I’m ‘feuach’ frae fit tae hunker-bane, deef – gless-ee’d an stumpy.
But wi my cairtie vertie n virr, nithin daunted – hardy we maun-dae.
Nae ben, heich or brae will stap or stint us – hooanivir lumpy
We’re aw thegither warpled, cairtie and me – nivir grumpy.
Translate:
hunker-bane: thigh-bone.
I’m ‘light’ from foot to thigh-bone, I’m deaf – glass-eyed and stumpy.
But with my go-cart of energy and force, totally undaunted – rugged we will manage all.
No mountain, elevation or incline will stop, or make us to desist – however rough.
We are all together, entangled, my go-cart and I – never grumpy.
ˈhʌŋkərˈben
The Scottish Word: hunker-bain with its definition and its meaning illustrated and captioned with the word used in context in the Scots language and in English.
The Background.
My uncle in a wheelchair raised me – mostly. He still had his legs, it was most of his fingers that were stumps.
He had multiple sclerosis.
From a Doodle.
The hunker-bane drawing has links back to that time.
It has been adapted from a doodle I did a year or so ago from this date.
It was made during a staff meeting full of long winded patronising managerial rhetoric about opportunity and diversity. The doodling was a mind numbed reaction.
But in adapting the doodle I saw that it contained a lot of references from my childhood and relating to my disabled uncle.
The Things in the Drawing.
The steering wheel and throttle are from the old Massey Fergusson tractor my uncle used to drive.
The wire wheels come from an old Victorian three wheeled basket chair that he was gifted by a charity – pre NHS.
Two of the wheels which ended up on a garden cart by the time I came along. A garden so big we were nearly self sufficient.
Starter Motor.
The motor was a car starter motor which my uncle converted to create a home made lathe to go in his workshop.
The batteries were from when he recycled lead from car batteries to make a flat look alike of an engine to fit a large ride on toy tractor he made for me when I was a toddler. It probably wins the award from most lead in any toy discounting a Victorian giant box of soldiers.
Sulphuric Acid.
The sulphuric acid left from the batteries was stored in big Schweppes soda bottles in his shed for years. I used to drip it on the sheet metal of the top of his workbench to watch it spit and fizz and pit the surface.
The Schweppes box is because we lived near an old Schweppes bottling factory and those were the type of storage boxes that accumulated in his shed.
Woodworm.
The woodworm on the sign is because a great deal of those boxes had woodworm.
The brake lamp comes from the selection of oil lamps we kept because power cuts were common as back then electricity was a recent thing and not as stable as it is today.
Plasma Cannon.
The plasma cannon I suspect was derived from the old brass paraffin blowlamp that we used regularly. It was like a jet engine when you pumped it up.
Nothing Daunted was his Watchword.
Nothing daunted my uncle. He was always at something. building power tool benches from iron bedstead’s. Customising his blue disabled three wheeler car (hence the fog lights). Fixing anything at all that broke. Learning Gaelic. Learning to type. Playing chess and drafts well. Getting stuck up mountains in his blue three wheeler disabled vehicle – unending in adventure and risk until he died.
I was his assistant and helper.
Into 2018 Undaunted.
So in response to Trump and his ilk I say: let us in 2018 make it a year of opportunity and diversity for every ability, creed, religion and race.
Make the year an utter rebuke to those who fear the very idea of inventiveness, difference and change. And every year onward.