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
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 against a primary source]
Researcher for this text: Iain Sneddon [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2018-11-27
Line count: 16
Word count: 77