Elegy on Peg Nicholson
written in 1790
Elegy on Peg Nicholson - form Summary
An Elegy for a Horse
This short poem, labeled an elegy and written in 1790, mock-mourns Peg Nicholson, a bay mare reported as "floating down the Nith." It adopts the formal stance of a funeral lament but applies it to a common animal, mixing solemn diction with comic rural detail—repeated refrains, mention of a priest who once rode her, and stark images of the mare’s degradation. The contrast between elegiac tone and everyday incident produces gentle satire: an ostensibly serious memorial that exposes affectionate, earthy ties between speaker and village life.
Read Complete AnalysesPeg Nicholson was a good bay mare, As ever trod on airn; But now she's floating down the Nith, And past the Mouth o' Cairn. Peg Nicholson was a good bay mare, And rode thro' thick and thin; But now she's floating down the Nith, And wanting even the skin. Peg Nicholson was a good bay mare, And ance she bore a priest; But now she's floating down the Nith, For Solway fish a feast. Peg Nicholson was a good bay mare, An' the priest he rode her sair ; And much oppress'd and bruis'd she was, As priest-rid cattle are.
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