Love to know what mum's think of the Scottish Baby Box poem

[toomuchpink]

Love to know what mum's - especially those in Scotland - think of this poem. It is going into the Scottish Government's new baby box of freebies for parents of newborns.

Tempted to ask for alternative suggestions which truly capture the experience of having a baby. But perhaps for some people this is what it is like?

Jackie Kay
Welcome Wee One

O ma darlin wee one
At last you are here in the wurld
And wi’ aa your wisdom
Your een bricht as the stars,
You've filled this hoose with licht,
Yer trusty wee haun, your globe o' a heid,
My cherished yin, my hert's ain!

O my darlin wee one
The hale wurld welcomes ye:
The mune glowes; the hearth wairms.
Let your life hae luck, health, charm,
Ye are my bonny blessed bairn,
My small miraculous gift.
I never kent luve like this.

You're more than welcome gin - always happy to help with practical solutions if someone is struggling to come up with them

So are you saying that a Scottish political party should steer clear of using any Scottish medium and instead only use English medium?

So your gripe sirc is not that the poem is in Scots, but rather they didnt include an English version.

Yes of course - if a Scottish political party wants to be inclusive then they should use the language spoken by the majority (i.e. english). If they want to add in a poem written in a way that the majority don't speak then go ahead, but at least provide an english language version as well.

You see a desire for inclusivity as a "gripe"?

The box is a half arsed attempt to copy, on the cheap, the Finnish model. The poem is utter crap. I'm Scottish and sick to the back teeth of the SNP and their cybernats. And I say that as someone who voted for independence. I won't make that mistake again.

I just wonder what they're going to cut to pay for the baby boxes. My bet is on the maternity grant. After all the SNP do love redistributive policies from the poor to the wealthy.

If it's the universalism of the baby boxes that is so appealing why is the poem not written in the most universally spoken language in Scotland?

The English language is not the same as England.

English people are only a minority if English speakers worldwide.

The knee jerk rejection of anything that appears to be 'english' is utterly stupid.

Wow, a lot of negativity on here. I think the box is a fantasist idea and the huge benefits (year after year) in Finland outweigh any negatives. I also think the poem is lovely and that what unites lots of mums, regardless of their socio economic status is love and awe of their tiny new human.

But the benefits don't just come from a free box with some stuff in it. It's a bit more complex than that!

'I think the box is a fantasist idea'

Believe you me as someone who has lived in SE England for over 30 years, Scotland looks like Utopia for many reasons. I'm glad I don't live in your narrow little worlds either here in Scotland or in England.

The choice of language used in the poem is not as offensive to me, as some being used in this thread.

Cult members, cybernats, frothing at the mouth, for example.

Oh and also because it is just so crass to moan at other people speaking, or writing, or producing art through languages which you don't speak. Its like 'Brit abroad' syndrome only applied at home

This is not what I object to. People are free to write poetry or produce art in whichever languages they choose. Crack on.

What I object to is the pushing of this Scots hybrid, mish mash made-up language at every opportunity. It is a purely political statement to push the independence agenda. Children in school are being forced to learn poetry in Scots, the government are putting this sort of poem in boxes for new parents, thousands are being spent on initiatives to promote the "scots language" and produce resources. We are being told that this is "our" language, and if we don't embrace it wholeheartedly then we are somehow inferior, anti-patriotic and less Scottish.

My children are Scottish. They do not speak "Scots". None of their friends speak "Scots". They may use the odd word like minging but that poem is as foreign to them as something written in Arabic or Mandarin.

but that poem is as foreign to them as something written in Arabic or Mandarin. Not really I'll wager.

We are being told that this is "our" language, and if we don't embrace it wholeheartedly then we are somehow inferior, anti-patriotic and less Scottish. Who is we? And who exactly is telling you this? Its not the sg or snp.

Schools have always "forced" children to learn poems in Scots, I remember learning poems in primary school 30 years ago. The language used in the poems then wasn't foreign to me, much as it isn't now.

Really? I wasn't forced to learn poems written in Scots when I was in school in the NE. The nearest we got to it was Sunset Song when we doing our highers. We were a v diverse set of pupils though, with outward looking teachers.

Yes we were tied to desks with tartan scarves while the teacher, standing on a pile of Edinburgh rock, chanted "the snawman" at us until we repeated it perfectly at her.

Standard syllabus really. Obviously in an inward facing school. (It has been refurbished and the architects reorientation the buildings so that all access and windows now face out.)

Yes, you must have been - esp as it wasn't standard syllabus to force children to learn poems written in Scots back then.

You think its a good thing for scottish schools to omit scots literature? Why. Thats not diverse. I think deluded is more appropriate.

Is it the word "forced" you are struggling with? Because I used that in response to lunaloveg00d's post.

Other than that, you're being ridiculous sir chenjin

miss stein I think it's terrible to omit Scottish literature. And Scottish history. My school provided no Scottish history in secondary school. Instead I knew all about modern America (clearly "all" is an exaggeration) and bits and pieces of the romantic empire and ancient Egypt. Literally nothing was on the syllabus about Scotland.

I notice you keep placing your own interpretation on posts and then attempting to attribute it as fact Miss. Why is that?