SCOTS Project - www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk Document : 1448 Title : BBC Voices Recording: Aberdeen Author(s): N/A Copyright holder(s): BBC SCOTS Project Audio transcription F1054: Okay, if I just start wi you Bob then. Tell me what your name is and eh where you come from, how long you've been there. M1042: I'm Bob [CENSORED: surname], I'm an Aberdonian, my family are fae Fittie but I brought up my kids in Torry, and eh I've come back to live in Torry and I've been livin in Torry for the past twenty years. F1054: Right. F1040: I'm Margaret [CENSORED: surname]. I've lived in Torry all my life. F1041: I'm Billie [CENSORED: surname]. I was born in Fittie. //Oh right, aye [laugh] right.// F1054: //Billie, can I just get you to sit forward a tiny bit further if you can, cause you're just probably the furthest [?]along there[/?] sorry, start again Billie.// F1041: Eh my name's Billie [CENSORED: surname]. I was born in Fittie, but moved tae Torry when I was nine and I've been here since. F1054: Can you explain where Fittie is in relation to Torry? F1041: //Across the water. [laugh]// F1043: //Across the water. [laugh]// F1054: An is it like similar tae Torry or not? F1041: Oh I would think so. It's eh well it was associated wi fish, an well I think so, is it, Fittie's just the same as Torry. F1054: //Mmhm.// F1043: //Mm.// F1054: Great, Sheila? F1043: Sheila [CENSORED: surname], I was born an brought up in Torry and have never been out of Torry. F1054: Can you describe t- what Torry's like tae somebody say that's livin in England, in London. [inaudible] place is Torry? F1043: Torry used tae be quite a small fishin village an with the increase in the fishin industry Torry grew with it, again in the late sixties, seventies, early seventies, then oil come intil it an it grew again, an now got a population roughly in the twelve thousand mark. F1054: An are you quite close as a community in Torry or or do you feel yourself kinda distinct fae Aberdeen? M1042: Well I'll I'll tell you how close a community Torry is. When I came back to Torry twenty years ago, I met this old lady and I said, "How are you?", "Fine", an I said, "Where are you goin today?", "I'm goin intae toon", an I says, "Up tae Aiberdeen?", "Aiberdeen? I've never been in Aiberdeen". She me- she'd never crossed the bridge, the Victoria Bridge across the river tae go into the city of Aberdeen, //she'd never done it.// F1040: //That's right.// M1042: She'd never been in Aberdeen in her life an this was a lassie, a-a-a- an auld wifie over eighty. //She'd never been in the city of Aberdeen.// F1054: //Wow!// That is amazin isn't it? //Yeah tae think o that now.// F1043: //But it's nae really// because when we were brought up in Torry you got everything you wanted in Torry, we never if you went intae the toon it was a rare occasion, //fit we cried the toon then.// F1054: //Is that right?// F1043: Everything was supplied within Torry at one time. //That has changed nowadays.// F1054: //Mmhm.// M1042: //[inaudible]// F1041: //You went for your dividend, Copie divi.// //That was one o the times, aye.// F1043: //That was usually twice a year.// F1041: Ye went intae toon and ye got your Copie divi, an that got the claes for the bairns gaun tae school, the Copie divi. //[laugh]// F1054: //Very good.// F1043: //[laugh]// F1054: Spikkin o claes, should we start there then? Whit whit words would you use for clothes? F1040: //Claes, claes.// M1042: //Mm.// F1041: //Claes.// F1043: //Claes.// //Claes, aye.// M1042: //Oh aye,// it's aye claes, aye claes. F1054: An and any specific items likes of troo- trousers? F1040: //Breeks, mmhm.// F1041: //Breeks.// F1043: //Breeks. [laugh]// F1040: Breeks. M1042: //Breeks an troosers, breeks an troosers, aye.// F1041: //Troosers.// F1043: //Troosers.// F1054: Naebody would use anything else apart fae that? //No?// M1042: //No.// F1043: //No.// F1054: And then 'a child's soft shoes worn for P.E.'? F1041: //Jimmies. [laugh]// F1043: //Jimmies. [laugh]// //Always jimmies.// M1042: //Aye jimmies, aye jimmies.// I used tae love my jimmies, see these things they wear now, they're nae jimmies but they're nae as good as jimmies. //Mmhm.// F1054: //Yeah.// F1043: I did read in the younger generation's documents that I gave you just now, it's still jimmies, which I'm //glad tae hear that, it's still jimmies I think, mm.// F1054: //That's interestin isn't it, yeah.// M1042: //Oh that's good tae hear.// F1041: //Mmhm.// F1054: An what aboot other items o clothin, do you have any unusual words for eh this, well I mean I'd ca this a sark and //[inaudible]// F1041: //Aye, it's just a blouse.// F1043: //Aye the shirt aye.// //No a mannie's sark in the fishin again// F1040: //Yeah.// F1041: //Aye but that's a blouse.// F1043: //comin fae the fishin// aye but it //a [?]jinsy[/?] would hae been a sark.// F1040: //No.// M1042: //It would be a sirk a sirk, a shirt was a sirk.// F1041: //It would hae been a sark aye [inaudible].// //A simmit.// F1054: //[inaudible]// M1042: //And underneath that you wore combies an a simmit.// F1043: //[inaudible]// M1042: A simmit's a singlet. F1043: Be a vest. //Jist anither name for a vest a singlet was, aye.// F1054: //Mmhm.// An anything else on claes or, no? M1042: //Mm.// F1041: //Well your draaers was your your kn-// F1043: //Mm.// F1040: //[laugh] Aye.// M1042: //Knickers.// F1041: //well knickers, aye [?]hems[/?]. [laugh]// //Eh fit else now, fit else dae ye wear?// F1043: //That's right mm.// //Gansey.// F1040: //Oh ye ye wore gansey.// M1042: //Gansie.// F1041: //Aye a gansey but that's a Shetland word that.// //Aye a gansey's a je- eh a Shetland word.// F1040: //Gansey, aye a jumper, jumper, a ja- gansey.// F1043: //Aye a gansey's a jumper.// F1054: Is that a word you'd use, Margaret? F1040: //It's it's been used, yes uh-huh.// M1042: //Aye.// F1041: //Mmhm.// F1040: //Uh-huh [inaudible] gansey// F1043: //Again it was used by oor parents because again they come aff o fishers an ye'd aye yer ganseys [inhale].// F1040: //was a great thick// M1042: //Whaur's yer gansie?// Whaur's yer gansey? Ye'll have tae put a gansey on the day. //Ye know? That was// F1041: //Well I had never heard o it until// eh I went tae the Shetlands wi wi Henry, never heard o it. //No but it was gansey,// F1040: //No?// //Gansey.// F1041: //wisnae a G, wisnae a gangey.// F1043: //Gansey, aye it was gansey.// F1041: Wis a gansey. //[inaudible]// F1054: //That's right [inaudible]// F1040: //Aye aye, it's a great thick// F1043: //I think it's fae [inaudible], aye the fishin trade I think it has come doon through the// aye. F1040: the great thick jumpers that they used tae wear eh an the fisherman used tae wear them they put on their ganseys. F1041: //Mmhm.// F1043: //Aye.// F1054: //So it was a particular kind o jumper, it wasn't just any old jumper.// F1040: //Yes, no it was a thick one [inaudible] thick.// F1043: Maistly they were hand kni- I ken my mother used tae hand knit an they were made wi what was caed abb wool. //It was wool that had the oil in it tae keep the the rain an that oot before aa the// F1040: //Mm.// F1043: thermals, fleeces an aa the rest o it. F1054: An what did you ca that wool? F1043: That was ganseys that we ca- but it was aye gansey //eh nae a G.// F1054: //Made oot [?]a[/?] wool?// F1043: Abb wool it was cried. It was like a- an off-white but y- you could actually feel the oil fan //fan you were knittin wi it your hands were// M1042: //Aye.// F1041: //Sair mmhm.// F1043: //oily there was, no, oil.// //It was like an oil that was on it at the time ye were knittin an they were thick,// F1054: //Mmhm.// F1041: //[inaudible]// F1043: bitty like the Arran, //but wi an oil through it as well.// F1054: //An what did they look like?// F1040: //Thick.// M1042: //Aye.// F1041: //Thick, chunky.// F1043: //Quite thick.// F1054: Or colours or patterns? F1041: //Just a creamy colour but was grey an, was it grey an black?// F1043: //[inaudible]// //Aye.// F1040: //Mm no.// F1041: //Or was it navy an white, but they had a mottled// //kinda coloured cause my my grandfather had a trawler,// F1043: //Uh-huh [inaudible].// //Mm.// F1041: //an that was eh fit my granny used tae knit tae him.// F1040: //Mmhm.// F1043: //Either plain or wi a rope pattern, a rope pattern was affa popular in that day fan they used tae dae a little rope aa the wey through,// //mither daen a lot an aa.// F1054: //[inaudible]// Ehm what aboot goin on tae, what do you ca folk in your faimly ehm start wi mither that's quite a good one. F1041: //Mmhm.// F1043: //Mm, I've just got ma.// F1040: //Ma.// F1041: //Aye, just your ma.// F1040: Ma. M1042: Ma. F1054: So you'd say that tae her face would you, like "Ma, //can I hae this or that?" or// M1042: //Oh aye, oh aye.// F1041: //Aye, "Far's my ma?"// //[laugh]// F1040: //[laugh]// M1042: //"Ma, throw me doon a piece!"// you know? F1054: When would you say that? M1042: Well you- you're playin out in the backyard and y- your ma is up on the second floor an you're hungry, so ye say, "Ma, throw me doon a, doon a jammy piece!" an she'd spread a piece o bu- bread an jam, nae butter, ye didnae get baith, an she'd just open a windae //an throw it doon an ye caught it, sometimes it fell on the grun an ye just wiped it aff and ye just chomp-// F1041: //[laugh]// M1042: an that was it. So, "Ma, throw me doon a jammy piece", F1054: An was that like tenement livin? M1042: Yes that was tenement living. F1054: Can you explain for folk in London that's never seen a tenement what that is. M1042: Well, a tenement was at least three storeys high, sometimes four storeys high and no one ever locked a door, and people used tae come an go all the time. They'd walk intae your house at any time day or night an you just said, "Aye aye, foo're ye daein then?" ye ken, an an that was it. It was wonderful community living which is now gone. I-I- I wish we could go back tae the old days where we all so close and we called all the wifies by their last name. I had Howie, that was Mrs Howie, Strachan, Mrs Strachan, Broon, Mrs Brown, an ye just called them by their last name an nobody objected tae that, ye know, it was a s- it was a wonderful life //an we-.// F1054: //How long ago was this?