Wee Joukydaidles, a Scottish poem

As a child, I loved to search through my father’s old set of poetry books.  One called, “Comic Poets of the 19^th Century” included familiar poems such as The Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll but it also contained some decidedly unfunny poems.

My favourite, probably because of my Scottish birth, was the following poem.  If you have trouble understanding the Scots' tongue there is a glossary at the end.

Wee Joukydaidles by James Smith

Wee Joukydaidles,

   Toddlin' oot an' in;

Oh, but she's a cuttie,

   Makin' sic a din!

Aye sae fou o' mischief,

   An' minds nae what I say:

My very heart gangs loup, loup,

   Fifty times a day!

Wee Joukydaidles

   Where's the stumpie noo?

She's tumblin' i' the cruivie,

   An' lauchin' to the soo!

Noo she sees my angry e'e,

   An' aff she's like a hare!

Lassie, when I get ye,

   I'll scud ye till I'm sair!

Wee Joukydaidles

   Noo she's breakin' dishes

Noo she's soakit i' the burn,

   Catchin' little fishes;

Noo she's i' the barnyard,

   Playin' wi' the fouls

Feedin' them wi' butter-bakes,

   Snaps, an' sugar-bools.

Wee Joukydaidles

   Oh, my heart it's broke!

She's torn my braw new wincey,

   To mak; a dolly's frock.

There's the goblet owre the fire!

   The jaud! she weel may rin!

No a tattie ready yet,

   An' faither comin' in!

Wee Joukydaidles

   Wha's sae tired as me!

See! the kettle's doun at last!

   Wae's me for my tea!

Oh! it's angersome, atweel,

   An' sune'll mak' me gray;

My very heart gangs loup, loup,

   Fifty times a day!

Wee Joukydaidles

   Where's the smoukie noo?

She's hidin' i' the coal-hole,

   Cryin' "Keekybo!"

Noo she's at the fireside,

   Pu'in' pussy's tail

Noo she's at the broun bowl

   Suppin' a' the kail!

Wee Joukydaidles

   Paidlin' i' the shower

There she's at the windy!

   Haud her, or she's owre!

Noo she's slippit frae my sicht:

   Where's the wean at last?

In the byre amang the kye,

   Sleepin' soun' an' fast!

Wee Joukydaidles

   For a' ye gi'e me pain,

Ye're aye my darlin' tottie yet

   My ain wee wean!

An' gin I'm spared to ither days

   Oh, may they come to pass

I'll see my bonnie bairnie

   A braw, braw lass!

Glossary

cuttie = mischievous child

gangs loup, loup = goes jump, jump

stumpie = an endearing name for a child

cruivie = pigsty

soo = sow, pig

scud = slap

burn = stream

sugar-bools = round sugar-plums

wincey = cloth with a woollen weft and a linen warp

jaud = wilful, perverse

tattie = potato

Wae's me = Woe is me

atweel = as well

smoukie = cunning child

wean = child

byre amang the kye = cowshed amongst the cattle

tottie = term of endearment for a child

James Smith, the author of this poem, was born in Edinburgh in 1824.  At the age of 11, he was apprenticed to a printer as a compositor.  On finishing his apprenticeship, he worked briefly in London before travelling to Ireland.  He returned to work in Edinburgh as a journeyman printer and spent his leisure time writing poetry.  He had the tremendous advantage of being able to set up the typeface for a book of his own poems.  He often wrote with a sense of humour but also with sadness and tenderness.  As well as poems, some of which he set to music, he also wrote novels.

James Smith married three times and had seven children. "Wee Joukydaidles" shows us that he understood and loved small mischievous children.  When he died in 1887, friends and followers of his work raised money for a memorial on his grave in Grange Cemetery, Edinburgh.  You can see a photograph of this memorial at 

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=151149849&PIpi=127112851