Poacher kills six forestry wardens with speedy archery.
The Scottish Word:

Scrogs.

Dee ye forest reenger polis o the purse.
Lickspittles tae the siller rich wha cheaply boucht oor earth,
ahn quick tae own an fell an profit oot o trees no yet cam o age,
leavin but deein scrogs fit no even fur a puir man’s hearth,
yer unseeded sheep wasteland whaur naebody’s allood tae walk nor hunt nor feed nor rage,
but certain tae sterve or dee if no beggin for waged wark cap in haund.
Wark tae tak an tak an yet no see the fu accoonted wages riven frae oor earth we curse,
fur oor maisters o siller, them that own the land.
Bide it untelt.

Translate:

scrogs: stunted or crooked bushes or low trees, anything dried up or shrivelled.

Die you forest ranger police of the purse.
Handmaidens to the ultra wealthy who cheaply bought our earth,
and quick to own and fell and profit out of trees not yet come of age,
leaving but dying scrub fit not even for a poor man’s hearth,
your unseeded sheep wasteland where nobody’s allowed to walk nor hunt nor feed nor rage,
but certain to starve or die if not begging for waged work cap in hand.
Work to take and take and yet never see the fully accounted cost riven from our earth we curse,
for our capitalist owners, those that own the land.
Keep it untold.

ˈsprɑxl
The Scottish Word: scrogs with its definition and its meaning illustrated and captioned with the word used in context in the Scots language and in English.

The Ballad of Johnnie the Brine.

All of this is inspired by the ballad of Johnnie the Brine from which the word scrogs is part of the COP26 Living Language Land. Johnny might be a free-spirit or a murderer.

Either way I took it as an excuse to rage about access to land and it’s nourishment. And the gatekeepers who consume it and will always put profit before care. The real costs are never seen in their books. (It’s not as bad in Scotland as it is in some parts of the world (so far).)

” …’As I cam in by Monymusk,
And doon among thon scrogs,
There I saw the bonniest youth,
Lyin sleepin atween twa dogs. …

… The first shot that the forester fired
It wounded him on the knee;
The next shot that the forester fired
His heart’s bleed blint his ee.

Then up rose Johnnie oot o his sleep,
And an angry man wis he;
Says, ‘Ye micht hae waukened me frae sleep,
For my heart’s blood blins my ee.’

He leaned his back against an oak,
His foot against a stone,
And he has fired at the seven foresters,
… ”

Living Language Land.

You can hear the ballad or read the full transcript on living-language-land here which is about offering a platform to minority and endangered language-holders to share a word and story that reflects a relationship to land and nature. It is about enlarging the lexicon we can all draw from in reflecting on those relationships.

To see all the other words from other languages click or tap on the top heading ‘Living vida language idioma land tierra’ of which the non English part cycles through other languages.

It is funded by the British Council under the COP26 Creative Commissions programme.

Global Warming.

Quick clear summary of the science.

  1. Our air is mainly made up of nitrogen and oxygen along with some argon and carbon dioxide.
  2. Nitrogen, oxygen, and argon will not absorb heat from the sun’s rays. Carbon dioxide will (happening). And the amount of carbon dioxide in our air has risen by 40% since 1800.
  3. The increase in carbon dioxide will mean our world’s surface temperature will rise (happened) and that will mean our polar ice caps will start melting (happening).
  4. Trapped (so far) under that melting polar ice there are methane gas deposits thousands of years old.
  5. Methane will absorb four times as much heat as Carbon dioxide.
  6. And as you will have worked out – escaping methane (now happening) will mean an even faster increase in our world’s surface temperature.
  7. (9) will happen even without (4), (5) and (6).
  8. Ice reflects the suns rays away and back out into space – it’s warm air and water that melts ice.
  9. More water from our disappearing polar ice will absorb more of the sun’s rays, heat up, and evaporate into our air (happening).
  10. More water in our air is one of the major things that will make our weather more destructive (happening).
  11. Water in our air absorbs ten times more heat than carbon dioxide.
  12. We don’t have energy enough to put methane back in the ground or re-freeze the polar ice caps. That’s reversing the energy of the sun. You can set paper on fire in a few seconds with a small magnifying glass. Add it up. Years of sun worldwide.
  13. How long til it hits a vicious unstoppable circle and we are extinct? Not long.

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