// M1042: This was in nineteen-thirties. I'm auld noo. It's nineteen thirties an it was a wonderful life, an we all played in this backyard. My sisters used tae tapdance an they used tae make dresses out of crepe paper an things like this an we'd concerts an just things. An we'd all outside lavvies, ye know? There [exhale] was no bathrooms, nothing, if we wanted a wash we'd tae wash in the sink, an it was an iron sink, not enamel, iron sink ye know, an we'd a big zinc bath and Da used tae sit in the bath an we'd tae gang oot the hoo-, oot tae anither room while he got his back rubbed an aathing an then he used tae stand up an then he'd say, "That water's still het so one o you get in that bath", so one of us had tae strip off an get into the bath, you know, that was that was life in those days, it was such a wonderful time. F1054: //So you aa took turns, an do you mind life bein like that an aa, yeah.// F1040: //Mm.// F1041: //Oh aye.// //I bade in a tenement till nae long ago an we had four four tenants// F1043: //[inaudible]// F1041: shared one toilet. M1042: Mmhm. F1041: An ye had tae ging intae the, there was sixteen tenants altogether between two houses, an ye all shared the same wash-hoose, //an ye had onybody that had men gaein oot tae work an they had little anes in the hoose// M1042: //[inaudible]// F1041: they'd tae ging intae the wash-hoose wi half a dozen lighted candles an dae their washin at four o'clock in the mornin, an be oot o the wash-hoose before your hubby gaed til his work. That was the wey I started aff mairied life. An then ye had tae keep the windows in the landin open, there was a lot o mice in the tenements, an ye'd tae keep the windows in the landins open for the cats gaein oot an in because ye had tae keep a cat //or ye got a lot o mice when you opened the door so everybody had a cat.// M1042: //[laugh]// //Yeah.// F1041: //Mm.// F1054: An eh Margaret do you mind that similar lifestyle? F1040: I stayed in a tenement when I was first married, yes, an it was everybody helped one another, F1043: Everybody was in the same boat. F1040: //all helped one another an// F1041: //Mmhm aye.// F1040: ye know, when ye wash-house, they kept the wash-house fire on for the next one goin in an just, it was great. //As comrades ye just// F1041: //Mmhm.// F1040: helped. F1041: That's it. M1042: It was it was a wonderful life, the green, ye know, y- you did your washin. My ma used tae wash on a Monday, an we hated Mondays because aa we got for for our lunch or denner as we used tae ca it was a plate o rice, because Ma was in the wash-hoose an there was a big biler goin an she was sweatin an she'd on her rubber apron an //an oh my God!// F1041: //An her big boots.// M1042: An an if it was rainin the the the washin has tae be taken intae the kitchen which was our livin room an hung up in front o the coal fire an used tae smell //the washin dryin oh my God, oh God!// F1040: //[laugh]// F1041: //Carbolic soap. [laugh]// F1043: //[laugh]// F1054: //It's a distinctive smell [inaudible]// F1040: //[inaudible]// //[inaudible]// M1042: //[inaudible] Yeah.// F1041: //[inaudible] Aye.// F1043: //Aye carbolic had a smell that nothin else is like, I don't think uh-huh.// F1054: Ehm what aboot eh words for granny. F1041: //Oh grunny, just grunny.// F1043: //Just grunny.// F1041: Or grandma. But there's posher words now ye see, they get nanny an fitever. //I'm just grunny, aye, so I'm I, just grunny.// F1043: //Just grunny wi us an aa, aye.// F1054: An is that's different fae Aberdeen, is it? F1040: //[inaudible]// M1042: //No, no, grunny is a grandma an in Aiberdeen it's grunny.// F1041: //[inaudible]// //[inaudible]// F1054: //[inaudible]// M1042: //Mind you I get called grandpa these days an I'm thinkin// //God Almichty, it used tae aye be granda.// F1041: //Mm.// F1040: //Mmhm yes aye.// M1042: //But now I'm called grandpa, an I thought phew// //"Who's this they're talkin aboot?" [laugh]// F1040: //[inaudible] Aye.// M1042: //[laugh]// F1041: //It's cause ye're better aff now. [laugh]// F1054: [laugh] And eh what aboot male partner? F1040: //[laugh]// F1041: //A male partner.// F1043: //Bidie-in. [laugh]// //If you're// F1041: //No [inaudible]// //he's just my man, my man.// F1043: //if you werenae mairied in tha days// //they were cried your 'bidie-in', it doesnae say your husband, it says 'a male partner' an a 'male partner' in that days was just your 'bidie-in', or you were sleeping over the brush, it was one o the two.// F1040: //[inaudible]// F1041: //'Bidie-in', oh aye, no, partner, aye. Oh well I wis never lucky tae get one o them so it was just my man. [laugh]// //'Ower the brush', aye.// F1043: //But you were 'sleepin ower the brush'.// F1054: A brash? F1041: //'Sleepin ower the brush'// F1043: //'The brush'// //I I dinnae ken far that expression come fae but that was said quite a lot, 'youse are sleepin ower the brush'.// F1054: //Whit's that then?// F1041: //Mmhm.// F1043: //It meant ye werenae mairied, ye'd a bidie-in,// //'sleepin ower the brush', I// M1042: //It's it's a gypsy thing.// //At gypsy marriages ye'd tae jump over the brush so it- it's from a gypsy thing.// F1043: //Mmhm. Brush. Mm.// F1041: So they hadnae [?]hiked[/?] ower it they had just lain ower it instead. [laugh] //[laugh]// M1042: //But but but on this on this thing of husbands an things,// my mother never ever called my father by his name. It was always 'him', //'him'.// F1054: //Is that?// M1042: //'He says', 'him', I said, 'F-, fa says that?', 'Him'.// F1041: //[inaudible] [laugh]// M1042: An 'he'. I never once heard my mother call my father by his name. F1041: Why was that? M1042: It it was just a habit, it was a Fittie thing they did. The the Fittie folk didnae use the names like that. //It it// F1054: //Was it superstitious do you think, or bad luck?// M1042: I just I just really don't know, I've never understood it, but I never ever heard my father called by his name by my mother. F1054: //Cause I ken [inaudible]// F1041: //[inaudible]// F1043: //Naebody mair superstitious than my mither an f- eh fisher people as I say, we were brought up,// but it, she my mither cried my father 'da' in front o us. He didnae get cried Alec which was his proper name, it was aye 'da'. So it, I think it took us quite some time to realise wur father had //a first name because it was aye 'da' an 'ma'// F1040: //Aye.// F1041: //Name aye.// M1042: //Mmhm.// F1043: //that they cried one anither// //in front o us it was like.// M1042: //Aye but my ma ma used tae say// //"Yer da says", ye know// F1043: //Aye.// M1042: but never his name, never ever. F1043: It was a lang time right enough before I ever heard the first names //mentioned, ye ken?// F1041: //Never heard that, my ma aye cried my da// 'Bobby', F1043: No. F1041: an my grunny cried my my granda 'Bill'. F1040: //[inaudible]// M1042: //[inaudible]// F1043: //Nae in front o us it was aye 'ma' an 'da', they spoke to ane anither on that terms.// //[inaudible]// F1040: //Mmhm.// F1041: //If my mother had// if my mother had cried my father 'him' she would have landed up wi a black eye, //she would have, he'd hae skelped her roond the lug,// M1042: //[laugh]// F1041: he would have, he would have daen that. F1040: //Mm.// M1042: //Mm.// F1043: //Mm.// F1054: Yeah I'm sure ehm I mind folk sayin at home that they never referred tae fisher folk as the proper name or "him that was awa" or this an that an never used the proper name for F1041: //Maybe.// F1043: //There was a lot o superstitions,// an a lot o nicknames come through the fishin trade. //Ye would aye get Johnny's// F1040: //[inaudible]// //[inaudible]// F1054: //[inaudible]// F1041: //[inaudible]// F1043: //Jock or aye an it wa-// //aye somebody's somebody// M1042: //[inaudible]// //Aye so it's, if ye if ye// F1041: //No.// F1043: //or other. It was never a proper name.// M1042: said tae somebody "Fa's he?", "Who is he?", they would say, "That's oor Tootsie's Meenie's Jock's loon's quine". F1041: //[laugh]// F1043: //Aye.// //[inaudible]// M1042: //"Oh aye!", the-the- they [laugh] an you'd to know the whole history of the family// //[laugh] in order to find out who you were talkin to, you know?// F1043: //[inaudible]// M1042: //"Oor Tootsie's Meenie's Jock's loon's quine,// F1041: //Meenie's// M1042: Ella, Ella's loon's cousin", an you'd say, "Oh my God." [laugh] //Ye know it was// F1041: //[inaudible]// F1043: //Aye.// //Ye aye got there in the end.// F1041: //Well we aye referred tae// women in far I bade in Fittie so I was "Meenie's Bessie's Billie" M1042: That's right. //Yeah that's right.// F1041: //Meenie was my grunny, Bessie was my ma,// an I was Billie, so I was "Meenie's Bessie's Billie". //Oh.// F1054: //Can I just get you to say that again cause the bell was right ower the top o it.// F1041: Well I was Meenie's Bessie's Billie. F1054: Gosh so your ma- Meenie's //but yer ma who was your gran?// F1041: //Aye Meenie was my grandma,// Bessie was my mum an I, Billie was me, so I was Meenie's Bessie's Billie. //[laugh]// M1042: //An I was I was Annie's Annie's Robert.// F1054: An how, I mean how far back did they go or when did that stop? //Has it still no stopped?// M1042: //Oh I don't know.// F1041: //I dinnae ken.// I dinnae ken I I think it just stopped. M1042: I I remember back in the in the early forties, my granda tellin me who someone was an he spoke sixteen names, I counted them, sixteen names to tell me who someone was, he went that far back, so, I don't know but you don't hear it now. //It doesn't happen anymore// F1041: //No.// F1043: //No.// F1041: I think it's when Fittie an Torry got bigger, M1042: Yeah. //Aye, incomers.// F1041: //folk were flittin oot o Fittie intae Torry, aye an ootgo-// //an oo- an I think it was then fan ye// M1042: //Mmhm.// F1041: fan ye brak awa ye see everybody was close knit, //ye ken, like your auntie bade roon the corner,// F1043: //Aye.// F1041: yer sister would hae bade across the road, //yer uncle bade at ither side but fan that// F1043: //Aye.// F1041: fan that stopped eh like my auntie bade next door an her daughter bade next door, my great grunny bade across the road, my ma bade at the ither side o the road, an we were aa sort o in a group well fan ye brak up, I think that stops. //ye nae think so? Aye, aye.// M1042: //Yes uh-huh.// F1043: //I think fan the housin estates were built like Mastrick, Kincorth,// //a lot o people tae, in order tae get a hoose// F1041: //Northfield.// //Torry.// F1043: //had tae move oot o Torry,// //an I think that what started the brak up o this// M1042: //Mmhm.// F1041: //Mmhm street.// F1043: //the aa the faimlies bidin in the one street. I mean at one time I had three sisters// aa bidin in sublets //in the same street as wir mother bade.// F1041: //Aye.// F1043: An I mean ev- aa the washin was still taen up tae my mother even though they'd kiddies an aathing. It was my mother's hoose, because your sublet was only one bedroom that ye got, //an everything was still brought tae my mother's hoose,// M1042: //That's right.