Old Man of Hoy ( F Grahame)

A few years ago my neighbour, Fiona Driver, now Fiona Hunter! toured the South of England, playing music to an appreciative audience.  Somewhat strangely though, she was greeted in one of the folk clubs, by a group of people singing ‘Bloody Orkney’, maybe with a mistaken idea of making her feel at home!  When Fiona told me about this, I thought it was time to redress the balance, and write an alternative.  It’s not great poetry, but neither was the original, and this one is much more good-natured!

Here it is…….

Bonny Orkney

In this bonny town, they don’t make a fuss,

But they’ve made place, for folks like us,

In bonny Orkney

The bonny folk, are far from mad,

They’ll share a joke, ‘though times are bad,

In bonny Orkney

There’s bonny cows, and freshening rain,

There’s life to heal, all kinds of pain,

In bonny Orkney

The shops provide, all that we need,

Those that complain, well, that’s just greed,

In bonny Orkney

A bonny dance, will make you smile,

The bonny bands, make life worthwhile

In bonny Orkney

The bonny shows, give life a lift,

Folk taking part, all share their gift,

In bonny Orkney

All bonny fun, and bonny games,

All bonny times, with bonny dames,

Who mostly have, the same surnames!

In bonny Orkney

There’s nothing greets, your bonny eye

But bonny sea, and bonny sky,

“Come, see for yourself”, is what we cry,

In bonny Orkney.

Bernie Bell is a regular contributor to The Orkney News

A Summer’s Night Kirkwall Harbour June 20th 2017 )K Armet)