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by William Soutar (1898 - 1943)

The gowk
Language: Scottish (Scots) 
Half doun the hill, whaur fa’s the linn
Far frae the flaught o’ fowk,
I saw upon a lanely whin
A lanely singin’ gowk:
Cuckoo, cuckoo;
And at my back
The howie stüde up and spak:
Cuckoo, cuckoo.

There was nae soun’: the loupin’ linn
Hung frostit in tis fa’:
Nae bird was on the lanely whin
Sae white wi’ fleurs o’ snaw:
Cuckoo, cuckoo;
I stüde stane still;
And saftly spak the howie hill:
Cuckoo, cuckoo.

Confirmed with William Soutar, Poems in Scots and English, selected by W R Aitken, Scottish Academic Press, Edinburgh, 1972, page 81


Text Authorship:

  • by William Soutar (1898 - 1943), "The gowk", appears in Seeds in the Wind, first published 1933 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Francis George Scott (1880 - 1958), "The gowk", 1934 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this page: Iain Sneddon [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2018-11-27
Line count: 16
Word count: 77

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