// F1043: an it was still a focal point. But fan Mastrick we had one sister move fan Mastrick was just two streets at that time, [inaudible] Kincorth an I think that was the start o the brak-up //o the the closer// M1042: //Well the sta-// F1041: //Mmhm aye.// M1042: //the start was in nineteen thirty-eight when they built Middlefield.// F1043: //k-// //Mmhm.// M1042: //We moved to Middlefield in nineteen thirty-eight,// and families from all over Aberdeen arrived in Middlefield, and was a, just a change of life but we at that time we carried on because we were in tenements, we carried on the tenement tradition of open doors and everybody visited everybody. It's all changed, now we've got security every place, eh but it was still a great thing but things changed, the way of speaking changed because we'd people from different areas. We'd tae learn what they meant because coming from where we came from we'd our own special language. //Then we'd tae learn somebody else's language, it was quite incredible that how ye changed.// F1043: //Mmhm.// F1054: Ehm did Mastrick and ehm all these other areas open up in, Kincorth, in the nineteen //thirties, nineteen forties?// F1043: //No, no.// //Eh oh no Kincorth was later than that, that was when my sisters were,// F1041: //No no later.// F1043: no you're speakin aboot the fifties, sixties, fan, an again they had a different type, they hadnae got the tenements that were within Torry it was mair //bungalows or a maisonette maybe one an one, or your// F1041: //Semi-detached.// F1043: own door, your own garden, which was unheard of in Torry; it's mostly tenements in, within Torry, an I think that type o culture broke it up. Ye didnae ken your next door neighbour exactly the same as ye would have in a tenement. Tenement had a closeness that nothing else had aboot it. M1042: That's the, that's the thing that always fascinated me was eh the, where ye were. I remember //oh sorry, yeah, I I I remember comin home one day// F1054: //Bob can I just ask you to put that doon if that's okay, it's just rustlin [inaudible]// M1042: and and eh I was havin a cup of tea, an there was no sugar. Ma says, "Sorry there's nae sugar. I havenae had time tae ging tae the shoppie". I says, "Well ging next door tae Mrs Merson, an ask her for a sup o sugar". "I cannae dae that", an I said, "Why nae?", //"We've only been here ten year".// F1041: //[laugh]// M1042: You know, we weren't, //didn't, hadn't fitted in yet.// F1041: //Ye didnae fit in.// M1042: Ten years [laugh] we still hadn't fitted in. F1040: //Mmhm.// F1041: //I'll tell you fit did it wi us though,// my mother flitted tae Torry in nineteen thirty-nine, an it was a fortnight before war was declared. Now, because there was a war on everybody was close, everybody was close ye didnae hae that because everybody sorta had tae fit in, because you shared somebody's lobby //fan the siren went aff,// M1042: //The siren, that's right.// F1041: an everybody shared, ye ken, I mean there wasnae o- there wasnae a lot o men gaun aboot //because they were aa awa tae war.// F1043: //Mm.// F1041: So I think the war in nineteen thirty-nine did mak incomers feel mair welcome ye ken because there was that affa closeness durin the war, wasn't there? //I think so, aye.// M1042: //Aye oh yes.// F1054: //That's interestin.// F1041: //Mmhm.// F1054: Ehm just to go back to the diagram again ehm [cough] let's have a think at oh 'female partner'. F1043: I still had 'bidie-in' doon for that as well because onybody that wisna mairied in that day an age tae me was aye cried their 'bidie-in'. F1040: Mm. //Mmhm.// F1054: //An have attitudes tae that changed now?// F1043: //An-// //Yes.// F1040: //Oh yes, yes.// F1041: //Well aabody's got a partner now.// //Aye.// M1042: //I hate that word 'partner', I hate that word 'partner'.// F1043: //Mmhm.// M1042: You've either got a a wife or a husband or a bidie-in as far as I'm concerned, partner's an awful word. F1043: It covers a multitude o sins, a partner. //It it could be any// F1040: //Yes.// M1042: //But but// F1043: sex, any gender or whatever. //Eh aye.// F1040: //That's right.// M1042: But but speakin of words, we call in Aberdeen we call boys 'loons', an we call girls 'quines'. Now many years ago my cousin came up from West Lothian, //and we're walk- he was older than me an an bigger than me,// F1043: //[inaudible]// M1042: an we're walkin up the road an this lad turned an said tae me, "Hi loonie, foo're ye daein?", an my cousin went up an smacked him right on the nose. "Dinnae, don't you call my cousin a loony". He thought he meant lunatic, he just meant //he was just bein very friendly [laugh] ye know?// F1043: //Mmhm.// M1042: //so he got a bloodied nose for bein friendly. [laugh]// F1041: //[laugh]// F1043: It was the same, I I had a brother that mairied a a Cockney lass, she was only sixteen year old at that time. He was daein his national service doon in Chatham in Kent, an of course they come up here for the marriage. Now, their father eh he thought nothing, it was, we were aa 'cows' //which was in Torry quite a derogative// M1042: //Terrible.// F1043: name tae give, it was equivalent tae a prostitute in that day in Torry. If somebody cried you a cow you were a prostitute but that was part o his language. //But// F1054: //When was this?// M1042: //Mmhm.// F1043: Oh well, they're celebratin their golden weddin next year, actually I'm just back fae visitin them in Australia an eh they're gaun awa tae New Zealand for their golden weddin so //that would be fifty year ago.// M1042: //Mmhm.// F1043: An as a I say fan e- we were aa cows. F1054: //An did he mean that in a// M1042: //[laugh]// F1054: //[inaudible] 'stupid cow', or no.// F1041: //No, no.// F1043: //No in a, no no, no.// E-e- that is their language that's a Cockney //phrase for a for a woman.// M1042: //For a woman.// F1054: So they'd say like well 'quine' //[inaudible].// F1043: //We would say 'quines',// an they would say, "Och that bunch o cows", but it was never derogatory. //But in oor language it was,// F1040: //[laugh]// M1042: //[laugh]// F1041: //Aye, it was 'cowbag', "Oh she's naething but a cowbag",// F1043: //which he didnae realise either, aye.// //Which was just another name for a prostitute really.// M1042: //Yeah.// F1041: //Mmhm.// F1040: //Mmhm.// F1043: //Mm.// F1054: Interesting. F1041: //Now we got into trouble for sayin that. [laugh]// F1043: //Oh definitely if you caed somebody that.// F1054: What about your 'friend'? What do you call them, Margaret, have you got a thought on that? F1040: Eh that would be your freen. //That's what ye call your friend, your freen, it is.// F1043: //Mmhm mmhm.// F1040: Good freens. F1054: So no D on the end there? F1040: //No no freen.// M1042: //No no.// //Mmhm.// F1040: //Just your freen.// Ye'd a lot o freens. [laugh] F1054: An what aboot relatives eh would you call them freens or neebours or anythin as well? F1040: //No just cousins or whatever they were, uncles or whatever, aunties.// F1041: //Your aunties or your uncles or, aye.// F1043: //Cousins [inaudible].// F1040: Mmhm. F1043: The only thing that we had I think different again comin through the fisher side o it was oor grandfathers were cried 'diddies'. I believe the equivalent come aff o the dominie as the head o the school, an diddy's a a definition o the head o the family. An it was the grandfather that used tae get cried //di- it was aye diddies wi us, my father was a diddy,// F1040: //I've never heard that.// F1041: //I've never heard that either.// //Never heard that.// F1040: //No.// F1043: //well for years once he [?]stopped[/?].// //but I, fae the fisher// M1042: //That's a new one on me.// F1041: //I think it comes [inaudible]// F1043: equivalent further up north your headmasters are cried dominies, //an I think it's a definition o that, a diddy// F1040: //Mmhm.// F1043: meanin a head o o somethin //an// F1040: //Well maybe.// //[inaudible]// M1042: //[inaudible]// F1043: //an a lot o people had never heard o it before but it was aye diddies wi us// M1042: I always notice that 'dominie' was not a word used in Aberdeen for a head teacher; we always called them 'heidy', //the heidy eh whether it be man or woman it was a heidy,// F1040: //Mm.// F1043: //[inaudible]// //Dominie.// F1040: //Mmhm.// M1042: //eh as a head teacher but outside Aberdeen it was always the the dominie// //so eh that word I'd never heard of before. Mmhm.// F1043: //An that's the reason I think that the 'diddie' comes aff o that some wey// but as I say my mother an father moved out o Torry in twenty-four was it, I've still got their marriage certificate actually. Ehm an that had just been part o their culture //was the head o the family was the diddy.// M1042: //Mmhm.// Mmhm. F1041: //Did they come fae Aberdeen, Sheila, or did// F1043: //And eh an that but there wa-. No no// //Buckie an Portnockie, see that's that's what I'm sayin it's, they come doon but// M1042: //Ah. [laugh]// F1041: //Ah [inaudible] that explains it.// //Aye.// F1043: //still back in nineteen twenty-four ye mair or less say// they were born intae Torry //if ye put it that wey doon the Ferry Road the// F1041: //Aye mmhm aye.// M1042: //Ah but they came wi their habit, their Buckie habit// F1043: //[inaudible]// F1054: //So that would have been a rural kind of an idea that they come an cried it 'diddie' shortened fae 'dominie' but they used it for the// M1042: //[inaudible]// F1054: //grandfaither?// F1043: //Head o, I think just the head o the family,// //because the the dominie is the head o the school,// F1041: //Mmhm.// F1043: an I think, that's my thinkin I've never actually checked it oot tae be honest, I just think it's the head o the family //was the diddy, aye.// M1042: //Can can I ask you three// F1041: //Mmhm probably.// M1042: aboot a word? See's. //See's.// F1041: //Pardon?// //See's?// M1042: //"See's a bit o yer piece".// //Now why's it 'see's' an not 'gie's'?// F1040: //Gie's.// F1041: //Oh gie's.// F1043: //Oh "gie's it, gie's a bit o your piece".// Oh I dinnae ken. F1040: //"See's a bit o your piece".// M1042: //It's a Torry word "see's a bit o your piece", give me a bit of your// F1041: //Dinnae ken, "gie's a bit o your piece", aye.// //Gie's a bite.// M1042: //piece.// //Yeah, that's right.// F1040: //[inaudible] gie's.// F1041: //Aye, gie's.// F1040: //Gie's is used as well// F1043: //Gie's [inaudible]// //[inaudible] oh aye 'see's' for us.// F1040: //Gie's but "see's a bit"// M1042: //Aye 'gie's' but but 'see's', 'see's'// an an I I've never understood it, where does it come from, 'see's'? F1054: //that is interestin isn't it, I've never heard o that either.// F1040: //No.// F1043: //Oh no I've heard o it.