J. F. Campbell Collection > Popular rhymes of Scotland

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52 POPULAR RHYMES OF SCOTLAND.
Droiij a parish to the south of Perth ; and Abemyte, a
parish in the Carse of Gowrie.
This beautiful city suffered from a nocturnal inundation
of the Tay, anno 1210;* and it is predicted that yet once
again it will be destroyed in a similar manner. The Gaelic
prophecy is couched in the following' lines : —
Tatha mhor na'an touu
Bheir F scriob lorn
Air Peairt.
Literally in English —
Great Tay of the waves
Shall sweep Perth bare.
The town lies so little above the level of the river, that
such an event does not seem improbable. There is also a
Lowland rhyme equally threatening —
Says the Shochie to the Ordie,
* Where shall we meet V
' At the Cross of Perth,
"VVTien a' men are fast asleep !'
These are two streams which fall into the Tay about five
miles above the town. It is said that, on the building of
the old bridge, the cross of Bertha was taken down, and
built into the central arch, with a view to fulfil, without
harm, the intentions of the Shochie and Ordie, and permit
the men of Perth to sleep secure in their beds.
THE EWES OF GOWRIE.
When the Yowes o' Gowrie come to land.
The day o' judgment's near at hand.
A prophecy prevalent in the Carse of Gowrie and in
Forfarshire. The Ewes of Gowrie are two large blocks of
stone, situated within high-water mark, on the northern
shore of the Firth of Tay, at the small village of Inver-
gowrie. The prophecy obtains universal credit among the
country people. In consequence of the deposition of silt on
* So, according to Boece and others, though historians of the Dalrymple
cast deny the event altogether.