Aiblins

(A blin' bird's nest Is aiblins biggin' in the thistle tho'?...

"Will ye gang with me to the elfin knowe knoll To milk our Queenie's Coo?" Queen Mab, or Proserpine; cow "Na, Na," quo' I, "I maun shear nay sheep; I've my barn to bigg an' my corn to reap, build Sae I canna come the noo." now The ferlie skirled as she turned to gae shrieked For an angry elf was she, "O a wilfu' man maun hae his way, An' I mak' sma' doot but ye's rue the day That ye wouldna gang wi' me." "O once again will ye speir at me ask me An' 'I'll aiblins come awa'?' possibly "O I'll come again to your yetts," quo' she, to your gates "When bloom blaws bricht on yon rowan tree An' the laverock sings i' the snaw." lark; snow

In Aiblins (a Scots word meaning 'perhaps') Gray recalls a period as creative-writing instructor at Glasgow University.