// //Aye, well used tae say it, "see a bit, see a bit o your piece", aye, "see a bit o your piece".// F1040: //[inaudible]// M1042: //[inaudible] Yes, 'see's that'.// F1041: //[inaudible]// F1054: //Do you use it anywhaur else or just for a piece?// F1043: //[inaudible]// F1040: //[inaudible]// M1042: //'See's that, see's'.// F1041: //No, you use it.// F1040: //You want, 'see's that'.// M1042: //Whatever object you want, see's that, see's that.// //It's 'give' it means 'give'.// F1054: //But it's it's not like 'seize'.// F1041: //No.// F1043: //No.// M1042: //'Give',// F1041: //'Give'.// M1042: but where the word comes from I don't know. I've never known, an an neither do I know where where eh 'contermacious' comes fae. //'Contermacious'.// F1040: //[laugh]// //[inaudible]// M1042: //I- I'll give you I'll give you a conversation right.// F1041: //Oh I ken no I dinnae ken whaur it comes fae but I ken contermacious.// M1042: You're sittin in a bar, "here's this gype comin in". "Whit do ye mean 'gype'? He's nae half as gypit as you". "Fit dae ye mean am I gypit?", "Aye, ye're nae only gypit ye're contermacious". "Ah, [?]faa we're gaun[/?] tae sea wi a mannie that cannae row". That's a conversation in a pub. F1054: What does that mean? M1042: A 'gype' is a 'fool'. Somebody who's 'gypit' is really foolish. 'Contermacious' means you're stubborn or F1040: Awkward. M1042: //awkward, awkward.// F1043: //Och, aye.// M1042: An "[?]Faa we're gaun[/?] tae sea wi a mannie that cannae row", means "you're stupid, you don't know how to row a boat". //Simple. Yes.// F1054: //But you use that for a general expression meanin somebody's stupid.// //No just if if you needed them tae go tae sea wi you.// F1040: //Mm.// M1042: //No.// //No no no no no just somebody that's stupid. Con- conter- contermacious, contermacious.// F1054: //An what was that word 'countermacious'?// F1040: //'Countermacious'// F1041: //Oh no, no no [inaudible].// F1043: //[inaudible]// //Mmhm.// F1054: //-macious?// F1040: //'Conter' means 'against', doesn't it?// F1041: //Aye 'contermacious'.// //Fan you conter onybody// F1040: //Just an awkward, awkward,// F1043: //An argumentative little twerp. [laugh]// //Mmhm.// F1040: //ye dinnae// F1041: //ye're disagreein wi them.// //So maybe contermacious means// F1040: //[inaudible]// M1042: //Contermacious folk are, folk are aye// //disagreein with ye, "ye contermacious"// F1041: //[inaudible]// M1042: so. F1054: Great, perfect. Ehm let's think now, what else? //Got 'grandfaither' we've been through that, any other words for 'granda'?// M1042: //Mmhm.// //No.// F1040: //No.// F1043: //Just 'oor diddy' an// //an as I say I think that comes fae the north,// M1042: //Mm.// //I've never heard o that.// F1041: //No never heard o it, of course maybe bein fae Buckie or// F1043: //really, I d- aye it aye was in oor// F1041: it's a word that's common tae them. //Aye mmhm must be.// F1040: //Mmhm.// F1043: //That's what I'm sayin I think it must come from the north because// I mean it wisnae just my father, it was my uncles them that were grandfathers, an their faimlies. //They were a// F1054: //Sorry, can I just ask you to stop a second I've got to change my batteries.// F1041: //Aye.// //[inaudible] ower Gaelic did you say?// M1042: //Gaelic.// F1043: //aye [inaudible] at the time// F1040: //Mmhm.// F1041: //Gaelic.// F1054: What aboot the the name for somebody you cannae mind the name of? M1042: //'Thingmy'.// F1041: //Aye.// F1043: //A 'thingummy bob'. [laugh]// M1042: //'Thingmy'.// F1041: //[inaudible]// "Aye ye mind it was yon wifie that we met at", an ye would ging //uh-huh.// F1054: //Back.// F1041: Or "that mannie, //remember we met him?", aye.// F1040: //[inaudible] [laugh]// //[laugh]// F1041: //"Mind he was a right pest?', or somethin like that, or we would gie a description o wha we were// say they're beautiful or they're a pest or. F1054: Sort o thing, yeah. F1041: Yeah. F1054: Anybody anything else, Margaret //got any others or?// F1040: //No that's just aboot it for that I think.// M1042: Eh the other word for somebody you've forgotten is, "You ken //ye ken, ye ken".// F1041: //"Ye ken fine wha I mean".// F1054: //[inaudible]// M1042: //Ye just keep sayin, "Ye ken" an that's it [laugh]// //[inaudible]// F1043: //Just aye 'thingummybob' but aye, aye this is.// F1054: //What what what-do-you-cry-her?// M1042: //[inaudible]// F1043: Cry. F1054: What-do-you-cry-her? F1041: //[inaudible] Aye mm.// F1043: //'Thingummybob' I would hae s- 'thingummybob', 'her wi the big nose', or 'her wi the// //droopy eyes' or you would try an describe it.// F1040: //Mmhm.// F1041: //Mmhm.// F1054: What aboot a baby? M1042: //Bairnie.// F1041: //A bairnie.// F1043: //Bairn.// F1040: //Bairnie.// F1041: //In Fittie we were tended tae add Es tae aathing,// like 'bairnie', you might say just 'bairn', //but we would say 'bairnie'.// F1043: //Aye.// F1040: //[inaudible]// M1042: //Well,// F1041: //Because Fittie folk adda lot o Es.// F1040: //[inaudible]// M1042: //well well,// F1043: //But Torry did that an aa, if you remember, 'buses', 'busie'.// //It was aye the 'busie' or the or the Es were added on tae Torry as well.// M1042: //well the whole the whole thing about the Torry language// F1041: //Aye the 'busie', aye 'beside the busie'.// M1042: is they add I.E. on to everything. When my daughter was born we were lookin for a name an I said "we've got to have a name with I.E. on it because they always add IE," so we called her Kerrie. I went up to th- register her birth an the registrar said, "And the child's name is what?", and I said, "Kerrie". He said, "Kerrie? Really?" and I said, "Yes", he said, "That would be K.E.R.R.Y.?" And I said, "No, she's from Torry an her name will be Kerrie with an IE". He picked up his pen an he threw it right across the room, an said, "That is the most ridiculous name I've ever heard of in my life. When this girl becomes an adult she will change her name". Now they don't call her Kerrie; everybody in Torry calls her Kerr. The- so one way they don't [laugh], you know, they haven't used the I.E. but in Torry the I.E. is put on to everything, 'loonie', //'quinie', 'busie', 'shoppie',// F1041: //[inaudible]// F1043: //[inaudible]// M1042: 'bairnie', 'doggie'. //It just, 'mannie', 'wifie', it just goes on and on and on, you add// F1041: //Aye.// F1043: //Mannies, wifies, mannies, wifies.// M1042: I.E. to everything. F1040: //That's right.// F1041: //Catties an doggies. [laugh]// F1054: That is interesting. Ehm what about 'a kit of tools'? F1043: I couldnae think, honestly, F1040: No. F1043: o a name that we could have gien that. //I just cannae think.// F1041: //I just, ye just put doon his 'tools', dae ye?// Cause my brother was a joiner an he he he just cried it his tools, his work //tools.// F1043: //His tool kit.// M1042: //My my da// F1041: //Just his tool kit, that's it.// M1042: my da used tae ca it 'the box', "awa an get the box", //an ye knew he wanted his tools, ye know, just 'the box' an that was it.// F1041: //Aye mmhm.// F1054: I mean even if ye cannae think o a word for it //that's significant in itsel because it shows that there's no local// M1042: //Mmhm.// //Yeah.// F1054: //words for it.// F1040: //Mm.// F1041: //Uh-huh.// F1043: //I couldnae// //think o ony ava,// F1040: //Mm.// F1043: just a 'tool box' an that would have been it. F1054: That's fine. Ehm, what about 'a young person in cheap trendy clothes an jewellery'? Did I no hear somebody discussin words before? M1042: //No.// F1041: //Aye, it would be 'slapper' now.// F1043: //I would hae said 'tart' which I still think it would be the day. [laugh]// F1041: But I dinnae ken. //Aye.// M1042: //No we'd just say, "See her", or "See him" [laugh] an that was it, ye know.// //There's no word, no.// F1040: //Aye probably.// F1043: //I think it still is a 'tart' actually. [laugh]// F1041: Or "You look like", ye ken, if if it's one o yer ain ye ye're speakin til an ye're sayin, "Oh ye cannae wear that, ye look like a shorewalker", //ye ken, "get that aff, ye look terrible".// F1043: //Mm.// F1054: What's a shorewalker? M1042: //[laugh] Prostitutes.// F1041: //[laugh]// F1043: //Far the prostitutes in eh Aberdeen.// F1041: Far the tolerance zone is. F1054: //Shorewalker.// F1043: //[laugh] Go.// F1041: Mmhm. //Walkin the shore.// F1054: //'Ah, and is that ah and is that because it's, happens tae be// M1042: //She walks alang the shore.// F1043: //The shore, [inaudible].// F1040: //The red light area.// F1041: //Or 'ladies of the night',// //'ladies of the night'.// F1043: //Yeah.// F1041: That was my two grandchildren sittin in the back o the car an it was, it was pourin rain an we were gaun doon an there's nae hardly ony in Fittie now, nae the top half, an there was two lassies standin there in the pourin rain an I said tae my hubby, "Fit's that two lassies standin oot there //for, gettin// F1043: //[laugh]// F1041: drookit they're gettin soakin", an the little voice fae the back pipes up an she says, "Granny do you not know that that's ladies of the night". //Now I had never heard that before.// M1042: //[laugh]// F1041: //I'd never heard, never heard it, aye, aye.// F1043: //Oh aye, but it was just aye 'pros' or or 'shorewalkers', as you said,// because the shore has aye been infamous in Aberdeen, because it is a shoreline harbour, eh aa the merchant men an everybody //navy durin the war.// F1041: //Uh-huh it's a place of employment.// Yes. //[laugh]// F1054: //Job centre.// F1043: //That's it. [laugh]// Street workers. //[laugh]// F1041: //[laugh]// F1054: Ehm, now let's see, let's go onto the 'inside an outside', you mentioned a good word there ehm Billie ye said that 'she's drookit'. M1042: //Aye.// F1041: //Aye 'drookit', aye that's 'soakin'.// F1054: //What what words do we have for 'raining heavily'?// F1040: //Mmhm.// F1043: //Drenched.// M1042: //Pourin, absolutely pourin.// F1041: //Pourin.// Rainin cats an dogs. //Oh aye.// F1043: //Chuckin it doon. [laugh]// //Well I've got a different version o that one.// M1042: //It was pourin this mornin I'll tell ye.// //I got soaked twice [laugh] yeah, so but,// F1041: //[inaudible] for messages the day an we were// //drookit.// M1042: //yeah but// yeah 'drookit' is a big word. //That's when oh God ye're absolutely drookit an I was drookit this mornin.// F1041: //Mmhm when ye're soakin.// F1040: //Uh-huh.// M1042: //Oh.// F1054: An what aboot when it's rainin lightly, when it's not as heavy as that? F1040: //Drizzlin, drizzlin.// M1042: //[inaudible]// F1041: //Och just drizzlin.// F1043: //Aye.// M1042: An sometimes I say, "It's a Scotch mist. Scotch mist the day", [laugh] ye know? F1054: What aboot 'smirr'? Is that a word? F1040: //Not often used here no, not often used here.