Not sure. Probably more poetic or literary than archaic, which means that it doesn't come up much in normal chit-chat. Och but ah mind ma mammy singin' "Roamin' in the Gloamin' " when ah wiz just a wee bairn. More common in Scotland than in other places I believe. Why do you ask?
Not sure. Probably more poetic or literary than archaic, which means that it doesn't come up much in normal chit-chat. Och but ah mind ma mammy singin' "Roamin' in the Gloamin' " when ah wiz just a wee bairn. More common in Scotland than in other places I believe. Why do you ask?
There is an old tune that sometimes shows up on Christmas albums called "By the Fireside" which includes the lyrics "In the gloamin' by the fireside with you."
English must have a lot of words that survive only in verse. If a word fits the needed rhyme and meter, Big Poetry will keep putting it out there in search of the almighty dollar.
English must have a lot of words that survive only in verse. If a word fits the needed rhyme and meter, Big Poetry will keep putting it out there in search of the almighty dollar.
"By the Fireside" does not depend on the word "gloaming" for a rhyme. You could substitute "twilight."
"Roamin' in the Gloamin" obviously depends on the rhyme.
George Bernard Shaw, ever the savvy linguist, used Godsgloaming to translate the title of Wagner's Götterdämmerung, more commonly rendered as Twilight of the Gods. I think his point was that "gloaming" suggests the evening twilight in particular. The word Götterdämmerung is actually a German attempt to render the meaning of the Old Norse Ragnarök, which has the particular sense of "destruction." See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragnar%C3%B6k#Etymology
