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Silas Thorne's Journal

'John' the ballad

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by
Silas Thorne
, 01-11-2009 at 08:16 PM (2211 Views)
I like the ballad 'John Barleycorn' a great deal. Written by the the finest Jewish poet of Scotland, the great Rabbi Burns, it can be appreciated by all, decipherable by all those who can understand the title and are remotely interested in the natural world, alcoholic beverages, or beautiful wordcraft.

Here are a few lines of John, in Summer (it being Summer here tha now):

...The sultry suns of Summer came,
And he grew thick and strong;
His head weel arm'd wi' pointed spears,
That no one should him wrong...

Not, 'well armed with' in an Oxford English accent, mind you, but 'weel arm'd wi' '. You don't need to know, exactly, how to pronounce it, just have a go. Without it, it loses something, like Shakespeare translated into English, though not as much for sure.

....Actually I'd rather people misunderstand lines of Shakespeare than choose a one-sided, bland, interpretation of them. At least there's some kind of imagination involved in creating meaning - even when that reading may be textually incorrect.

On another topic, ma wee 'puter's up and running at home.
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  1. Virgil's Avatar
    Robert Burns was Jewish??? Where did you see that? I can almost swear there is a Christian element to some of his poems. I'll have research this.
  2. Silas Thorne's Avatar
    I was joking! Many Scots people refer to him as Robbie Burns, you know, or, as he is Scotland's most famous poet, 'our Rabbie'. I was making a joke, playing on the sounds, is all. Sorry you didn't get it.
  3. Silas Thorne's Avatar
    Sorry, I should've put a smiley face there to show I was kidding.
  4. Virgil's Avatar
    Well, things often do go over my head. I had been racing through as much on line Burns poetry as I could, and while I found tons of references to God, it was generic enough to be either Christian or Jewish. So I was amazed that you might be right. But then I saw this from Wikipedia:

    He had little regular schooling and got much of his education from his father, who taught his children reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, and history and also wrote for them A Manual Of Christian Belief. He was also taught by John Murdoch (1747-1824), who opened an 'adventure school' in Alloway in 1763 and taught Latin, French, and mathematics to both Robert and his brother Gilbert (1760-1827) from 1765 to 1768 until Murdoch left the parish. After a few years of home education, Burns was sent to Dalrymple Parish School during the summer of 1772 before returning at harvest time to full-time farm labouring until 1773, when he was sent to lodge with Murdoch for three weeks to study grammar, French, and Latin.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Burns

    And this site also mentions his religious framework, while somewhat unconventional though still Christian: http://www25.uua.org/uuhs/duub/artic...bertburns.html.

    You had me there for a bit. I would have had to rethink all of Burns' poetry.
  5. Cat_Brenners's Avatar
    'weel arm'd wi' '.
    I love this and enjoy reading poetry with what may be incorrect English lol.
    Cat
  6. Silas Thorne's Avatar
    What!? It's a wonderful poem , and it is proper English, but he's writing in Scots pronunciation. And it was written a few years ago now, too.
    Updated 01-11-2009 at 10:32 PM by Silas Thorne
  7. Cat_Brenners's Avatar
    I know that. I was joking. It helps to see the pununciation of different languages. I love it.
    Cat
  8. Silas Thorne's Avatar
    Yes, I knew you were joking. So was I.
  9. TheFifthElement's Avatar
    Well I thought everyone called him Robbie Burns. His mouse poem is ace 'wee cowering timerous beastie. Unforgettable.
  10. 1n50mn14's Avatar
    remotely interested in the natural world, alcoholic beverages, or beautiful wordcraft.
  11. Silas Thorne's Avatar
    yes, FifthElement, I was a little shocked too, I've always called him Robbie Burns. Yes, the wee moose (rhymes with hoose (house)) is a timorous one. I like the lines:
    Oh, what a panic's in thy breastie!
  12. TheFifthElement's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Silas Thorne
    Oh, what a panic's in thy breastie!
    Oh yes I forgot that line.

    I like Scottish people, they get my train and drink McEwans export for 4 hours and don't fall over. I wish I could do that
  13. Silas Thorne's Avatar
    I like Scottish people, they get my train and drink McEwans export for 4 hours and don't fall over. I wish I could do that



    There's a good thing the Scots do to increase their alcohol tolerance, drink whisky together with beer. Not in the same glass though...that would be like mixing Coke with a good red wine, positively vomitous!