// M1042: //Not up here, 'smirr' is not a word used here.// F1041: //No.// F1040: No. It's mostly just 'drizzlin'. //[inaudible]// F1043: //It sounds like a European thing actually, a 'smirr' oh!// //[laugh]// F1054: //Oh yes! 'Smirring'.// What about 'the main room in the house with a TV in it'? F1041: //Well we cried it wur 'kitchen' because we didnae hae livin rooms when we were little,// F1043: //Aye.// F1041: so yer yer main room was yer kitchen, yer bedroom because ye had a bed recess, so yer bed was in the recess so it was yer kitchen cause that was far ye cooked, it was yer bedroom because there was a bed in it, it was a dinin room because there was a table an four chairs and that's where [laugh] so ye did aathing in one room F1043: Well I'm afraid I had a couple of posh aunties an it was always the 'parlour' wi them an ye were only allowed in on a Sunday. //If ye went down on a Sunday, if ye were dressed, yes, it was the only time a parlour w- it was like// M1042: //Yes.// F1041: //Aye if nobody died, funerals an weddings.// F1043: yer Sunday best clothes, ye were only allowed them on a Sunday, //an the parlour was treated like that as well.// F1041: //Mmhm.// //Aye, aye.// F1043: //But that was just by my posh aunties, it was just a kitchen an livin room// //wi us.// M1042: //Yeah, er,// F1041: Well my grunny had a settee an two chairs an a piano in her //parlour.// F1040: //[laugh]// F1054: //Beat that!// M1042: //Well we we// F1041: //[laugh]// //[inaudible]// M1042: //ou- ours was always just the kitchen an then there wa- was the bedroom for my sisters,// and then there was 'the room', an 'the room' was kept pristine clean, there was a piano in it, my sisters played piano, an only visitors could go there an the only time we were allowed in 'the room' was when there were visitors, ye know, otherwise nobody ever entered that place. So the livin room was called the kitchen, an then we'd two bedrooms an that was it. F1041: Did ye nae get in at funerals? //Well my grunny opened the door when there was a funeral or if onybody was comin for a weddin.// M1042: //At funerals oh [inaudible] [laugh].// //Well that was, that was important, ye know, a funeral was important an the body// F1040: //Aye a funeral was important uh-huh.// F1041: //[laugh]// M1042: //stayed in 'the room'.// F1043: //[inaudible] room.// M1042: An I can remind, I can remember the smell of eau de cologne to this day. //Eau de cologne means death to me, the smell of eau de cologne,// F1043: //an chrysanthemums [laugh]// M1042: cause they used tae sprinkle the body because oh God. Oh. F1054: Margaret, what aboot in your hoose, what was the main room wi your TV in it, or what is it now? F1040: What is it now? //Oh// M1042: //A shambles.// //[laugh]// F1040: //No I am in a wee sheltered house now,// and eh I have a living room and a bedroom, a kitchen and a bathroom. But I didn't always have that. When I was first married I had three rooms, and one was the kitchen and the other was the bedrooms, for myself an one for the family. //So, yes, uh-huh.// F1054: //So basically you just had the kitchen where you cooked and sat as well.// M1042: //Mm.// F1040: An then the other two rooms were the bedrooms for myself, my husband an the kids F1054: An what dae yer family call their room with a TV in it now? F1040: Just a kitchen. You're just in the kitchen. F1054: Ccause I would tend tae think nooadays the kitchen as bein the place ye just cook, //[inaudible]// F1040: //Yes, now it is.// F1041: //Mmhm now.// F1040: //Now it is because things have got better now than than it was before,// F1043: //[inaudible] living rooms.// F1040: //ye know?// M1042: //Well,// wh- when we moved eh out of a tenement an we had a living room an a kitchen an a bathroom, the kitchen wasn't called the kitchen, //it was called the 'scullery' and the living room was called the 'kitchen',// F1043: //'scullery' mmhm// //Kitchen. Scullery.// M1042: //an t- tae the day my parents died the living room was always called the kitchen an the kitchen was called the scullery,// an that was it. F1040: [inaudible] as well. F1041: But yer ma an yer da, they aye slept in the //well the kitchen because they had,// M1042: //In the recess.// F1041: they were in a bed in the recess because mainly every //every house had a recess, had a bed recess.// F1040: //Mm yes.// M1042: //Aye yes.// //[?]That's right[/?].// F1041: //an there was a double bed in there an that's for the// //heid o the faimlies.// F1040: //Aye.// M1042: //[inaudible] comfy as well.// My grunny had one. //When ye went in ye sunk aboot a fit intae the feathers ye know, it was lovely. [laugh]// F1040: //Oh! Tell me about it.// F1041: //[inaudible]// F1043: //[inaudible]// F1041: But ye ken fan fan my mither brought up four bairns in one room, an I slept in a a big sized cot till I was nearly nine, an my auldest brother had tae move ower tae my grunny's because they aa slept in one bed. An we had water in the stairheid; we didnae hae water in the hoose. //My mother didnae hae a sink inside, aye.// F1043: //We were affa fortunate eh// //my mother// F1041: //No.// F1043: an father got intae Glenbervie fan it was first built. It'd be early thirties. We were born in there so I never had the outside toilet, we were really posh at that time we'd an inside //toilet,// M1042: //Wow!// F1043: bathroom, //which was unheard o, a separate kitchen and a separate scullery.// F1040: //[laugh]// M1042: //Oh.// F1043: but two bedrooms, livin room with nine children. F1041: Aye. F1043: Nowadays they say, "I've got two kids I need a bigger //hoose".// F1040: //Hoose, aye.// //Mmhm.// F1043: //An yet my mither an father brought up nine o us which was eleven in total// //in that two-bedroomed house. But we were still// F1041: //Mmhm two two bedrooms, aye.// F1043: well aff because we'd an inside bathroom an toilet. //It was unheard of in the thirties.// F1041: //Toilet aye.// F1054: //What was Glenbervie?// M1042: //Well I I// F1043: //That was when Glenbervie was built.// Glenbervie Road, the graniters Lawrieston, Girdlestone, Glenbervie, they were they started the granite tenements that were built in Torry. //An as I say they were really modern for that day and age, in the thirties tae hae that equipment.// F1040: //Mmhm.// M1042: //Mmhm.// F1043: Tiny wee kitchens nowadays that that wouldnae exist now but they managed. //An they were, an actually they// F1040: //Mmhm.// //Mmhm.// F1043: //they died there an they were baith cairied oot o there.// F1041: Do ye nae think or do ye nae feel that that was a time fan aabody was close? Because wi us it was wir grunny, //ye ken,// M1042: //Mm.// F1041: we aye gaed tae wir grunny for wir Sunday dinner cause we couldnae aa get roond the table. [laugh] //Aye, an an ye ye would have had a bath at yer grunny's,// F1043: //Ye get yer shifts, I ken aye. [laugh]// F1041: because only haein one room, there was nae, ye couldnae hae a bath, there wasnae enough room but yer, yer aabody helped aabody oot //an yer yer grunny was yer queen bee.// M1042: //Yeah.// //When I i-// F1054: //[bell rings]// Let's wait until this stops. M1042: //When I, we used tae go to my granny's in Fittie,// F1041: //[inaudible]// F1043: //That's anither bell, see that's one thing we [inaudible].// M1042: fourteen grandchildren every Sunday without fail, fourteen granchildren in a tiny room. An we all got fed, an we w- had tae wait till my granda tasted whatever we were eatin. An he was a oh stern man, he used tae [smack lips] "It's nae bad, it's nae bad", an that meant this the broth was good. //And the other thing,// F1041: //Good! [laugh]// M1042: fish, yellae fish. An I s- I said tae my grunny, "Could I hae a fork an knife, Grunny?" F1041: Oh no no! [laugh] //Fork an knife. [laugh]// M1042: //An Granda said, "Fork an knife? Fit do ye think God gave ye yer fingers for?// Eat yer fish loon!" //An I had tae use my fingers tae eat my fish. [laugh]// F1041: //[laugh]// F1054: So you never had forks an knives tae eat wi? F1040: //Oh aye, aye.// M1042: //Very rare [inaudible]// F1043: //Very rare ve- if if visitors if visitors came again// //but if you were just sittin there as a faimly an if it was eatable wi your fingers,// F1041: //[inaudible]// F1043: it was your, it was used tae be a great big ashet o maybe say sat herrin, //that was a great d- delicacy, a great big tattie// M1042: //Yes sat herrin [inaudible].// F1043: ashet an then a great big ashet o tatties. An each ane just leant ower an took them an eat them an that was it. F1054: That's interestin, I've never heard o that //no usin forks an knives.// F1040: //I never knew that, I always used fork an knives.// M1042: //Oh no no no.// F1041: //[inaudible]// F1043: //[inaudible]// //[inaudible]// F1040: //[laugh] Yes, aye, I aye used fork an knives.// F1041: //We aye got forks and knives,// I must say. But I suppose it was a lot o the times, ye ken, like in the Shetlands they dinnae peel tatties, they scrub them an byle them. So fan they're byled you took aff the skin. //Well I think we did that an aa because as you're sayin you got sat herrin. No.// F1043: //No we just ate aathing, skin an everything.// //Aye [inaudible].// M1042: //Yeah, so did we. [laugh]// F1040: //Mm.// F1041: //We peeled them but we did it wi wur fingers,// F1043: //I aye thought they were better wi the skin.// M1042: //My my my problem is I've got a s-// F1041: //ken?// M1042: New Zealander for a wife and I I still tend tae boil potatoes wi the jackets on, F1041: Aye. M1042: an she peels them so carefully, [laugh] //so an I just take a tattie an eat it. [laugh]// F1040: //So do I. [laugh]// F1041: //No my hubby does that but that was// F1043: //Probably [inaudible] [?]digestion that[/?].// //Mm.// F1041: //that was fit they did in the Shetlands, well they did in Whalsay.// They just peeled aff the skin aifter the tatties were bylt. An my mother-in-law didnae believe in washin fish too much. //She says, "cause ye washed the good oot it, no, no".// M1042: //Oh ye cannae wash fish ower much, just a wee sweel,// F1043: //No that's true, that's.// //True.// M1042: //a wee sweel, dae ye ken what a sweel is?// //Swill, swill.// F1054: //Swivel?// F1043: //Mmhm.// M1042: Swee- just sweel the fish just like that, right through the water an that's it. An then you might tap it dry a wee bitty an then //cook yer fish, oh fish is wonderful.// F1054: //Isn't it?// //Right, 'runne- running water// F1041: //Fine.// F1054: smaller than a stream, smaller than a river'. F1040: //Burn.// M1042: //Burn or a burnie.// F1041: //A burnie.