Shetlan

Du may waander on fir ever
An seek idder laands dee lane,
Bit someday du’ll come driftin
Ta da laand o laands agen.
Sho’s a laand o faeries dancin
In a ring o snaa-white scöm,
Whaar da grit grey sea lies skulkin
I’da dim, saft Simmer-höm

Dere A’m pluckin Kokkiluries,
An gadderin Paddick-stöls,
Or guddlin tricky skeeticks
I’da clear, saat-water pöls;
A’m rickin peerie sillicks
Wi a preen, an docken-waand,
Or pokin eftir smislins
I’da ebb-stanes i’da saand.
Dere I look alang da tide-line,
Among da tang an waar,
Fir barrel-scows an battens,
An bits o brokken spar;
Fir da muckle seas is brakkin
In stoor laek cloods o snaa,
An der tales o vessels wrackin
Wi dir sails aa blaan awa.

Du may waander on fir ever
An seek idder laands dee lane,
Bit some day du’ll come driftin
Ta da laand o laands agen.
Shö’s a laand whaar Winter’s souchin
Trowe da spöndrift an da squaal.
An da smorin moorie-caavie
Fills da Nort wind’s oobin waal.

You may wander on forever
And seek other lands alone
But some day you’ll come drifting
To the land of lands again
She’s a land of fairies dancing
In a ring of snow white foam
Where the grit grey sea lies skulking
In the dim soft summer home

There I’m picking daisies
And gathering mushrooms
Or catching tricky cuttlefish
In the clear salt-water pools
I’m catching little pollocks
With a safety-pin, and dock-leaf stalk
Or poking at sand-gapers
In the shoreline stones in the sand
There I look along the tide-line
Among the seaweed
For broken barrel-staves
And bits of broken mast
For the mighty sea is crashing
In a storm like clouds of snow
And there are tales of wrecked vessels
With their sails all blown away

You may wander on forever
And seek other lands alone,
But some day you’ll come drifting
To the land of lands again.
She’s a land of Winter’s sighing
Through the sea-spray and the squall.
And the suffocating blizzard
Fills the North wind’s moaning wail.