Bonzer Words!: Och Ah Ken Yer Faither Fine
Mothers begin to ask questions when daughters bring boyfriends home. Marion McKeen's delightful poem concerns protective curiosity.
Marion writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
If I took a boyfriend home with me
Ma mither said “Come in,
Sit doon I'll mak us aw some tea.”
Then the questions would begin
“Is yer mither no' wee Jeannie Smith
that steyed at number nine.
She marriet big Jock Thomson
Och ah ken yer faither fine!
And yer granny came fae Riccarton
And she worked in Blackwood's mill
And HER sister marriet John McCall
Noo is SHE living still?”
On and on she'd question them
About their kith and kin.
Seed, breed, and generation,
I could have done her in.
From family she'd turn to work
And off she'd go again.
I'd sit there all embarrassed
And the boys would show the strain.
“Are ye daein' an apprenticeship?
Whit future dae ye see?
Oh, ye have'nae made yer mind up,
Whit ye really want tae be.”
But there was one exception,
Who answered her with glee
“A leading ballet dancer,
Is what I want tae be!”
Her jaw dropped and her eyebrows rose,
“Oh!” She said “I see”
I thought “Good on you son,
You've struck a blow for me.”
Then I met a boy from out of town
And I hardly could believe
Though she didn't know his father
She knew his Uncle Steve!
But now I've daughters of my own,
Who bring their boyfriends in.
I ask those selfsame questions
About their kith and kin.
And when I have the answers
About their family line
It pleases me if I can say
Och, Ah ken yer faither fine!
© Marion McKeen