// //Aye a burnie, burnie.// F1054: //Burn, burnie.// M1042: //It's a burn or it's a burnie. If it's a if it's a wide ane// F1043: //Burn.// M1042: it's a burn, if it's a narrow ane it's a burnie. F1054: Good. Ehm 'long soft seat in main room'. F1041: A cooch. //A cooch, aye a cooch, cooch.// F1043: //[laugh] That's aye a cooch.// F1040: //Couldnae think what that was.// M1042: //Aye.// A cooch. //Try a cooch.// F1054: //I heard you say anither word earlier on as well, Billie.// F1043: //Try a cooch [inaudible].// F1054: When ye were speakin aboot yer auntie, what did she have in her parlour? F1041: Oh she'd a settee an twa chairs. //Aye, a settee an twa chairs an i-// M1042: //Settee.// F1043: //Aye settee.// F1041: ah but that was cried a suite. An ye only had that in the posh room, //the room for the funerals, ken. [laugh]// F1040: //[laugh]// M1042: //We we we// F1043: //[laugh] Aye.// F1041: The only time that aa the relations an distant anes met. M1042: We we we'd a cooch covered in rexine //an we were not allowed tae sit on it.// F1043: //Oh aye.// M1042: Only visitors could sit on it. F1054: What's rexine? M1042: //Rexine's an imitation leather.// F1041: //But it was hard wearin.// F1043: //[inaudible] leather.// M1042: Yeah an an an we were just not allowed tae sit on it, ye know? [laugh] //No way did you sit on the [laugh] cooch.// F1043: //No.// F1054: //What aboot you, Margaret?// F1041: //Well my grunny's was [?]my pet[/?].// F1040: Aye I'd I suppose the cooch. //Yeah yeah the cooch, uh-huh, aye, cooch.// F1041: //[inaudible]// F1043: //[inaudible]// F1054: Okay, what aboot ehm 'narrow walkway between or alongside buildings'. M1042: //It's aye a lanie, lanie.// F1041: //A lanie.// F1043: //Just a lanie.// F1054: What about a close or a M1042: //A closie, a closie's, a closie's different ye see I, where I was born// F1043: //No that's west, that's west coast again.// M1042: we were doon a closie, a closie's an archway, F1043: Mmhm. //It's got a roof.// M1042: //ye know? So, it's got a roof on it an I was born doon the closie.// //Literally.// F1054: //Literally, outside?// M1042: //In, no inside but in but in my ma's knickers.// F1043: //[laugh]// M1042: She refused tae tak her knickers aff. F1041: //[laugh]// F1043: //[laugh]// //I kent there was somethin wrang wi you, Bob. [laugh]// F1041: //[laugh]// //He was dropped on his heid!// F1043: //[laugh]// //[laugh]// M1042: //An my aunt-,// F1041: //[inaudible] [laugh]// //[laugh]// M1042: //an my a- my auntie picked me out o my ma's knickers,// an says, "Oh fit a shame, fit a shame, he's gonnae die by droonin", F1041: //[laugh]// F1043: //[laugh]// M1042: because I've got a mole on my right thigh, an this is a sign that I'm going to die by drowning. //So// F1043: //[laugh]// F1040: //Well ye bide aside a river. [laugh]// M1042: //I bide// F1041: //[laugh]// M1042: right on the river. F1040: //[laugh]// F1041: //Never mind, Bob I come sailin doon the Dee in a dishcloot,// //so I'll save you. [laugh] My mother used tae aye tell me that if I said til her,// F1040: //[laugh]// M1042: //[laugh]// F1041: "Far was I born?" //"Ah you come sailin doon the Dee in a dishcloot", [laugh] so// M1042: //[laugh]// F1043: //[laugh]// F1054: An the Dee is the river here? M1042: //Aye, and I was born.// F1041: //Aye [laugh] on the Torry side an I was born in Fittie.// F1043: //[laugh]// M1042: //And I live on the river bank.// F1041: //[inaudible] Torry// //[inaudible]// F1054: //Do you, whereabouts, whereabouts do you live, Bob? Whereabouts do you live?// M1042: //Yes, eh?// F1043: //[inaudible] aye// //[inaudible]// M1042: //South Esplanade West, eh// between the Queen Elizabeth Bridge //and the Victoria Bridge.// F1054: //Is that by the boat-houses?// M1042: //Yes I [inaudible] I'm directly across from there.// F1041: //[laugh]// //[inaudible]// F1054: //Okay. Right ehm// M1042: //So that's where I live.// F1054: let's think, now let's go into 'getting personal'. If somebody is awful weel aff, what would they be? F1043: Oh they're rich, [laugh] they're weel weel aff. //The// F1041: //Weel-endowed.// //Wi money or wi fat? [laugh]// F1040: //No, no. [laugh]// F1043: //No no that means something different. [laugh]// //[laugh]// F1040: //[laugh]// M1042: //[laugh]// F1041: //Fit weel endow- oh I oh no no no but you could be weel-endowed wi onything!// //Doesnae need tae be your boobs. [laugh]// F1043: //No, ye'd be weel aff.// //Weel aff, weel aff.// F1054: //What aboot if ye [inaudible]// M1042: //Rich rich is weel aff as far as I'm concerned, wee- weel aff.// F1041: //[laugh]// F1054: What aboot if you lack money, what are you? M1042: //Skint.// F1041: //Oh, you're poor, broke.// F1043: //Skint. [laugh]// //Never a maik tae rub thegither, aye// F1041: //That's right.// F1054: //And ehm.// F1043: //and a maik means a penny in.// //A maik, a hapenny, aye a maik.// F1054: //What did you say there, sorry Sheila?// M1042: //A hapenny.// F1043: Never a maik tae rub thegither, a maik was a half-penny in that days. Hapenny, half-penny. F1041: Now ye see we aye said, "never twa maiks tae rub thegither". F1043: Oh two, I suppose you need two afore ye can //rub them thegither, we're back tae well-endowed! [laugh]// F1041: //Aye that was just a sayin that, I thought was maybe different// //fae [laugh] well-endowed.// M1042: //Well we we we just tae say, 'havenae got twa maiks'.// F1041: tae rub together. //[laugh]// M1042: //Well we never said 'tae rub together', just 'havenae got twa maiks', twa maiks// //makes one penny, that's it. [laugh]// F1043: //[inaudible]// F1054: //Margaret, do you have any thoughts aboot that?// F1040: //Nothin, eh// F1041: //Fit is weel-endowed [inaudible]// //[inaudible]// F1040: //No eh skint, I think, is the// //is the the most// M1042: //Skint to me.// F1040: //used word I think for, skint.// F1041: //Fit, skint?// //Aye skint.// F1040: //'I'm skint' means 'I havenae got anything', you know, you're poor// //if ye're skint.// F1041: //Mmhm.// //What does 'weel endowed' mean, Margaret, tell me.// F1054: //What aboot// F1040: //[laugh] I'll tell ye efter.// F1041: //So// No, tell me now. //Go on. Eh?// F1054: //I think it's more a male thing, I think it's more a male thing, Margaret.// M1042: //[laugh]// F1054: //Billie's [inaudible]// F1041: //Oh no no no [laugh] I've got anither name for that.// F1043: //[laugh]// F1054: //Whit's that?// F1041: //[laugh]// //[laugh] No we winnae ging doon that road.// F1043: //[inaudible] [laugh]// //[inaudible] sorry [inaudible]// F1054: //No.// F1041: //We'll just, we'll keep tae the straight an narrow.// I thought she was speakin aboot boobies there, 'weel endowed'. F1054: [laugh] What aboot ehm 'attractive'? F1040: //Bonny, bonny.// F1041: //Bonny.// F1043: //Bonny lass.// //Bonny.// F1040: //Bonny.// M1042: //Affa bonny.// F1054: //Is it bonny or boney?// F1043: //[inaudible]// //B.O.N.N.Y., that's one thing that we didnae put the I.E. on, it was bonny, B.O.N.N.Y., aye.// F1040: //Bonny, B.O.N.N.Y., bonny, I.E. ontae, no bonny, yer're a bonny lass.// M1042: //Bonny, bonny, affa bonny.// //Affa bonny.// F1054: //Cause we say 'bonny' in Shetland as well but it's different fae 'bonny'.// F1043: //Mmhm.// //Ah bonny,// F1054: //What do they say in// F1040: //Mm.// F1054: //Fife, 'bonny'?// F1043: //a bonny, bonny lass.// //Mmhm.// F1054: //what aboot the opposite o that// M1042: //A bonny quine.// Nae bonny. //Just 'she's nae bonny her'.// F1040: //[inaudible]// F1041: //'What a face she has, it would clip cloots'.// F1043: //Aye.// //[laugh]// F1040: //Aye that's was a possible.// M1042: //'A face that would clip cloots'.// F1041: //[laugh]// //[laugh]// F1040: //[laugh]// M1042: //[laugh]// F1040: //Aye but that that that, if ye said// F1041: //Or 'a [?]thumb[/?] that would clip cloots an aa'// F1040: 'a face that would clip cloots' that meant that they were, now wait till I get the word, I'm terrible wi words. Ehm 'face that would clip cloots', 'scowlin', //sorta scowlin.// F1041: //Aye, right enough.// F1043: //[inaudible] scowlin.// F1040: //'A face that would clip cloots' if they were scowlin, aye.// F1041: //Mmhm well one of these unattractive, it's got a scowl on, have they, aye.// F1043: I mean again probably comin fae oor roots back up north was 'a face like a Buckie drifter'. //And [laugh] that was an affy ane an aa, an it must have originally come fae// M1042: //[laugh]// F1041: //Aye well.// M1042: //That's fae Buckie, yeah.// F1043: //my mither an faither then, aye.// //A 'Buckie drifter', a fishin boat,// F1054: //What was that, Sheila?// //Mmhm.// F1043: //it gaed oot tae sea, a sma fishin boat that gaed oot tae sea, a Buckie drifter.// //An// F1054: //Was that an insult// tae look like a fishin boat then? F1041: //[laugh]// F1043: //Aye, if you'd seen a Buck- if you'd seen a Bu- Buckie drifter, aye it is. [laugh]// F1054: Okay, what aboot ehm 'attractive', 'unattractive', 'drunk'? F1040: //Bleezin.// F1041: //Blootered, bleezin.// F1054: Blootered or plootered? F1040: //Blootered.// M1042: //Foonert.// F1041: //Blootered.// F1043: //Blootered.// //Mmhm.// F1040: //Foonert, foonert, is that's a, aye.// M1042: //Foonert, absolutely foonert.// That's //Bleezin.// F1040: //There's a few words.// F1041: //There's a few di-, aye bleezin.// F1043: //[inaudible] 'state o him, he's bleezin'.// F1041: Or 'look at him, he's just blootered'. F1054: And ehm what aboot oh 'pregnant'? M1042: //Up the spoot.// F1043: //Mmhm.// F1054: What was that? M1042: Up the spoot. F1041: Expectin. //We just aye said, 'Oh she's expectin'.// F1043: //Yeah.// //I've got 'up the spoot' an aa, we-, ken this, I didnae even notice, 'up the spoot' I have an aa.// F1041: //[inaudible] [laugh] I thought that was mair// a mair modern ane 'up the spoot'. //Is it nae?// M1042: //No.// F1043: //No.// No, 'she's up the spoot'. M1042: An the other one was as my ma used tae aye say, 'she's on wey'. F1054: //What's that?// F1043: //Mmhm.// //On one.// M1042: //'She's that way'.// //'She's on wey'.// F1041: //'Preggers'.// M1042: My ma never used the word 'pregnant' or anything. //'She's on wey, ye ken', [laugh] oh aye. [laugh]// F1043: //Mm.// F1054: What about 'left-handed' F1041: Corrie-fisted. F1043: Oh we're cack-handed. //Aye it was aye cack-handed wi us.// M1042: //Cack-handed.// F1041: //Aye, corrie-fisted.// //Mmhm.// F1054: //Corrie-fisted.// Right. Ehm see now, u- up to the next one, up, what you do, 'to throw something'. F1043: Chuck. //Chuck it awa.// F1040: //Chuck, chuck something.// M1042: Shy. F1054: Shy? M1042: //To shy it.// F1043: //Oh aye.// F1054: //Mmhm.// M1042: //Mmhm.