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With Pegasus upon a day Apollo, weary flying, (Thro' frosty hills the journey lay) On foot the way was plying. Poor, slipshod, giddy Pegasus Was, but a sorry walker, To Vulcan then Apollo gaes, To get a frosty calker. Obliging Vulcan fell to wark, Threw by his coat and bonnet; And did Sol's business in a crack, Sol pay'd him with a sonnet. Ye Vulcan's Sons of Wanlockhead, Pity my sad disaster; My Pegasus is poorly shod, I'll pay you like my Master.
This is a poem by Robert Burns. It was written in 1789 and is read here by Liz Lochhead.
On this day in 1891, Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show played to a packed house in a huge market hall in Glasgow's East End. Several Native Americans were amongst the cast re-enacting episodes from the recent past. After innumerable broken promises, the indiscriminate destruction of their eco-system and inevitable defeat in battle, many tribesmen and women preferred life on the road to life on the reservation. Burns had some sympathy for 'noble savages' and 'redskins'. Bareback riding, lassooing and other feats of horsemanship distinguished Buffalo Bill's extravaganza. In today's selection poor Burns is having trouble even getting his mount shod.
Donny O'Rourke
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