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MISCELLANEOUS |
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Memories of Broughty Ferry By Sonja Nic Rafferty
Where Broughty Castle guards the mouth of the River Tay In the tower we climbed up a weathered stone stairway To look far over the fair land of our fathers Later you took a photograph of me at a quay in the harbour Beguiling the twilight fell on Broughty Castle I wore a cardigan embroidered with the Flower of Scotland Proudly the purple thistles put themselves on display
My photograph has been well thumbed and faded for a long time Like the gloomy cloud cover of my memory Sometimes I only see the locals as a shadow play People from Broughty Ferry near Dundee Walking on the Esplanade or down to the beach Constantly over their heads circle sea gulls Their laughter pursue me right across the sea
We ate swordfish and drank Guinness You taught me foreigner to pronounce ‘swordfish’ In Broughty Ferry where the moon cheerfully greeted us We felt young and you lost all your money Which you had stuffed into your trouser pockets I however lost my heart to a place Because I had looked over that golden gleam of the Tay At night we went on a pub-crawl in Broughty Ferry Were given an autograph by Claudio Paul Canigia From Argentina who played football for Dundee We found fascinating shells at the beach Let them rush at our ears like the roaring waves
Broughty Ferry always remains as steady as a rock You left Scotland and I am not allowed to be there We are restless wanderers on different routes Once again I would like to eat swordfish in the harbour Sharing glasses of Guinness with you and listen to Celtic music In that far away land where the moon friendly greets strollers Again I would like to climb up the stony stairs in the castle Looking over the bonny native soil of my ancestors Taking a deep breath of the Firth of Tay’s salty air When its waves glitter by evening light A part of the gloss falls on my matt soul Yet now for me only last memories – of Broughty Ferry!
© Sonja Nic Rafferty April 11th, 2004 (German), ~ April 12th, 2004 (English)
These [above] lines I have dedicated to my Scottish brother John, of whose existence I hadn’t the faintest idea until my age of 46. John made Broughty Ferry more accessible to me.
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