Poem

At my Buckie Grans funeral (Hannah Cowie nee Smith) at the start of July I met some of my dads cousins Anna, Marjory and Etta who were my Grans neices. They've all been really helpful in filling in information about my Gran and her brothers and sisters.

Today I received a poem from Marjory that her mother Iris May Soutar (nee Smith) wrote about who married who.

Dae ye ken Maggie Bruce's familyThat bided doon the Brae?
Peter Smith's their Faither -A fisherman was he.
Noo Wullie mairrit Lizzie, In Leith they bade a wee
And Jessie mairrit Wullie Wood -A Portknockie man was he.
Pat, Johnny, Anne and JimmyAre names of those who died,
But Marget still lives in the Sloch -She likes her ain fireside.
And Ina - she got mairritTae Tam wha cams frae Fife
And Henry gaed tae StornawayAnd took Etta for a wife.
Hannah mairrit Johnny Coup,Noo he's a Buckie loon,
And Jeannie mairrit Charlie,He's frae Portgordon toon.
Davy Mairrit Peggy Frae Wick across the Firth,
And Iris Mairrit Andrew,They roam a' ower the earth.
Noo the Faimly are a' scatteredAnd living far and wide
And the Family Tree has branch'edSince a' thae knots were tied,
And children's children's childrenHear tales of auld lang syne
And R-o-etten-etten -The Sloch that is oor Hame.

bits of translation for the non scots -

• Dae ye ken = Do you know
• bided = stayed or lived
• mairrit = married
• the Sloch= Portessie in Buckie
• frae = from
• gaed tae = went to
• loon = boy
• Hame = home

not sure what R-o-etten-etten refers to though.