// F1054: An I guess that's maybe why it's caed a 'coconut shy'? F1040: //Mm mmhm.// F1041: //That's it.// F1043: //Shy could be// F1054: //Is that a a Torry thing, Bob, a shy?// M1042: //Mmhm.// It's an Aiberdeen thing, 'shy', 'to shy something', it's Aiberdeen, it's Torry, it's Fittie, it's aawhere. Mmhm. F1041: //Or tae shy awa fae something is tae draw awa fae it, isn't it, an aa, it's got// F1043: //Mmhm.// //[inaudible]// F1040: //Mmhm.// M1042: //Yeah A- Aberdeen words have got, Aberdeen words have got lots o different meanings, it depends on the context.// F1041: //there's a lot o that words got two meanins, aye, it's// //Or you can say 'stot'// F1040: //Aye, aye, aye.// M1042: //All depends on the context.// F1043: //Chuck oot [inaudible], chuckin the door tae.// //Mm.// F1041: //Aye ye can throw it an ye could stot it,// //ken? Aye, ye stot a ba aff the wa,// F1043: //Ye stot a ba aff the wa.// F1041: well ye throw a ba at the, a ball at the wall, but ye'd stot it. F1054: //Stot a ba at the wa.// F1043: //Mm.// //Aye.// F1041: //Aye ye stot a ba at the wa, that's it.// F1054: Mmhm that's int-. I never heard that one before //Ehm,// M1042: //Mm.// F1054: what aboot 'to play truant'? F1041: //Skulk the school.// F1043: //Jinkin the school.// //It was aye jinkin.// F1041: //Skulkin.// //An to jink.// F1054: //Jinkin?// M1042: //I'd say jinkin as well.// F1043: //Aye, jinkin the school.// M1042: //Jinking school the day.// F1041: //Mm.// //No I never heard that [inaudible].// F1040: //I never heard that one, it was skulk, it was aye 'skulk', aye 'skulk the school'.// M1042: //Jinkin, we always used tae,// F1043: //[inaudible]// F1054: //You didnae skive, Margaret?// F1040: //No I didnae do that. [laugh]// M1042: //I didnae skive until I got intae the army.// F1041: //No we didnae skive [inaudible].// M1042: //[laugh] Bunch o bloody skivers.// F1043: //[inaudible] fan ye was runnin// awa fae somebody or you you jink awa tae the side, //an I think that's fae the jinkin, it was aye 'jinkin school', I ken,// F1040: //[inaudible]// F1041: //Oh maybe aye, see two meanins again, see aye.// //Mmhm.// F1043: //two different, entirely diff- different things for the same.// It was aye jinkin school wi us. An I think it was wi the chasin thing when ye was aye jinkin aboot a lot. F1041: Skivin //was aye anither ane that we used,// F1043: //Aye.// F1040: //Mmhm skivin mmhm.// F1041: //used tae skive the school, a skulk.// F1054: What aboot 'tae sleep'? Can you just watch wi yer //aye, no you're fine, it's just rattlin a wee bit wi your microphone.// F1041: //Oh!// F1054: //What aboot// F1043: //Good, I've got doon 'hae a kip'.// //Aye.// F1040: //That's aboot it as// //there's nae really a word for sleep, kip, ye're goin for a kip, ye're goin for a// F1043: //Sleep, no.// F1040: //a nap sorta style, aye.// F1041: //Or a [inaudible] snooze just// M1042: Doze, snooze, kip. //No there's nothing s- no- nothing we've got no special word for that at all.// F1054: //Nothing kinda Torry though is there?// F1040: //Nothing no no, not a word for that, no.// F1054: Ehm let's see now, 'to play a game'? //[inaudible]// M1042: //[inaudible] for that at all. Er.// F1043: //I have nothin ava doon for that tae be honest.// //To play a game.// F1054: //Yeah cause north-east folk is ower hard workin tae have time tae play games.// F1040: //Dead right!// M1042: //[laugh]// F1041: //Games oh.// F1040: //[laugh]// F1043: //Oh I mean when we were kids we were oot fae mornin tae night but I still cannae think o a word.// //Just, aye, aye.// M1042: //We used the word play, 'let's play// F1041: //No, you've got names for games but you hadnae, ye just gaed oot tae play.// M1042: //kick the cannie' an an things like that, but we we never had any word for// F1043: //[inaudible]// //Playing.// M1042: //playing.// F1054: //Fock in Dundee spoke aboot kick the can, what was that?// F1040: //For play.// M1042: //That's kick the cannie, well you've got a can, you put it on the floor,// F1043: //[inaudible]// M1042: an ye kick it as hard as ye can, an then someone's got to go an chase that can, meanwhile you all disappear. //It's like a hide-and-seek game.// F1043: //It's like hide-and-seek mmhm.// F1054: An then they have tae find find you? M1042: //Find you, yeah.// F1041: //Ye've got to hae a mannie tae come and find ye, or a wifie,// F1043: //Aye [inaudible].// M1042: //An he// F1041: //or a kid.// M1042: an he had to put the can back, an when he captured people they all just stand in a circle but if you could run in and kick the can again, all the people he'd captured ran off again. //So it went on and on and on, ye know? [laugh] Kick the cannie, a lovely game.// F1043: //[laugh]// F1054: //Good, ehm let's think noo, ehm 'to hit hard'?// M1042: //Eh// //Just as well we did that, [inaudible].// F1041: //Swipe.// F1043: //Swiped.// //Swipe someone's nose.// F1040: //Swipe somebody.// F1041: //A whack, gie somebody a right whack.// //Aye just// F1054: //Whack, bash them?// //Have you used any of them, Margaret?// F1040: //Bash somebody? [inaudible]// M1042: //Aye, we haven't got a special word for it in Torry.// F1041: //A bash, onything, there's a lot o words you could use for that. [laugh]// //No.// F1040: //No.// M1042: //There's no special word for that.// F1041: A dunt. M1042: 'To dunt somebody', //'dunt' is nae a hard, it's nae a hard, no no.// F1040: //It's nae a hard, it's nae a hard.// F1041: //Aye if ye gie somebody a a good dunt, oh I would think it would, I've had mony a dunt an it was sair.// M1042: No no dunt is nae hard. No no. //Dunt means just a gentle dunt, [laugh] gentle hit. [laugh]// F1041: //Do ye get gentle dunts? [laugh]// F1043: //[laugh].// M1042: So no. F1054: And ehm, oh let's see, we'll go onto this last one, 'how you feel'. 'Pleased'? F1043: Chuffed. //Fair chuffed.// F1040: //Aye, that's aboot it.// M1042: Fine. I'm fine. //That's all.// F1040: //Mmhm.// F1054: //I bet we've a lot mair words for 'annoyed'.// F1041: //Great, fine.// F1054: //Mmhm.// M1042: //Byt but before you leave 'pleased',// F1043: //Mm.// M1042: Rerr. R.E.R.R. 'Oh I feel rerr, rerr'. F1054: What's that mean Bob, how would ye use that? M1042: //Well you you// F1041: //It's a rare day.// //It's a [inaudible]// M1042: //'It it's a rerr day, it's a fine day, that's rerr, that tastes good',// 'I'm feelin rerr'. 'I'm pleased', ye know, it's it's a word that's used frequently in Torry, in Fittie, in the whole of Aberdeen, rerr. R.E.R.R. not R.A.R.E. Okay? F1054: Ehm what aboot 'annoyed'? F1043: Fizzin. M1042: Mmhm. F1043: Really fizzin, even. [laugh] //Aye, just.// F1041: //Really angry, well just angry or, as you say, annoyed.// F1040: Don't know, I don't think there's really a a Torry word //that you could use for that is there, 'annoyed'// F1043: //No [inaudible] no.// F1040: no. F1054: Or even kinda words that you hear folk usin aroond aboot here. F1040: //No, no not for that.// M1042: //No I I just don't know one for 'annoyed'.// F1043: //Mmhm.// F1054: 'Hot'? F1040: Het. //Het.// M1042: //Haet, haet, H.A.E.T., haet.// F1041: //Steamin.// //Het.// F1040: //'I'm het'.// F1043: //Blazin.// Blazin again as I say it's M1042: Mmhm. F1043: an aye the wey ye say it, 'it's bleezin hot', //'it's bleezin hot here', aye 'blazin hot'.// F1040: //Mm.// M1042: //Aye 'bleezin hot'.// But 'het' is the word for 'hot'. //Cal.// F1054: //What aboot 'cold', the opposite o that?// F1040: //It's caul.// M1042: 'Ah it's affa cal'. //No.// F1054: //An there's no D. on that again though, is there?// F1040: //No, no.// F1043: It's aye call. //[inaudible]// F1054: //Any any fishin words associated wi bein in the cold?// F1043: Well I just had doon 'call', C.A.L.L. //cause that was the wey it was pronounced, it's just 'call' eh it it never 'cold' it was 'call',// F1040: //Mm, 'cauld'.// //'It's a cauld day'. 'It's a cauld day'.// M1042: //Frozen.// F1043: //or f- or freez- or f-// F1054: What about 'unwell'? F1040: //Nae weel.// M1042: //Nae weel, nae weel.// F1041: //Nae weel. [laugh]// F1043: //Nae weel, nae weel the day. [laugh]// Eh, F1054: An we've done 'tired', haven't we? F1041: //I dinnae think I did, 'tired'.// F1043: //I dinnae think I I got a word for 'tired', did I?// F1041: Well we did say knackered, //an that wasnae allowed. [laugh]// M1042: //Aye, but that but no but that's a new that's a new word, it's never a word we used as kids .// F1043: //[inaudible]// M1042: Eh it's not a an Aberdeen word at all, //of any description.// F1054: //It doesnae have to be words that you used when you were bairns.// F1041: //Nae think so.// //They use it now.// F1054: //But it could be words that you just hear folk use hear nooadays.// M1042: //But, no, well they'll they'll say 'knackered',// //but it's very modern that.// F1040: //Use it now.// F1043: //Mm.// M1042: We used tae say 'buggered', [laugh] ye know? //'I'm buggered', ye know?// F1040: //We wouldnae have been allowed tae say that.// F1043: //We wouldnae hae been allowed tae say ony o that tae oor, that's one thing aboot fisher people,// //they're quite strict on their language an I mean, no, a// M1042: //Ye ye wer- ye weren't allowed tae swear at all.// F1043: tap ower the hand, the back o your hand if you said something like that, that wouldnae have been allowed. It was equivalent o swearin in oor family, that. //But// M1042: //I I I can say that// all my childhood, right until I was a teenager in my granny's house I never ever heard a single swear word, never. //In in my own house I never heard a single-.// F1040: //No, neither did I.// M1042: My father never swore round the house. //He used tae swear at work, I'd heard him swearin at work but// F1043: //Oh sure.// M1042: in the house no one swore. Nowadays, I //I hear, ye know, mums swearing in front o their// F1040: //Every second word.// M1042: //kids an I just don't understand it.// F1043: //Aye, the kids swearin back at them as well [laugh] oh dear.// //No that was I I mean my father// M1042: //It's stupid.// F1043: was a fisherman, he took a good bucket, there's nae deny- an I never ever once heard an oath come oot o his mouth. M1042: No. //You just didn't have that.// F1043: //I never did.// //It was just a definite no-no.// F1041: //Oh well I did.// F1043: No. F1054: What does it mean, 'he took a good bucket'. M1042: //[inaudible]// F1043: //Oh he took a good drink.// //Aye I mean i- ah fishermen did I think in that days,// F1040: //Aye.// F1043: I mean, they say they took a good drink but I mean they they m- they maybe awa a month. Ye come in ye'd tae land yer ain fish in that day an age, they'd maybe a settlin day, a clear day //awa again for another month.