3 October 2020

Gallimaufry

There's Beau and Peep on our lawn on Tuesday morning. The sun was rising, casting shadows of houses upon the grass but briefly our faithful sheep were squarely framed in solar limelight. I just had to grab my camera. Five minutes later, the spectacle was over.

Here's another picture - received within the last half hour - of our unborn grandchild, resting in our daughter's womb, unaware of corona or even night and day. He or she has never seen another human face and does not know a single nursery rhyme. I will sing for him or her - "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and "The Grand Old Duke of York" over and over. I hope to live long enough to pick brambles with this precious child. Due on January 6th or thereabouts.

The poem I wrote for National Poetry Day includes one of my favourite words: "lament". It seems a very apposite word to use in this year of heartbreak, death and confusion. It is as if we have lost something along the way. Many of the hopes and dreams that will have been present on New Year's Eve have somehow melted away.

The lament that was in my mind as I wrote "In The Time of Corona" was a Scottish tune: "Niel Gow's Lament to His Second Wife". In the late eighteenth century, Niel Gow was Scotland's finest fiddler. His second wife was Margaret Urquhart. She died in 1805 when Niel Gow was seventy eight years old. Surely, not only is the tune a lament for Margaret but also for a life well lived - a life of music in changing times. Please listen:-

31 comments:

  1. Beautiful music, thank you. Having lost my husband and 3 dear friends during the past year, 'lament' sum's it up well for me...though Corona has also given an opportunity to slow down, treasure friends and relatives, and be grateful for small lovely moments...like your mountain hare.

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    1. I am sorry for your losses Charlotte but I thank you for calling by and for leaving such a thoughtful, poignant comment. Look after yourself.

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    2. Thank you. May your wish for blackberrying come true!

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  2. That piece of music was lovely and sad. But that ultrasound image of your new grandbaby, so beautiful and filled with hope. Perhaps that's why grandparents and grandchildren work so well together, the beginning and the end, sadness and hopefullness, two sides of the pendulum, a fine balance.

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    1. They are heading into life as we are heading out. I see what you mean Grandma Lily.

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  3. Well, you know by now how precious I find my grandchildren. Each one of them is a newborn star rising in the sky. You just wait...
    I have a feeling that is not the last picture of this gorgeous baby we'll be seeing. Or at least I hope not!

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    1. There may be a couple more pictures in the future - that's true.

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  4. It looks as though Beau and Peep are being viewed through the keyhole in that photo.
    Isn't modern day science wonderful, that you can see your grandchild's face before he/she is even born.

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    1. Lying there in the womb. We were all there once. As you say JayCee - wonderful!

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  5. Beautiful music. And how amazing to see the face of your grandchild and think of all that is to come. It's good to have something to look forward to.

    (I had to look up the word "gallimaufry"!)

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    1. Thanks Steve. I use "gallimaufry" most days. It kind of sums up my life.

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  6. My mam had a matchstick drawing of me scribbled on her belly. In fact we were that poor the woman next door gave birth to me.

    Seriously the ultrasonic technology is amazing.

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    1. I thought your mam won you at the bingo. Second prize. First prize was a Christmas hamper.

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    2. I was a December baby. So you could be right😄.

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  7. YP that image is amazing....and congratulations to you all....boy or girl your grandchild will do something to your heart that you have never felt before.x



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    1. I hope you are not forecasting a heart attack Libby! Thanks.

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  8. Few people write laments like the Scots do and the Scots fiddle is the perfect instrument too. Off the top of my head the only non-Scots fiddle lament which is as famous and tugs at the heart strings as effectively is Jay Ungar's Ashokan Farewell.

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  9. That image is amazing in its detail.

    Apropos of nothing: Once upon a time I was told that the most stressful event of our life is that of navigating the birth canal and being born. It possibly is - though how these things are measured I do not know. On the whole I'd rather be born than alive and faced with an executioner. Or worse.

    Best wishes to your daughter. It's an exciting time. A little more rest as she is going into the end spurt won't go amiss.

    To quote Goethe, not easily translated: "All beginnings are joyful. A doorstep is the place of anticipation."

    U

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    1. The unborn baby in the image has no idea that the passage to life will be so challenging. Have you ever been down a pothole in limestone country? Sometimes it is such a squeeze and you fear you will get stuck. Thanks for the Goethe quote.

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  10. How wonderful to see the image of your first grandchild, but I do hope you haven't already started to argue over he/she takes after....!
    Wishing Frances all the very best for the months ahead.

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  11. I can't wait to read about all the richness this child will bring to your life, Neil. You're going to make an amazing grandfather.

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    1. I will be happy to share many more moments with Auntie Jennifer.

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  12. Yes, covid has brought some sadness and loss. However, we'll get over it and be better for it.

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    1. A million people have already got over it.

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  13. In the first picture it looks as if you are looking at Beau and Peep through a keyhole. Very nice photo.

    What a wonderful picture of your beautiful grandchild! That must be a 3D sonogram as it shows such detail. I am happy for you all to have this little miracle!

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    1. You always leave such kind and supportive comments Bonnie. Thank you.

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  14. Waiting for your first grandchild, a time of great happiness, especially the years ahead as she/he grows.

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    1. I just hope I get to see him/her grow for a few years at least.

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  15. I wondered if I would see my Grandchildren grow up but am please to say that I have. I have 5 of them and 3 managed to get to Uni, 1 is a policeman in Scotland and the other Grand daughter is just 12. I wonder if I'll manage to be here for Great Grandchildren?
    Love the sheep photo.
    Briony
    x

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