1824 Poem, George Dugall, ‘To a Friend’
Author: George Dugall
Date: 1824
Source: Poem: ‘To a Friend’, 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/1800-1899/066
TO A FRIEND
Permit me Sir, in plain braid Scotch,
As brief’s you like, for mony a batch
O’ favors, each as lang’s a tether,
By lump to thank you thus thegither:
My gratefu’ soul in quick rotation,
Through a hale orb o’ obligation
Revolves; while girnin Envy grieves
That sic aul’ fashion’d virtue lives.
An’ may she pine, but never die,
Till your warst foe (if sic there be)
In frien’ship unaffected, fervent,
Be twice as leal your faithfu’ servant,
As he, wha o’ your care unwordy,
Subscribes himsel’ your humble Geordie.