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Selkirk Grace, a fine old Scottish prayer

Rumpel

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Do you know it?

One of the greatest myths about Selkirk Grace is that it was written by Robert Burns - a poet who has an entire evening dedicated to celebrating him in Scotland (Burns Night). Burns was said to have delivered the grace at a dinner party, held by the Earl of Selkirk in 1794. But at that time, Selkirk Grace was already 80-100 years old, and was originally called the Galloway Grace or the Covenanters’ Grace. Burns was of course a well known individual, so he may have brought some popularity to the grace, which is why people began to call it the Selkirk Grace, as his speech in Selkirk became well known. Burns was known to recite it at many dinners, and so people often mistakenly thought that he wrote it.

 
And here is the prayer, together with the translation:

So that you can get a better understanding of Selkirk Grace, let’s firstly have a look at the poem itself:

Some hae meat an canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it;
But we hae meat, and we can eat,
And sae the Lord be thankit.

Now, let’s look at a translation that is much closer to modern British English:

Some have meat but cannot eat,
Some have none that want it;
But we have meat and we can eat,
So let the Lord be thanked.

 


Here is the prayer
 


In the family
 
May I ask whether anybody knows this prayer?
And if yes, what you think of it?

I myself find it very touching
 
Don't tell me that you do not know this famous prayer ....
 
As it happens, I have just made a little verse about blue berries today:
As a variation on the "Selkirk Grace".
Here it is:

Some have sherries, but no blue berries,
while some have none and want it.
But we have sherries, and sweet blue berries,
so let the Lorrrrrrrrrrrrrd be thankit!
 
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