On Andrew Turner
written in 1795
narrative poem
bitter
In Se'enteen Hunder 'n Forty-Nine The Deil gat stuff to mak a swine, An' coost it in a corner; But wilily he chang'd his plan, An' shap'd it something like a man, An' ca'd it Andrew Turner.
On Andrew Turner - meaning Summary
A Mocking Origin Story
This brief Scots-language poem ridicules a man named Andrew Turner by imagining him as a botched creation of the devil. In playful, blunt terms the speaker says the devil, after failing to make a swine in 1649, repurposed the material and fashioned something like a man — Andrew Turner. The piece functions as a comic, personal insult delivered in dialect, emphasizing grotesque origin and moral caricature rather than psychological depth. Its tone is satirical and colloquial, using folk imagery to expose contempt for its subject.
Read Complete Analyses
Feel free to be first to leave comment.