Pawky – meaning drily or slyly humorous, according to Chambers Twentieth Century Dictionary – is surely the right description of W. D. Cocker’s The Deluge? But let this mini epic speak for itself! It can also be found in The Edinburgh Book of Twentieth-Century Scottish Poetry (EUP, 2005).
THE DELUGE
The Lord took a staw at mankind,
A righteous an’ natural scunner;
They were neither to haud nor to bind,
They were frichtit nae mair wi’ his thun’er.
~
They had broken ilk edic’ an’ law,
They had pitten his saints to the sword,
They had worshipped fause idols o’ stane;
‘I will thole it nae mair,’ saith the Lord.
~
‘I am weary wi’ flytin’ at folk;
I will dicht them clean oot frae my sicht;
But Noah, douce man, I will spare,
For he ettles, puir chiel, to dae richt.’
~
So he cried unto Noah ae day,
When naebody else was aboot,
Sayin’: ‘Harken, my servant, to Me
An’ these, my commands, cairry oot:
~
‘A great muckle boat ye maun build,
An ark that can float heich an’ dry,
Wi room in’t for a’ ye ain folk
An’a hantle o’ cattle forby.
~
‘The tak’ ye the fowls o’ the air,
Even unto the big bubbly-jocks;
An’ tak’ ye the beasts o’ the field:
Whittrocks, an’ foumarts, an’ brocks.
~
‘Wale ye twa guid anes o’ each,
See that nae cratur rebels;
Dinna ye fash aboot fish;
They can look efter theirsels.
~
‘Herd them a’ safely aboard,
An ance the Blur Peter’s unfurled,
I’ll send doon a forty-day flood.
An de’il tak’ the rest o’ the world.’
(to be continued tomorrow)
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