Scottish Poetry Selection
- Granny Sleep

Sleep eventually overcomes even the most energetic toddler, perhaps after a bit of girning (complaining), as this poem by Walter Wingate illustrates.


Granny Sleep

Ye dinna ken what ails ye,
But I can tell ye fine!
A cloud I see on ilka e'e
That dulls its mornin' shine.
Frae Granny Sleep ye turn awa,
And fecht as lang's ye can;
Yet she's the kindest o' us a',
My wee weariet man!

Ye've been as blithe's a kitlin;
Ye've toddlet out and in;
Ye've played wi' ocht, ye've played wi' nocht,
Wi' reel and ba' and spune;
But Granny Sleep will lay them by
The ferlies a' ye fan';
And waff ye to the mornin' sky,
My wee weariet man!

Ay! aulder e'en, my bairnie,
Hae been as laith to tine
The eident play that filled their day
As late and lang as thine.
And whyles we fret and whiles we froon;
But aye sin' bairns began,
It's Granny Sleep that sings us doon,
My wee weariet man!

Meaning of unusual words:
dinna ken=don't know
ilka=each
weariet=tired
kitlin=kitten
ocht=anything
nocht=nothing
ferlies=strange sight, marvel
a'=all
fan'=find
waff=waft, blow
Ay=yes
aulder e'en=older eyes
bairnie=young child
laith=loath, unwilling
tine=disappear
eident=continuous, persistent
whyles=sometimes
aye=always

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