Burnieknowe: A Scots Comedy in Three Acts

by Joe Corrie

A three-act country comedy with a touch of romance. To spite his farming neighbours, Adam Barclay, a dour character, allows Tam Marshall, an old tinker, and his niece, Fiona, a born moocher, to pitch their tent on his land. This leads to a ood deal of bitterness agains Adam, although George Dinwiddie, the laird, is very fond of Tinker Tam. This gives Adam all the satisfaction he wants until his son, Alex, falls in love with the tinker lass. Alex, as dour as his father, is determined to marry her, even if it means leaving home. An unexpected change of fortune comes to the tinkers, yet despite the fact that Fiona can change her rags for expensive clothes, Adam is still against a union, until we discover why the laird has befriended the tinkers so generously, a secret which causes Adam to relent, and so bring about a happy ending.

(6 males, 6 females)

83 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1955

About the author

Born in Slamannan (Falkirk), Corrie's family moved to Cardenden at a young age and he went to work in the local coal mine in 1908. Described by T.S. Eliot as 'the greatest Scots poet since Burns', Joe Corrie's poems were inspired by the mining communities of West Fife and explore socialist themes. The first performances of his plays Hogmanay and The Shillin'-a-week Man raised money to feed the miners during the General Strike (1926). Corrie died in Edinburgh and his name is remembered in the Corrie Centre at Cardenden.