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Document 1704

Scots Tung Wittins 53

Author(s): Robert Fairnie

Copyright holder(s): Name withheld

Text

Nummer 53
Mey 1998

Scots Tung WITTINS

Eydentlie uphaudin the Scots Leid Campaine
E-mail: [CENSORED: emailaddress] Ph. [CENSORED: phonenumber]

Ilka wee bit helps at TESCO.
On Friday 8t o Mey, BBC Reporting Scotland gied oot some wittins aboot guid things kythin anent the Mither Tung in Dunblane. At Dunblane Primary Scuil, the bairns in Elaine Wyllie's Primary 5(3) cless haed pit thegither a dictionar o Scots wirds an sayins cried:-

DUNBLANE PRIMARY SCHOOL
OUR
ILLUSTRATED
SCOTS DICTIONARY
(Including Sayings)

Thai yaised the wirds in the clessroom an in the hoose, then thai fund oot that a lot o thae wirds wisna bein yaised bi a wheen o fowk sae thai haed wirds wi TESCO in Dunblane an got the freedom tae owerset aw the labels an notices in the store intae Scots.

Thai yaised wirds like Neeps, Tumshies, Tatties, Cornetto Pokie Hats, Sweaties, Boilings, Pieces, Messages, Bubbly-jocks, Clapshot, Cairry-oot an monie ithers.

Twa typical notices threapit:-
Get your messages at TESCO and you'll be laughing like a pooch on pay day!

Tatties, Tumshies and Tablet – You'll get them all at TESCO.

Aiblins thair micht be scowthe for mair Scots wirds tae be yaised in thae yins but, as thai say at TESCO's, "Ilka wee bit helps!"

Stuart McHardy, o the SLRC, kythed on the program for a wee an sayed that it wis the bairns that haed stertit awthin aff an that TESCO thirsels haes seen the possibeelities inherent in sic a vibrant an leevin language.

It wis reportit that TESCO wis ettlin tae pit up Scots labels in aw thair stores richt athort Scotland.

Weel duin the bairns o Dunblane Primary Scuil!
Weel duin Stuart an the SLRC!
Weel duin TESCO!
"ILKA WEE BIT HELPS!"

Scots Tung WITTINS
on the wab.
The Scots Tung Wittins cuin be vizzied or doon-loadit an prentit fae the wab-steid o The Scots Speikers Curn, Glesca.

Wab-steid backin:-
http://www.ndirect.co.uk/~love/

[NOTE: image here of an advertisement 'Seeking 'guid Scots' speakers' in original]

The abuin text wis taen fae the EDINBURGH HERALD & POST o Thursday 14t Mey. For aw that the auditions wis haudit on the 19t o Mey, oniebodie o a mind tae get rowed intae sic a thing haes nocht tae tine bi giein the abuin nummer a ring. Wha kens? Your vice micht be the yin thai'v been haudin oot for. The text disna say whit Scots dialect is tae be yaised but Robert McLellan's Scots is maistlie in a wicelik West Central Scots or thareaboots. Maist fowk wad raither watch a play nor tak pairt in it sae, gin ye'r intrestit in it at aw, beir the 8t August in mind.

National Lottery Charities Board gies Scots an Gaelic the cauld shooder.
The form that fowk gets tae speir for siller fae the National Lottery Charities Board, haes turnt a blin ee tae baith o Scotland's hamelt languages. The follaein witterins kythes on blad 17 o the abuin form:-

"The form must be completed in English (or Welsh for Welsh language forms).
Detailed information about this grants programme is available in: English, on audio tape, Braille and in large print; Welsh, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Guiarati, Punjabi, Somali, Swahili and Urdu."

Nae doot the Gaels wull be daein thair ain upsteerin for the Gaelic an we an aw maun noo mak sicker that Scots isna left wi a mair laich staunin nor the likes o Swahili an Urdu in oor ain kintra. Time tae get thae rid het pens oot agane!

The Language o Bools.
The gemm o bools haes aye been cleikit in wi auld fowk, baith men an weemin, but in raicent years, mair an mair younkers haes been leukin the gate o the 'auld man's gemm' an wi thair young muscles, een an ither abeelities, hiv eikit a heicher staundart o skeel an preceesion tae it. Ae thing thai maun aw lippen on the auld yins for tho, is the language o bools itsel. Thare nae yiss haein the abeelitie tae draw yer bool tae the jeck aw the time an tae fire or drive wi the preceesion o an Armalite rifle, gin ye dinna ken the richt wirds tae yell, aither fae the heid or the mat.

[NOTE: image here of two stickers in original]
Twa o Scots Tung's (sports) caur stickers

In bools, Singles is played atween twa single players, ilka yin playin wi aither twa bools or fower. Pairs is twa players a side, ilka yin yaisin aither twa or fower bools. Triples is wi three fowk a side an ilka yin yaises three bools. Rinks is fower fowk a side wi ilka yin yaisin twa bools.

