LL-L "Games" 2005.05.03 (05) [E/S]

[Lowlands-L]

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A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) N=Northumbrian
S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic V=(West) Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
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From: Sandy Fleming <sandy at scotstext.org>
Subject: "Games" [E/S]

> From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
> Subject: Games
>
> While it may be true that golf was introduced to Scotland by the
> "Flemish,"
> I feel it's impossible to tell where most games began, and I take all such
> proclamations with a grain of salt.

As I understand it, the "play and feel" of the game of golf as we now know
it originated in St Andrews, Scotland, though the idea came from Flanders or
thereabouts.

For example, sand bunkers are a natural feature of the St Andrews links,
having originally been patches leeward of dunes which were worn down by
sheep sheltering from the cold blast from the sea, and which collected sand
as it blew in over the dunes in particularly fierce storms.

A poem by Andrew Lang, who studied at St Andrews University:

A SANG O LIFE AN GOWF

The thing they ca' the stymie o't,
    I finnd it ilka whare!
Ye 'maist lie deid--an unco shot--
    Anither's ba' is thare!
Ye canna win into the hole,
    Houever gleg ye be,
An aye, whare'er ma ba' mey rowe,
    Some limmer stymies me!

Chorus
Somebody stymyin me,
Somebody stymyin me,
    The gress mey growe,
    The ba' mey rowe,
Some limmer stymies me!

I lo'ed a lass, a bonny lass,
    Her lips an locks wis reid;
Intil her hert I couldna pass:
    Anither man lay deid!
He cam atween me an her hert,
    I turned wi teirfu ee;
I couldna loft him, I maun pairt,
    The limmer stymied me!

I socht a kirk, a bonny kirk,
    Wi teind, an glebe, an a';
A bonny yaird to feed a stirk,
    An links to ca' the ba'!
Anither lad he cam an fleeched--
    A convartit U.P.—
An a' in vain ma best I preached,
    That limmer stymied me!

It's aye the same in life an gowf;
    I'm stymied, late an ear';
This warld is but a weary howf,
    I'd fain be itherwhare.
But whan auld daith wad hole ma corp.
    As shuir as daith ye'll see
Some cuif haes played the moudiewarp,
    Rin in, an stymied me!

Chorus (if thocht desirable).

gowf - golf
stymie - to land a ball between another's ball and the hole (no longer
allowed in golf)
o't - of it
ilka whare - everywhere
'maist - almost
deid - dead
unco shot - incredible play
canna - can't
gleg - skillful
aye - always
rowe - roll
limmer - chap, person
reid - red
ee - eye
loft - to hit the ball over, lift it
kirk - church
glebe - a plot of land belonging to the church
stirk - bullock
links - dunes overgrown with grass
ca' the ba' - drive the ball
fleeched - pleaded, harangued
howf - an untidy house, a hovel
fain - rather, fond
corp - corpse
cuif - fool
moudiewarp - mole

Sandy
http://scotstext.org/

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