1824 Poem, George Dugall, ‘Descriptive Fragment’
Author: George Dugall
Date: 1824
Source: Poem: ‘Descriptive Fragment’, from The Northern Cottage and other poems; written partly in the Dialect of the North of Ireland by George Dugall (Londonderry: William McCorkell, 1824)
Comments: George Dugall (c.1790-1855) was the son of Rev. George Dugall, Presbyterian minister of Magherafelt from 1786-1810, and lived most of his life near Newtowncunningham in Donegal. He was a schoolteacher in north Donegal, and his only book of poems The Northern Cottage contains an extensive glossary of Ulster-Scots words. The vocabulary and cultural context of his poems are rich in Ulster-Scots reference.
Doc. ref. no.: USLS/TB/Poetry/1800-1899/047
DESCRIPTIVE FRAGMENT
’Twas ev’ning o’ a winter day;
The half-thow’d fields were sprickl’d grey;
The feeble sun wi’ blinkin glowr,
Scarce cheer’d six hours o’ twenty-four.
Roun’ dikes an’ springs the plover wail,
An’ hopeless seek their ev’ning meal;
An’ rise alarm’d at ev’ry sound —
While want an’ murder hover round.
The dreary night is coming fast,
An’ keener blows the freezing blast;
Braid flaughts descend in closer bike,
And deep’ning wreaths besmear the dike.
The hungry kye begin to tire,
Forsake the fields, and seek the byre;
Wi’ ourie rowt an’ empty wame,
They through the snaw are stoyting hame.
