One of my favourite poems..
GIN I WAS GOD
Gin I was God, sittin' up there abeen,
Weariet nae doot noo a' my darg was deen,
Deaved wi' the harps an' hymns oonendin' ringin',
Tired o' the flockin' angels hairse wi' singin',
To some clood-edge I'd daunder furth an', feth,
Look ower an' watch hoo things were gyaun aneth.
Syne, gin I saw hoo men I'd made mysel'
Had startit in to pooshan, sheet an' fell,
To reive an' rape, an' fairly mak' a hell
O' my brave birlin' Earth, - a hale week's wark -
I'd cast my coat again, rove up my sark,
An', or they'd time to lench a second ark,
Tak' bak my word an? sen' anither spate,
Droon oot the hale hypothec, dicht the sklate,
Own my mistak', an' aince I'd cleared the brod,
Start a'thing over again, gin I was God.
CHARLES MURRAY (1984-1941)
Murray was a native of Aberdeen who spent most of his life in the Transvaal. His work was very popular at one time, particularly his masterly character-sketches such as the one given here. His Scots is consistent dialect, but his range too constricted and local for him to rank as a national poet. He is the best of the dialect poets, before MacDiarmid restored Scots to its national and international stature.
I'd rither be no affy weel than affy no weel.
Quote from: crocach on November 28, 2008, 08:38:25 PM
Doric is probably the most alive Scots variant there is.
It's certainly alive and well out here. But language is dynamic, always has been always will be. I have to say dialect change it's not something I get especially excited about it's inevitable when people no longer live in isolation and the benefits of a cosmopolitan, more outward looking society outway the disadvantages in my opinion.
I met a pair of fishermen in Mallaig once who (like their fathers before them)fished out of Mallaig on the west coast and Fraserburgh on the east, using the caledonian canal to travel between the ports
On the west coast they spoke gaelic and on the east, broad doric. They hardly had a word of english between them.
Just for a bit of fun here is Frank Sawyers (from Keeper of the Stream) rendering of Wiltshire at it's best; it's a good deal easier reading it than it is to understand the spoken word.
"thay medders wir tinded thin, in us used ta cut thay withy pollards an thay ashes fir vaggots, spars en vincin poasts. None on em wir lowed ta git like thay be now. All thay withy bids wir planted zince I kin mind, en us used ta keep em cut. Zum on em wir used ta mik idges tha kip in tha ship en tha lambs. Thin thir be thay alder bids. I elped plant zum a thay - varmer wir gwine ta use em fir brumeads, er zummat, but twere nivir done. en thay be zum thirsty varmints - wuzzin withy I low."
I would hate to see the dialects of the English language disappear. The more arcane it is the more rewarding it is to understand. Doric was easy as some relatives of mine are fishermen from MacDuff and much more easy than a farmer uncle of mine from East Malling in Kent.
I thought I had them all sussed - even deepest Wiltshire which was the hardest of the lot - until I met the people renting me a holiday cottage in Urafirth in Shetland. I got about one word in three at first!
Lived and worked on Tyneside and in Northumberland and Durham for many years..
I heard it as "Hoyaammehini"
Whatever, "broons al roon" journey into space....
Another of my great joys were the songs: Lambton Worm, The Day we Missed the Train, and the Washin Day....
Larn yoursel Geordie..
Bruce
As a youngster in Shetland there was a basic dialect which covered all the islands but sometimes very distinct local deviations from Island to Island. The words I used to really like most were the animals, Scorie, Dunter, Tammy Norrie, Neasuk, and Bounxie(often pronounced bouncy) to name but a few. Even the insects seemed to have more interesting and descriptive names - Slaters(woodlice) just seems to picture their dark grey backs like slates one on top of the other.
Funny thing now is that if someone speaks to me in the dialect its so easy to understand still but I still tend to use English in reply. I can remember at school how we were not allowed to commit the cardinal sin of being heard to use the local dialect in the classroom but as soon as we were outside you just didn't use anything else. In some ways I suppose the call it progress but "I wis fair wabbit oot kippin up wi it".
Sandy B.O.
I've always used Slater instead of woodlouse. Thought it was just a general Scottish word.
Gollach is common. Incidentally I think it means forked in Gaelic!
There?s a forked hill, Ben Gollach, near Ullapool
Ony Lossiemoother shood kane FITTYCAT. A word passed doon through generations o codheeds.
Quote from: Ardbeg on December 03, 2008, 07:42:15 PM
foggy toddler, foggy bummer, foggy bumbler = bumble bees (more specifically the ginger ones I remember reading somewhere)
Ardbeg
In Dundee, a FOGEY is the bumble bee drone, widely believed to be incapable of stinging you...
"Yowe trummle" - the cold weather which comes after the sheep shearing.
As in
Ae weet forenicht i' the yowe trummle
I saw yon antrin thing
A watergaw wi' it's chitterin' licht
Ayont the on ding
Aye it's that man again PA....
Never heard of a gowan before, except "Gowan, malky him quick or he'll malky you" .
A gowan is a daisy or other wild flower.
It can also be an arrogant, boring person. As in, "I was fishing the Tummel yestreen and I heard that Ally Gowan boring the arse of 2 American tourists who were paying ?500 a day to learn about how he personally invented fly fishing"
A bit unfair David. Everyone knows it was Stan Headley who invented fly fishing as we know it today.
Naw naw. He only wrote the bible. Ally was the creator.
Are those words not a mixture of differing dialects and slang?
I thought chib and gutties were west coast whereas cundy is east. There is a Dundee band called the Cundeez (rabid arabs that they are too :D)
QuoteI sadly speak with a clear englandshire accent; despite being born in Hamilton;
A wise decision to leave. I went to skool in Hamilton and now I work there. I hate the place with a vengeance :shock:
Alex
Quote from: haresear on December 30, 2008, 11:53:18 PM
I went to skool in Hamilton and now I work there.
Alex
We Govan lads always look down with sympathy on the less fortunate :)
Quote from: bordertroot on December 31, 2008, 12:18:12 AM
[. I hate the place with a vengeance :shock:
Alex
Alex thats a sad statement :(
Bob
Aye Bob. Sad, but true.
Alex
Howdy All;
I have been absorbed in reading this and a Shithead Wully threads for most of the day.
As a born and raised American I should begin by saying my brain is tired...
I have been subjected to various dialects here in the States. From some family that have
been DownEast Mainers, friends that were brought up in the middle of Cajun Country (Louisiana swamps)
Friend from Georgia (Jaw-ja), Virginia (Va-gin-ya), and many other small chunks of Americana.
The chance to grapple with the differences of Scotts, and Irish, English and Welsh is to me fun.
those of you the posses the ability to write what you hear is a true gift...
Thanks for putting these threads up.
hank
Quote from: hankaye on January 09, 2012, 02:09:13 AM
Thanks for putting these threads up.
We spend a lot of time trying to figure them out ourselves Hank. :D
Once sat in a hotel dining table with a married couple from Aberdeen and an English schoolteacher. My wife and I could understand the schoolteacher and
the gent from Aberdeen, Every time the wifie from Aberdeen spoke the teacher, my wife and I would say "Pardon".
After a few days of this the husband acted as an interpreter.