Aw bools is wechtit on ae side (Biased) sae that thai canna rin strecht but aye tak a curved gate (Draw) an the objeck o the gemm is tae get as monie o yer ain bools as ye cuin, closer tae the jeck nor onie o yer opponent's bools.

The Jeck - The wee white bool yaised as a target for the bools.

The Shot - The bool lyin nearest tae the jeck.

The Heid - The airt roond the jeck whaur aw the bools is lyin.

In the coont - Aw the bools fae yin side that's nearer the jeck nor the nearest yin fae the ither side, sae coontin as shots.

Gaird or Blocker - A bool lyin forenent the heid in sic a poseetion that it conters onie ither bool ettlin tae win tae aither the Jeck or the bool lyin Shot.

Road – The richt gate a bool haes tae tak tae win tae the jeck or ither target.

That's the road! – Yer bool's rowin alang the richt gate.

Gress – The distance oot fae the centre o the rink that a bool haes tae traivel afore it comes back in an feenishes on the centre line.

Guid Gress! – The bool haes been deleevert at the richt angle tae come back in tae the target.

Gie it mair gress! – Rowe the bool faurer oot.

Feed the cuddy! – Gie it mair gress.

Haud it in a blade! – Gie it a wee bit less gress.

Gaitherin gress – Whan a bool gauns faurer oot insteid o stertin tae come back in. Whiles this micht be bi wey o riggs in the green an whiles bi wey o the bool bein coggelt whan deleevert.

Ticht! – A bool that haesna been gien eneuch gress.

Seturday nicht! – Ticht.

Ower ticht! – Ower ticht.

Ticht as a doo's ee! – By-ordinar ticht.

Ower high! – Ower muckle gress.

Oot in the country! – Faur ower muckle gress.

Wecht – The strength a bool is hoven at. This gars hoo faur the bool traivels.

Drawin wecht – The richt wecht tae gar a bool draw an rest bi the jeck.

Jeck high – Whan the bool draws up the same distance fae the mat as the jeck.

A yaird on! – Gie the bool eneuch wecht tae cairrie on a yaird past the jeck.

Chap an lie – Gar a bool tae chap anither bool oot o the heid or awa fae the jeck an lie in its place.

Noo we lie! – Yin o oor bools is noo lyin shot.

Ye'r no here! – Yer bool haes stoppit weel short o the target.

Happy holidays! – Wish ye wur here!

Nae wicks – drawin's the gemm! – Thare nae skeel in dunshin aff ither bools tae get the shot. Guid boolers cuin draw the shot athoot touchin onie ither bools.

Coggelt bool – A badly deleevert bool that wobbles up the green like a dee'in haggis.

Mair anent the bairns o Dunblane Primary Scuil.
Efter the muckle dool thae bairns at Dunblane Primary Scuil haed tae dree no that lang syne, thair teachers an dominies haes ettilt tae gar thaim leuk oot the wey tae ither airts an projecks insteid o bein in-leukin, in the howp it micht gie a heize tae the healin effecks o time. Thare nae doot thae ettles maun be guid for the bairns an the fack that thae bairns see thair ain Scots language as a projeck wordie o thair time an smeddum cuin dae naethin but guid for the mither tung an aw for, wha in Scotland wad hae sic a stane-like hert as tae na-say the wee sowls?

The projeck at TESCO, that kythes ower the page, is yin o the oot-comes o the bairns takin tent o whit's gaun on in the ootside warld aroond thaim. We unnerstaun that the neist projeck thai'r ettlin tae turn thair hauns tae is tae fleetch STV tae yaise Scots in the wather programs.

We wiss thaim aw weel an oor thochts gaun wi thaim.

New Scots Language Wab-steid Kythes on the Warld-wide-wab.
A new Scots language wab-steid jined the growein leet o ither weel foondit an kenspeckle steids on the Internet this week (20t Mey). Cried Wir Ain Leid, it cuin be fund at the follaein backin:-

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/k27/hame.htm

Wir Ain Leid is a weel plenisht an weel cled wab-steid an weel wordie o a raigler veesit fae aw you Scots leid wab stravaigers.

The steid-maister is Andy Eagle wirkin oot o Germany. Andy's E-mail backin is:- [CENSORED: emailaddress]

Some witterins fae the Scots Leid Resource Ha.
Thochts on the foondin o an Educational Development Service for Scots is no as faur fetched noo as it wis. Acceppins o the ploy bi COSLA, we unnerstaun, is growein aw the time an some cooncils haes gien thair uphaud wi muckle birr areddies.

For the furst time, the SLRC itsel is tae be auditit suin bi an independent ootside curn o fowk tae wey up hoo weel the ettles an mints o the Ha haes been pit ower an hoo weel it haes been cairriein oot its wark. This shuid gie the SLRC a better offeecial staunin an micht weel gie it mair wecht whan it gauns tae the Scottish Office an ithers for siller tae keep it gaun.

