Rothbury's Barearse Boy

 

Rothbury Poet Jon Tait will launch his debut poetry collection ‘Barearse Boy’ from Smokestack Books at this year’s Traditional Music festival.

 

Tait, who moved across to Carlisle due to work commitments in 2000, is looking forward to returning to the village and is delighted that the committee have agreed to him launching the book on the Festival weekend – and also admits that he was influenced by one of the Festival’s great characters in becoming a poet.

 

“Twenty years ago I won the novice section of the Rothbury Traditional Music Festival Dialect Poetry competition with a poem called ‘Mixer Crazy.’ Trouble is, I was the only entrant IN the novice section that year,” jokes Tait, who now works as a postman in Carlisle.

 

“The festival has a long and proud tradition of nurturing Northumbrian poets and has had some great characters such as Graham Dick, Allan Wood, Harry Lime and the legendary Andrew Charleton –The son of the Coquet - performing over the years.”

 

“I keep in touch with the writing scene at home and it’s been great to see the development of writers such as Richard Mason, with his humorous poaching poems saving and preserving two traditions, and his sister Nicola Crane’s winning poem last year ‘Haad me hand, fathaa’ was as good and poignant a piece of writing as you’ll see anywhere.”

 

“I guess you would probably now call me a Carlisle poet – I’ve lived in the City for 15 years - but my thick Northumbrian accent will always give away my true heritage. Most of the lads at the post office think I’m a Geordie, but I’m not really – I’m a Northumbrian. I was born at Ashington General Hospital and lived in the Coquet valley until I was 28.”

 

There has been somewhat of a renaissance in dialect poetry in Northumberland recently with a number of people working to preserve the unique language.

 

“James Tait does a lot of work in the local schools encouraging dialect poetry. James isn’t a direct relation, but he’s a Tait so if you go back far enough, he’s likely to be a Barearse Boy too. My family have lived in the border hills for many, many generations and it’s obviously influenced my work. Many of the poems in my debut collection concern the exploits of the reivers and their descendants,” says Tait, 42, whose ancestors were involved in reiving with Sir Robert Kerr of Cessford in the 16th Century from their peel tower called Barearse near Yetholm.

 

Tait was the press officer at defunct Scottish League side Gretna after completing a degree in Journalism at the University of Cumbria and has previously worked as a joiner, plumber’s mate, labourer, building site storeman and nightshift bakery packer.

 

“There’s one local Northumbrian character who was probably as influential as anyone in me becoming a poet,” he says.

 

“The house painter John French Jackson, whose poem Simonside was framed on the wall in the chippy for many years, once stopped me at the top of Jacob’s Ladders when I was on my way to Thomlinson’s middle school. “Wheor yuh gannin’, son?” he asked.

 

“Aa’m away to schuel, Jackie.” I replied. “Whey, you divn’t want to dee that, man. Get away up on the hill and play with the snakes,” he said. Get away up on the hill and play with the snakes. Learn from your life experiences. It was a great lesson.”

 

‘Barearse Boy’ is scheduled for publication on June 1st.