Click here to hear the poet read his words:
where Rabbie walked
I want to walk where Rabbie walked
along sweet Afton’s braes
and dream the dreams that Mary dreamt
when on its grassy banks she lay
I want to go where Tam o’ Shanter went
when from Auld Ayr he rode
past Alloway’s grey kirkyard
to where the saving waters flowed
I want to walk the banks o Bonnie Doon
and hear the chant of little birds
to think about the poet’s life
and savour his immortal words
I want to think the thoughts that Rabbie did
as he watched a louse in a lady’s best kirk hat
he knew the truth about each person’s worth
a man’s a man for a’ that
Lovely poem! Even lovelier to hear you read it in your own voice.
Lovely to see you here again, Shelley.
Thank you for your kind words.
I can see you and Rabbie sitting down over a pint and discussing this poem.
And Rabbie being delighted that somebody’s carrying on his tradition and spreading the word:
It’s coming yet for a’ that,
That Man to Man, the world o’er,
Shall brothers be for a’ that.
Love it!
In the Shanter Inn in Ayr’s High Street maybe:
Fast by an ingle, bleezing finely,
Wi’ reaming swats, that drank divinely
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