A poem from Caithness

[DSinc39156@aol.com]

Beds have been revolutionised, with mattresses conductive to slumber if not 
to stopping your snoring.  There are those that tilt and fit the contours of 
your body, but according to this poem by "Sinclair Bay" which appears in a 
special millenium edition of the Edinburgh Caithness Association Magazine 
there was nothing to beat 'E Owld Box Bed......

'Iss modern age we live in is mibbe hard til beat, 
We are all for labour savin' and sparin' o' wir feet, 
Bit fan hid comes til comfort, 'ere's ae thing til be said 
For sleepan' snug an' cosy in An Owld Box Bed

Aye A ken 'at spring interiors are 'e order oe 'e day
Or mibbe hid is wan o' 'e new-fangled things ye hae, 
Lek a lie-low or divan, aboot 'em A hev read, 
but 'ere's nothing lek as hammal as 'E Owld Box Bed

The very names they ca' a bed hev been sadly changed arood,
For fat ye ca' a "put-u-up" we ca'd a "shaaky doon"
An' some they tell me fol up sma' an' they ca' them a "Z"
Noo 'at's a poor apology for 'E Owld Box Bed

When we sometimes stayed wi' Granny, just bairnies fae 'e school, 
'E days were long an' sunny an' 'e nichts were quiet an' cool
An 'efter palyin hard a' day wir Granny gently said
Come on noo bairnies cuddle don in 'E Owld Box Bed

'E sheets bleached on 'e hillags were as fresh as mornin' dew
Her blankets they were spun in Week an' made fae her ain 'oo
Nae eideroons did she possess but a patchwork twilt instead
Tae hap ye up sae cosy in Granny's Owld Box Bed

An' noo then wir Granny wid tak 'e owld calf seck, 
An fil hid up wi' clean fresh caff, then tie hid at 'e neck,
Then toast 'e seck so warmly at a peat fir glowing red,
An' spread hid smoothly aired an' sweet in E' Owld Box Bed

When winter's winds blew cauld an' snell wi' storms o' snaw an' sleet
We snuggled doon in deep content, a warm brick at wir feet
Naebody needed sleepan' peels, we jist laid doon wir head
An' slid into 'e land o' dreams in E' Owld Box Bed

So keep yir Spring interiors an yir foam mattresses too, 
Ye maybe think they're comfy, A've nae doobt that ye do,
But ye dinna ken what comfort is if ye use them instead
O' sleepan on a calf seck in An Owld Box Bed..

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