England

Inglan is a bitch

Inglan is a bitch

 w'en mi jus' come to Landan toun

mi use to work pan di andahgroun

but workin' pan di andahgroun

y'u don't get fi know your way aroun' 

Inglan is a bitch, dere's no escapin it

Inglan is a bitch, dere's no runnin' whey fram it

mi get a lickle jab in a big 'otell

an' aftah a while, mi woz doin' quite well

dem staat mi aaf as a dish-washah

but w'en mi tek a stack, mi noh tun clackwatchah! 

Inglan is a bitch, dere's no escapin it

Inglan is a bitch, noh baddah try fi hide fram it

 w'en em gi'you di lickle wage packit

fus dem rab it wid dem big tax rackit

y'u haffi struggle fi meek en's meet

an' w'en y'u goh a y'u bed y'u jus' cant sleep 

Inglan is a bitch, dere's no escapin it

Inglan is a bitch fi true, a noh lie mi a tell, a true

mi use to work dig ditch w'en it cowl noh bitch

mi did strang like a mule, but, bwoy, mi did fool

den awftah a while mi jus' stap dhu ovahtime

den aftah a while mi jus' phu dung mi tool 

Inglan is a bitch, dere's no escapin it

Inglan is a bitch, y'u haffi know how fi suvvive in it

well mi dhu day wok an' mi duh nite wok

mi duh clean wok an' mi duh dutty wok

dem seh dat black man is very lazy

but it y'u si mi wok y'u woulda sey mi crazy 

Inglan is a bitch, dere's no escapin it

Inglan is a bitch, y'u bettah face up to it

dem have a lickle facktri up inna Brackly

inna disya facktri all dem dhu is pack crackry

fi di laas fifteen years dem get mi laybah

now awftah fiteen years mi fall out a fayvah 

Inglan is a bitch, dere's no escapin it

Inglan is a bitch, dere's no runnin' whey fram it

mi   know dem have work, work in abundant

yet still, dem mek mi redundant

now, at fifty-five mi gettin' quite ol'

yet still, dem sen' mi fi goh draw dole 

Inglan is a bitch, dere's no escapin it

Inglan is a bitch, is whey wi a goh dhu 'bout it?

words by Linton Kwesi Johnson

pictures by TheCornPoppy

Landmarks

There's a book by Robert MacFarlane called Landmarks.  It echoes Orwell's 1984 in its proposition that the loss of specific words leads to the loss of specific ways of thinking.  If there is no word for Freedom then there is no concept of freedom - so how can you object to the government taking away your liberty?

MacFarlane argues that the removal of a word like Kingfisher from the Oxford Junior Dictionary removes the concept of kingfisher - all that avian splendour and variety is reduced to "bird".  Landmarks tries to rescue some archaic words and phrases and create a glossary that will help preserve some of those words and the concepts behind them.  

If there is no word to describe the sun shining through a dew covered spider's web then how can we appreciate it?  

If there is no word to describe the twinkling of an eye (shallidh in Manx Gaelic) how will we notice it? If we can not describe things how can we celebrate them?

Where do names come from in the first place?  Did god give names to all the animals? And places?  Or were they given by the locals - or the neighbours . . . Wales means enemy, Clywd means friend.

Here's a few place names of UK towns and villages.  Each one of them has a name which defines the topography, or memorialises the early founders or  landowners, or hints at the the history of an individual settlement.  Any attempts at the etymology of the names is pure guesswork, so your interpretation is as good as anyone's.  Have some fun, give each place name a reason, find the poetry, hide the history behind some mystery.

Buckden in Cambridgeshire

Bucklesham in Suffolk

Buckskin in Hampshire

Buckton in Herefordshire and Worcestershire

Buerton in Cheshire

Bufton in Leicestershire

Buglawton in Cheshire

Bugle in Cornwall

Bugley in Dorset

Bulley in Gloucestershire

Bullington in Lincolnshire

Bullo in Gloucestershire

Bullwood in Strathclyde

Bulphan in Essex

Bulverton in Devon

Bunessan in Strathclyde

Burcot in Oxfordshire

Burdon in Durham

Burdrop in Oxfordshire

Bures in Essex

Burford in Oxfordshire

Burgedin in Mid Wales

Buriton in Hampshire

Burland in Cheshire

Burlawn in Cornwall

Burleigh in Gloucestershire

Burlescombe in Devon

Burleston in Dorset

Burlestone in Devon

Burley in Hampshire

Burleydam in Shropshire

Burlinch in Somerset

Burlow in East Sussex

Burlton in Shropshire

Burmington in Gloucestershire

Burn in North Yorkshire

Burnaston in Derbyshire

Burneside in Cumbria

Burneston in North Yorkshire

Burnett in Somerset

Burnfoot in Dumfries and Galloway

Burnhead in Dumfries and Galloway

Burniston in North Yorkshire

Burnley in Lancashire

Burnsall in North Yorkshire

Burnside in Durham

Burnton in Strathclyde

Burntwood in Staffordshire

Burradon in Northumberland

Burras in Cornwall

Burraton in Cornwall

Burrells in Cumbria

Burrelton in Tayside

Burridge in Devon

Burrington in Devon

Burrow in Somerset

Bursea in North Yorkshire

Bursledon in Hampshire

Burslem in Staffordshire

Burstock in Dorset

Burston in Norfolk

Burtersett in North Yorkshire

Burtle in Somerset

Burton in Dorset

Burwarton in Shropshire

Burwash in East Sussex

Burwell in Cambridgeshire

Burwen in North Wales

Burwood in Shropshire

Bury End in Bedfordshire

Buscot in Oxfordshire

Bushton in Wiltshire

Bute Town in South Wales

Butetown in South Wales

Butleigh in Somerset

Butley Town in Cheshire

Butterton in Staffordshire

Buxley in Borders

Buxted in East Sussex

Buxton in Derbyshire

Sky, interrupted.

 

the view from a ferris wheel

 

fifty shades of blue

 

seven seas (detail)

 

These three fine oak trees are close to the River Hamble.

 

 

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.   

 

 

Joyce Kilmer said that. She put it down to the fact that poems were merely written by poets and trees were created by god. Personally, I think some poems are lovelier than some trees.