Genealogy OR Who Do You Think You Are?

[Elphin]

Oose [n. pronounced oos]; fluff,

particularly the compact stuff
that gathers in the belly button
to be extracted when contemplating

and is derived from the plural
of the Scots word for wool,

which is oo (true)
therefore it must be

that the Scots for sheep is ee
that the Scots for pig is i
that the Scots for cow is o

heard together in the cry
sheep, pig, sheep, pig, cow
recognised by most
as ee i ee i o

which leads me to believe

that if Old MacDonald had a farm,
he must have hailed
(like me) from old Scotch land.


Original Title is Genealogy and it has a purpose but as Stu points out it might not be working so put up the alternative which might still not be working. Help

[stuartryder]

Ee i ee i oo, Elph, I liked this confession although I did find myself slightly aggrieved at the end of the poem that the title had not been done justice. Therefore, change the title?

Cheers

Stuart

[mesmie]

HIya Elph

clever and funny and left me smiling..which is good!

oh god! got that tune in my head now...heheh

thanks for the entertaining read..

mez

[ray miller]

It's quirky and amusing. Maybe the title should be navel gazing or something like that.As far as genealogy is concerned it would be fascinating to hear sometimes how people arrive at the ideas for poems such as this one and, say, Wabznasm's Saturday Mermaid.I'd love to hear of the inspiration for this.

[Helen Bywater]

Very amusing, Elph. I love the daft humour.

Ray wrote "Maybe the title should be navel gazing or something like that". What about Woolgathering?

[brianedwards]

Love the quirky humour here, but have to say that I coulda guessed the roots of Old Macdonald without any knowledge of the old Scots tongue.

Love Genealogy as a title.

B.

~

[Terreson]

Good stuff. The poem tickles on the brain, especially with how the punch line comes in clues before it gets delivered. And I notice how line control gives the poem momentum, even drive, which is something I always look for in a poem, the kinetics of the thing.

Terreson

[Basnik]

Hi,

I love the surety of 'then it must be.' Very funny, witty poem. Phonetically of course the sounds don't work. e could be bream, i could be spiny dogfish, and o could be goby but then he'd have to have an aquarium.

For a title how about 'The Woolpack'?

Rich Basnik

[David]

Nicely handled and funny, Elph, but I agree with Rich about the falseness of your conclusions.

I like Helen's idea for the title.

Cheers

David

[Sharra]

I really liked this, it made me giggle
I agree the title isn't working, I quite like Helen's suggestion - Woolgathering.
Sharra
xx

[Elphin]

Thanks all for reading and appreciating.

Ray - here is the thought process. I wanted to write a poem about the word oose, I found out it was from the plural of oo, that led to sheep, I read an article (see below), made a connection and hey presto Bobs your uncle. Mad isnt it?

Im still not sure on the title but Im pleased Rich and David you raised the possibility of the falseness of the conclusion. Of course the Scots for sheep etc is all nonsense. Aside from the messing around the "serious" point to the poem was to poke fun at genealogical research (BBCs Who Do you think you are? for example) and in particular how some Americans hang on to quite tenuous threads that lead them back to their Scots ancestry and of course it needn't be particular to Scotland, Ireland is certainly treated the same way. It was sparked by a newspaper article that a Scots laird was selling square yards of an estate in Glen Garry to Americans based on the fact it has certain links back to the Clan Donald.

I had hoped there was a faintly American voice in the poem - no self respecting Scotsman would refer to Scotch land - Scotch is only the drink.

thx again

elph

[ray miller]

Which begs the question why you would want to write a poem about the word oose in the first place!?

[David]

Especially when there's already a perfectly good song called There's a Moose Loose Aboot this Hoose.

[Elphin]

Ray- it just sounds so good and I am finding that starting with these old words just leads me to the strangest places. Good enough reason do you think??

David - groan, moan and groan again.

elph

[BenJohnson]

Ray- it just sounds so good and I am finding that starting with these old words just leads me to the strangest places. Good enough reason do you think??

Perfect reason. Enjoyed the read, must say I didn't get the greater meaning of American's searching for connections, etc. But it stands well enough without that, that there is more to be gleaned just adds to the depth of it.

[ray miller]

Good enough reason, of course!I'm just curious, that's all, not being judgmental.I didn't get the American thing, either.

[Helen Bywater]

I wondered why you said "Scotch" - it did seem odd, but you need a bit more than that if you want to make it clear it's an American speaking.

What about replacing all the earlier "Scots" with "Scotch", and calling it Scotland at the end (maybe where your "folks" came from, or your "mom's mom", something like that)?

[Elphin]

Ben and Ray and Helen - thanks, your right that the American genealogy bit isnt working. It needs something and I might steal a couple of your suggestions Helen.

elph

[emuse]

Hey are you giving us a kick in the ass or whaaaa? We're so bloody desperate for a sense of belonging -- we may be blind to it and not call things by their proper names. Many are on the outside that's for sure. Aside from all that joking, I love this poem. Works very well for me. I do see how people are obsessed with knowing their origins -- fact is many people are always looking to be told who, what, when to feel instead of figuring things out for themselves. I get emails from friends suggesting I monitor the astrological forces coming round for the next week lest I be taken by cosmic surprise!! oooohhh -- okay.

I do love Helen's suggestion for Navel Gazing. Makes me smile.

Cheers,

e

[Helen Bywater]

Thanks, emuse, but Navel Gazing was actually Ray's suggestion. Mine was Woolgathering.