POEM TITLE The Lobster Pot
POEM The Lobster Pot
Ower the river Forth
whaur humble men an galloots
mixed in sordid hostelries and drinking dens,
oyster-cellars and ale-hooses, wi punch and porter
whaur fire stokers and coffin makers,
judges and toon guards
mingled wi the detritus o society
they flung theirsels aboot jigging an dancing
in the company o the fairer sex –
‘To see mony bosoms bare,
an sic huge puddins I’ the hair
an Some o them wi naethin mair
Upo their tete
Yea, some wi mutches that micht scare
Craws frae their meat,’ writes
Ferguson the poet who dreams o
the south shores of the Firth of Forth
far away frae the stench o Auld Reekie
to tak sanctuary in Blackness on Sea
there he micht listen to a clarsach being stroked
by the gentle fingers of a shepherd’s wife
and eat a bellyful o the finest succulent pandours or even lobster
Wha wid dare pit an oil refinery
sae naur, across the firth
Wha wid dare dae sic a thing?
it taints the beauty o the coast -
a sicht that poisons the skies and kills the views
fi Culross to Blackness and beyond
sic a contrast to that michty glowering fortress Blackness Castle,
atop a knoll of jagged black rock, that has stood there for near on 600 years
'The ship that niver sailed’ they say – wi its pointed stem, square stern an tall mast
sits - braw, bold an solit on the inner firth coast
whar mony a lord an lady an even a Cardinal were impreesoned for years
An as for yon oil refinery
glaidly nae film be blighted wi sic a sicht
They can aye blot it oot
An lang syne
oan a simmers day, mebbe
ye micht hae been in the company
o the rich and famous
Connery and Reid and ithers
dined oot on caller oysters and lobster
till aw their bellies fu
slugging back the ale and porter
then liqors that fire the mooth
wi tongues that whip in an oot
they’d haver and claver
an stoat aboot the Lobster Pot
sic is the life o an actor
So, if you’re in the mood
for havering or clavering
dining in or dining oot
at the sittinery or the sitootery
ye micht don yer finest cloot
If yer luikin for the perfect place
to mingle wi auld freens
to eat the maist deleecious meat
to savour wi yer greens
whaur the caller fish is tasty and sea food hits the spot
they’ll aye mak ye very welcome at the glorious Lobster Pot
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