Speikin o fleetchin for siller, the SLRC haes a page on thair ain wab-steid daein juist that. For the guid o onie o oor maimbers that micht no hae an ingate tae the Warld-wide-wab, here a copie o whit it says:-

SLRC….Hou can ye jyne?
The SLRC lippens on govrenment an cooncil siller tae gie oor staff a pey, wi aiblins the bit haun-oot whiles frae trusts, companies, the Arts Cooncil an the National Lottery. Onie time we speir, thay will speir back again whit like the support is for oor services, publications, plans an ploys – an hou monie members hae we? Your puckle siller for a membership can pit faur mair in the weir-kist for the Scots leid nor we can aesie tell ye.

We ar a registered Scottish cherity, nummer SCO21747, sae that gif ye'll can sign on for a Covenant we can eik tae whit siller ye may gie by winnin back tax frae the Inland Revenue. Please scrieve, phone or e-mail

Gordon Beange,
Development Officer,
SLRC,
A.K.Bell Library,
York Place,
Perth,
PH2 8EP.

an he'll sen ye oot a Covenant form. The membership stents ar:-
Pensioner/unwaged £5.00;
Waged/owerseas £15.00;
Schuil £25.00;
Corporate £100.00.

Still on the SLRC wab-steid, it haes a page anent Scots in Schuils that says:-

Guid screivins in Scots frae young scholars in the fower airts, taen maistly frae the jynt Scots Language Society / Scots Language Resource Centre - Scots in Schuils Competeition.

It gies a leet o stories stertin wi twa fae this year's Competeition:-

The Story of Creashin bi Scott Allan (9) fae Alehousewells Primary School, Kemnay an
Do whit du's telt bi James Nocolson (12) fae Scalloway Junior Secondary, Shetland.

Baith thae stories is scrievit on this wab-steid page an, for the guid o thaim as disna hae onie ingate tae the wab-steid, the furst yin is scrievit ablow:-

The Story of Creashin.
Bi Scott Allan (9 year auld)
In the beginnin afore God created the universe there wis naethin – nae corners, nae edges, naethin. Fan God mad the universe the Earth hid nae shape ava. Bit ae day God had a richt leuk at the Earth. He said "I'll hae tae gie a bittie time tae is planet."

The ocean wis aa ower the Earth an it wis affa dark. So God mad up his mind an said "Let there be licht" – so nae seener said than deen. God wis affa happy wi fit he saa. Then he decided tae separate the licht fae the darkness an named the licht day and the darkness nicht.. So at wis deen tae. Evening passed 'n mernin cam.. At wis the verra first day.

Noo God wis sae chuffed wi fit he sa that he chauved on for anither five days. Then he thocht it wis lowsin time an the Sabbath so he lookit at aa he'd daen - the sky, the Earth, a the craturs – fower leggit an twa – an he felt it had aa been worthwhile.

Guid scrievins richt eneuch parteeclar fae a nine year auld.
Neist Forgaitherin – efter the Simmer.

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APA Style:

Scots Tung Wittins 53. 2024. In The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow. Retrieved 19 April 2024, from http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=1704&highlight=ordinar.

MLA Style:

"Scots Tung Wittins 53." The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow, 2024. Web. 19 April 2024. http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=1704&highlight=ordinar.

Chicago Style

The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech, s.v., "Scots Tung Wittins 53," accessed 19 April 2024, http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=1704&highlight=ordinar.

If your style guide prefers a single bibliography entry for this resource, we recommend:

The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech. 2024. Glasgow: University of Glasgow. http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk.

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Information about Document 1704

Scots Tung Wittins 53

Text

Text audience

Audience size N/A

Text details

Method of composition N/A
Word count 2195
General description monthly newsletter

Text medium

Leaflet/brochure (prospectus)

Text publication details

Published
Publisher Scots Tung
Publication year 1998
Part of a longer series of texts
Name of series Scots Tung Wittins

Text type

Article
Prose: nonfiction
Other mixed text type

Author

Author details

Author id 95
Forenames Robert
Surname Fairnie
Gender Male
Decade of birth 1930
Educational attainment College
Age left school 16
Upbringing/religious beliefs Protestantism
Occupation Consultant Marine Structural Engineer (Retired)
Place of birth Musselburgh
Region of birth Midlothian
Birthplace CSD dialect area midLoth
Country of birth Scotland
Place of residence Musselburgh
Region of residence Midlothian
Residence CSD dialect area midLoth
Country of residence Scotland
Father's occupation Fisherman
Father's place of birth Musselburgh
Father's region of birth Midlothian
Father's birthplace CSD dialect area midLoth
Father's country of birth Scotland
Mother's occupation Fishwife
Mother's place of birth Musselburgh
Mother's region of birth Midlothian
Mother's birthplace CSD dialect area midLoth
Mother's country of birth Scotland

Languages

Language Speak Read Write Understand Circumstances
English Yes Yes Yes Yes At work
German Yes Yes Yes Yes In Germany to communicate with two grandsons
Scots Yes Yes Yes Yes Wherever Scots is understood

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