Dorothy Lawrenson: Bladnoch is near to Wigtown in Dumfries and Galloway. My partner and I spent a couple of days camping there, in a tent that turned out not to be waterproof! Scots has an abundance of words for wet weather and wet places, so I enjoyed collecting some of them together in this poem.
Carlos Llaza: Camping in Scotland is for the brave and adventurous. There seems to be an intriguing counterpoint between the friendliness of Scottish people and the alleged hostility of the country’s weather. Dorothy’s ‘Bladnoch’ is a perfect example of this. The speaker, albeit soaked, celebrates the ‘reemin’ water, recognising the fertility of its overabundance.
Scroll down to see a video of poet and translator reading this poem, with English subtitles.
Bladnoch
bi Dorothy Lawrenson
Ablow the brig
we pit up oor tent
fornent the threit
o the onding
the misk o the haugh
wauchie i the dayligaun
an us waukrife
drookit wi smirr
tentie o watter
abune an ablaw
blatter an souch
the girse reeshlin
ilk syke and sheuch
wi fleet watter
reamin ower.
Bladnoch
traducido al español por Carlos Llaza
Debajo del puente
armamos nuestra carpa
contra la amenaza
torrencial
el prado junto al río
pantanoso en el crepúsculo
y nosotros insomnes
empapados de niebla
atentos al agua
arriba y abajo
tormenta y suspiro
el pasto susurra
cada acequia y arroyo
con la corriente
desbordante.
Bladnoch
translated into English by Dorothy Lawrenson
Under the bridge
we put up our tent
against the threat
of the downpour
the grassland by the river
boggy in the twilight
and us sleepless
soaked with mist
heedful of water
above and below
storm and sigh
the grass rustling
each ditch and stream
with running water
overflowing.
Tremendous in all three languages. I can’t decide whether ‘twilight’, ‘crepusculo’ or ‘dayligaun’ is the most evocative word. However, I don’t feel that any other word has quite the power of ‘onding’!