They were crossing the Meadows, a gusty expanse of common land,
glaring green under the snowy sky. Their destination was the Old Town,
for Miss Brodie had said they should see where history had been lived; and
their route had brought them to the Middle Meadow Walk. Eunice,
unaccompanied at the back, began to hop to a rhyme which she repeated
to herself:
‘Edinburgh, Leith,
Portobello, Musselburgh
And Dalkeith.’
Extract from ‘The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie’
by Muriel Spark (1961)
A THRONG OF FOLK
CELEBRATION ON THE MEADOWS
on every walk a throng of folk
BOYS BRIGADE bugles played
MIDDLE MEADOW
archers vie for a silver arrow
CORONATION Queen of the May
JAWBONE, JAWBONE
canopy of the May Queen’s throne
BOYS BRIGADE, MIDDLE MEADOW,
CORONATION, JAWBONE
CORONATION, GRAND OCCASION
May Queen crowned with cherry blossom
A pair of piping unicorns lead her carnival procession
Fiddle-playing swallows follow
with ‘The White Cockade’ and ‘Strip the Willow’
Magpies play accordion
as ‘Heather’s Jig’ is danced with vigour
BOYS BRIGADE, MIDDLE MEADOW
HIGH JINKS ON BRUNTSFIELD LINKS
CELEBRATION ON THE MEADOWS
on every walk a throng of folk
BOYS BRIGADE daylight fades
MIDDLE MEADOW
home to roost go jet-winged crows
CORONATION a dew-drop ring
a rowan for fortune, and
the crescent moon threaded
with clarsach strings
JAWBONE, JAWBONE
recitation of a Rabbie Burns poem
BOYS BRIGADE, MIDDLE MEADOW,
CORONATION, JAWBONE
HURDY-GURDY, STEELPAN BAND,
BALALAIKA, CLARSACH
‘O wert thou in the cauld blast, on yonder lea
My plaidie to the angry airt, I'd shelter thee
Or were I Monarch o' the globe, wi' thee to reign
The brightest jewel in my Crown wad be my Queen’
BOYS BRIGADE, MIDDLE MEADOW,
CORONATION, CEILIDH!
Specially written poem by Rachel Woolf
including extract from
‘O Wert Thou in the Cauld Blast’ by Robert Burns