very sharp pen. Just think what he could do with the present government, MPs and lords on the fiddle, bankers or so called 'celebrities' on TV!


Alan MacQuarrie writes : I love The Cottar’s Saturday Nicht, but there must be an element of irony in the last 2 or 3 verses you quote here. Burns was an inspired and insightful poet, but he was also – I’m sorry to say – an appalling sexual predator. People nowadays condemn the kirk sessions who rebuked him for his antics, but they saw themselves as protecting young women from his predatory behaviour. I really don’t know what to think of Burns. He had charm, wit, good looks and endless talent, but he was also a very naughty young man who got lots of people into trouble in the days before contraception. I love his verse, and the wonderful folk-tunes he collected. But I also think he was very naughty and gave little thought to the consequences of his actions for others.

This isn’t a rant. I just don’t know what to think about Burns. So much to enjoy, but …


Alex Russon comments : I listened to Alex Salmond on Desert Island Discs on Friday. He was gushing about Burns I know why now.


Jeremy Millar scrieves : Fit like yersel. thanks for the Burn's day reflection. we will offer a Burn's nicht meal tae twa lassies far frae hame, freends o oor dochter.

Damocles descended : the sentencing of Edward Woollard

On January 11th, 2011 Geoffrey Rivlin QC handed down a "deterrent sentence" to Edward Woollard and sent him to prison for 2 years and 8 months. 18 years old Edward had acted dangerously while on a protest in London about the increase in student tuition fees and had put the lives of others at risk. On November 10th, 2010 Edward threw a fire extinguisher from the roof of the Conservative Party’s headquarters building at Millbank in London. The extinguisher narrowly missed falling on policemen and other protesters who were on the pavement and street below. The sentence the judge meted out to Edward was intended as a warning to others who might do something like this in the future.
Edward’s impulsive and dangerous deed was outrageous but in essence it was impelled by the same overwhelming excitement which has induced innumerable young people to carry out rash and potentially dangerous acts when for the first time they have become a part of the drama and hiatus of what they believe is righteous protest. In the United Kingdom peaceful and vociferous protest is a right. Protest can also be a part of the adolescent process so necessary for healthy human development. Many of us, however old we are now, may at some time in our lives have experienced the feelings Edward was having that day, but we were lucky enough not to have our impulsive, foolish and at times dangerous acts discovered. Equally some of us may have been discovered but were fortunate enough to be responded to by thoughtful adults who forgave our trespasses with a stern warning together with the opportunity to reflect on just how stupid our actions were. For most of us this response worked.
That’s why it is difficult to understand Judge Rivlin’s harsh, not to say vindictive sentencing of Edward Woollard. Edward, it is generally accepted, has previously been of good character. He is not a hardened criminal. He is not even an experienced activist. This was the first protest he had attended. After the offence was committed Edward accepted the advice of his mother to give himself up to the police immediately. Since the event he has consistently expressed contrition for his act. Judge Rivlin says he took this into consideration but it does not seem to have engendered judicial moderation. For the next 16 months at least Edward will spend time firstly in a Young Offenders’ secure unit and subsequently in an adult prison. Will this help him ? Will making an example of Edward stop other young people doing thoughtless and at times dangerous things ?
It may not be unreasonable to conclude that Judge Rivlin’s decision has shown that the political and financial powers will be defended at all costs. If you threaten them or act to question their legitimacy you will not deal with the scales of justice, you will feel the sword of Damocles descended.

This was originally posted in the opinion section of the goodenoughcaring home page at http://www.goodenoughcaring.com/ on January 14th, 2011

Something else to consider : an idea from Harold Searles

The American psychoanalyst, Harold Searles, is something of a free spirit in his field and one of his many contributions to the helping professions is his idea that there is a symbiosis or mutual dependency in the relationship between those being looked after and those who do the looking after. His notion reminds us that it can sometimes be puzzling and threatening for those of us who as a vocation look after children and young people to find that our charges are so accurate in their assessments of our insecurities and anxieties.What is more, they frequently take some pleasure in our discomfort and particularly so when we try to hide how irritating we find all this. In illustrating this phenomenon Searles is noting that our work cannot be defined by simplistic solutions and two-dimensional constructs. It is often, he implies, messy and confused and so we must keep our whole reflective selves in play at all times to deal with this.

To learn more about Harold Searles read Robert M Young at http://www.human-nature.com/rmyoung/papers/pap129h.html).

This was first posted on the goodenoughcaring.com home page on December 15th, 2010