Scottish Poetry Selection
- Waitin on the Glesca Train
Having travelled by train on many summer holidays from Glasgow to Carnoustie, on the east coast of Scotland, I can sympathise with Andrew Lang about the frustrations of "Waitin on the Glesca Train".
Waitin on the Glesca Train
When the holidays come roun,
And on pleasure ye are boun,
For the Trossachs, Brig o Allan or Dunblane;
You'll be sometimes keepit waitin,
When ye hear the porter statin.
That ye're waitin on the Glesca train.Chorus
Tak yer time - tak yer time,
With indifference sublime,
Ye may watch the people hurry micht an main;
Just tak a seat an wait,
For ye canna be ower late,
When ye're waitin on the Glesca train.It's attendit wi expense;
For a lad o ony sense,
If it's het or cauld or looks like rain,
The interval maun fill
Wi a mutchkin or a gill,
When he's waitin for the Glesca train.Chorus
There's a frien o mine, Mackay,
Constitutionally dry,
Thocht that he had just got time to tak a dram,
But he somehow lost his way,
An he's no foun to this day,
Aw wi waitin' on the Glesca train.Chorus
I was ettlin at Kinross,
Where the trains is kin o cross,
And Bradshaw's no that easy to explain
And what was left o me
Was jist coupit at Dundee,
Aw wi waitin on the Glesca train.Chorus
But the ploy has merit whiles,
For a sonsie lassie's smiles
Had entrappit aince ma frein Maclean;
But Maclean he clean got off it,
For the lass was lost at Moffat,
Aw wi waitin on the Glesca train.Chorus
There's occasions when I think
That the interests o drink
Is a notion that Directors entertain;
And that's maybe why ye're waitin,
When ye hear the porter statin,
That ye're waitin on the Glesca train.Chorus
Meaning of unusual words:
het or cauld=hot or cold
maun=must
mutchkin or a gill=measures of liquid - a mutchkin is ¾ of a pint and a gill is a quarter of that.
ettlin=aiming for, planning, intending
Bradshaw's=official railway timetable
coupit=thrown off
whiles=sometimes
sonsie=buxom, plump
Where else would you like to go in Scotland?