// M1042: //[inaudible]// F1043: So actually it was a combination o a lack o sleep. It, I'm nae sayin they dinnae take drink, drink did, but the drink seemed tae take a [?]haud o him[/?], //so I think every fishermen used tae come rollin hame.// M1042: //Yeah.// F1043: But I still never ever heard an oath come oot my //father's mouth.// M1042: //Well in in Market Street in Aberdeen// ye'd see all hell breakin loose. Two guys, three guys, four guys fightin, an you're sayin, "Oh", an then ye'd say, //"Oh th- it's trawlermen, it's okay", because they only had the two nights,// F1043: //Trawlers.// M1042: then they'd tae go to sea again for eighteen days or thirty days, so they were always forgiven, trawlermen were allowed tae come in, tak a bucketfu, an do their thing an that was them. An off they went, an they were always forgiven, they were ours. They were oor trawlermen. They they made this city of //Aberdeen.// F1043: //Oh definitely.// F1054: Tell me aboot how languages ehm other words that you hold dear in the fishin community or other things that are meaningful for you in terms o language. F1043: Well we're speakin aboot jimmies aye bein cried your shoes that you went tae school wi for P.E., no I can remember fan my mother and father caed them coaties. I didnae ken fit coaties wis until I was a bit aulder but that was their language, they were cried coaties. F1054: Really? F1043: I don't know how, again that's a north thing, but it was definitely coaties, because there was a lot o north fishers in that part o Torry, doon Victoria Road, up north, they aa come fae north an coaties was quite a common thing but it just drifted oot an the jimmies come in. //It was 'jimmies' fan I was bein brought up but I can still remember the coaties, so it definitely must have been a north thing.// F1040: //Jimmies aye, jimmies, pair of jimmies at school, mmhm.// M1042: But what what what I remember most is how Aberdonians an Torry in particular mispronounced words like 'committee' was the 'comatee', //an the 'library' was the 'liby',// F1040: //Mm.// M1042: ye know, they they they deliberately mispronounced, they knew exactly what how tae say it but it's always the the 'comatee'. F1054: An what aboot the way ehm you were brought up tae feel about your own language and dialect? Were you ever made self-conscious aboot it? F1040: //[inaudible]// F1041: //No.// F1043: //No.// I actually object because I I know one o my grandchildren was told tae speak proper English an I was furious. I dinnae ken far her teacher come fae or fitever. [exhale] Eh I've heard some English dialects an I find them very diff-, I suppose they would a- //think we were very difficult tae understand,// F1040: //Mm.// F1043: but for a teacher in a Torry school tae tell a pupil tae speak proper English is not on. F1041: But if you ging for a job now, Sheila, if ye're bein interviewed for a job that's fit they expect ye tae dae, ye ken especially an office job, eh because they expect you tae answer phones an ye've tae answer the phones properly, proper English. F1040: Mm. F1041: But my my grandson, now his father is English, now fan he was six or seven he was knocked doon in Girdleness Road an he'd tae lie on his back for six weeks in hospital. An fan he come hame he come hame tae me, an I was lookin for books, ken little bookies tae gie him tae read an I gave him a 'Broons' book. An aboot ten minutes later he says, "Granny, I cannae, I can't read that book", he said, "because it's in French", //ye see! [laugh]// M1042: //[laugh]// F1043: //[laugh]// F1041: So I mean, now we had a niece doon fae the Shetlands, an she was in the hospital, Michelle, an the little boy next tae her come fae Turriff, //well they've got a totally different wey o speakin,// F1043: //Different dialect.// F1041: an she thought he was French, I said tae her, "Do you speak tae the little boy in the next bed?", she said, "No, because he's foreign", //an I says, "Is he?", she says, "Yes, he only speaks French" [laugh] an he was fae Turriff.// F1043: //[laugh]// //The thing is they say the Scottish language// M1042: //[inaudible]// F1041: //So see.// F1040: //Aye.// F1043: //is much mair connected tae the French,// //the Gallic [NOTE: or Gaelic?] an the the French.// F1040: //Aye, aye.// M1042: //Well the Doric, the Doric is actually more// //more attached to German, I mean our numbering, een, twa, three, fower, five, sax, seeven, ach-, aicht,// F1043: //German yes, mmhm.// M1042: ye know it's more German than anything, but th- the thing about Aberdeen Doric is that people south of Stonehaven, which is only fourteen miles away, couldn't understand a single word that we said, they just could not understand us at all. An we thought, "Are you stupid?" "Ken see aa they feels doon there, //they dinnae ken onythin,// F1043: //[inaudible]// //[inaudible]// M1042: //they dinnae ken onythin", but they didn't understand us.// F1041: //[inaudible]// //[inaudible]// M1042: //Glaswegians used tae come up here for their fair fortnight,// an they never understood a word we said tae them. //Quite incredible.// F1054: //Yeah.// Gie me a blast o good Doric. Have a conversation tw- twa o you, just unbridled as ye would do, if I wasnae here. Sheila an Billie. //[inaudible]// F1043: //Did I tell you we're gaun tae get aa this money for a park,// an it is now signed an sealed. Wur park is gonnae get up an goin in January an it is gonnae be aa ready for the end o April in total. Everything's in place for it. F1041: Ah well that's good Sheila, you fought hard for it, so it's deserved, //an I hope the kids really appreciate aa the work that's been done.// F1043: //[laugh]// That eh hopefully would happen because it is for the youths but it's absolutely brilliant news just tae come the day. M1042: //But// F1041: //Fine, eftir aa the time it's taen.// M1042: but ye but ye ken this, I'm still gettin fowk fowk comin tae me an sayin, "It'll never happen ye ken, it it's nae gaun tae h- happen", an I say, "Look whit dae ye dae on a a Thursday nicht?" "Whit do ye mean, whit dae I dae on a Thursday nicht?", I said, "Every third Thursday o the month we hae a cooncil meetin so why can ye nae come til it, an an an just listen tae fit we're sayin an put in your bittie an aa". F1043: Mmhm. F1054: I'm just noticin twa or three, that was good blasts, thank you, I'm noticin twa or three words that were missed aff ehm 'toilet', //words for that?// M1042: //Lavvy.// F1041: //Lavvy.// F1043: //Lavvy. [laugh]// F1054: Anything else? F1041: //A loo or a lavvy or a cluggie.// F1043: //Lavvy.// Always a lavvy. F1040: Aye. F1054: Cluggie's an interestin one. F1041: Mmhm well we used tae say the cluggie doon in Fittie, we cried it the ootside clug. F1054: Mm. F1041: And of course we add the E. //The cluggie, mmhm.// F1040: //Mmhm.// F1043: //Aye the cluggie again, same wi the lavvy.// F1054: //What aboot// F1041: //Or the waterie.// //Aye, you'd ging tae the waterie.// M1042: //Watterie, the watterie, aye my grunny used tae say eh,// "Awa ye go doon tae the watterie", //I'm I'm standin goin, "Hey,// F1041: //Aye.// M1042: hey you loonie, awa doon tae the watterie", //ye know? And that was it. [laugh]// F1041: //Watterie.// F1054: What aboot 'insane'? M1042: //Feel.// F1041: //Daft, nuts, aye.// F1043: //Nuts.// F1040: //Feel, aye feel.// M1042: //Feel, F.E.E.L.// //Feel.// F1054: //What does that mean?// F1040: //Feel.// F1043: //Daft.// F1040: //Daft, ye're a feel.// M1042: //Feel means daft, 'hae hae awa ye feel!'// It's just a word we've always used, 'he's a feel'. F1054: And 'annoyed'? F1040: We didnae get that one. //Mmhm.// F1041: //I couldnae think [inaudible] mmhm.// F1043: //I put fair fizzin doon for that an aa, 'I'm fizzin'.// //'Absolutely fizzin about that'.// M1042: //No, couldnae dae that word.// F1041: //I, well I just say I'm angry.// //If it's annoyed, 'I'm really angered'.// F1043: //Mmhm.// M1042: //Angered, angered, yes, angered but I haven't heard that used in a long time, angered, I havenae heard that in a long time.// F1041: //Aye, angered, aye, fit angered?// F1054: And 'moody', ye're in a bad mood. F1043: I hadnae one for that ava. Moody? M1042: I couldnae find a word for that either. //No.// F1040: //No.// F1041: //Or 'look at her face',// //or 'look at his face, what a girn'.// F1054: //[inaudible]// F1043: //A girny face, aye, 'she's got a girny face'.// //No.// F1040: //No.// //Mm.// M1042: //Mm.// F1043: //A girny so that.// F1041: Aye, aye girnin. F1040: //Aye, aye.// M1042: //But girny's not moody ye see, girny's complaining, girny is complaining and moaning, moody, I just// F1043: //No that's [inaudible] moaning.// //No I couldnae think o ane either.// F1040: //No.// M1042: //don't have a word for.// F1054: Anything else you're desperate tae say, good phrases or words or anything you'd like tae share wi the rest o Britain an then I'll finish it off, and stop there? M1042: Just remember what my granny my my ma used tae say, "If I were gaun tae sea wi a mannie that cannae row". F1054: Brilliant, can I just get you to go roond once more and tell me wha you are, how long you're bidden here and ehm whaur you're fae and how long you're bidden there. F1043: Sheila [CENSORED: surname], born and bred Torry, have never been oot o Torry. An I'm still here efter sixty-odd years. [laugh] F1041: Billie [CENSORED: surname], born in Fittie, moved to Torry aged nine, still here at seventy-four. F1040: Eh Margaret [CENSORED: surname], born and bred in Torry, never been out o Torry, I've been in Torry for eighty-one years. M1042: Bob [CENSORED: surname], b- an Aberdonian, eh brought up my kids in Torry and I've be- li- come back to Torry to live for the past twenty years. F1054: Brilliant, thank you so much. This work is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. The SCOTS Project and the University of Glasgow do not necessarily endorse, support or recommend the views expressed in this document. Information about document and author: Audio Audio audience Adults (18+): General public: Informed lay people: Specialists: For gender: Mixed Audience size: 1000+ Audio awareness & spontaneity Speaker awareness: Aware Degree of spontaneity: Spontaneous Special circumstances surrounding speech: Spontaneous but discussing a list of words they had thought about previously. Audio footage information Year of recording: 2004 Recording person id: 1060 Size (min): 73 Size (mb): 282 Audio footage series/collection information Part of series: Contained in: BBC Voices Recordings - www.bbc.co.uk/voices Audio medium Radio/audio: Web (e.g. audio webcast): Audio setting Education: Journalism: Recording venue: School resource room Geographic location of speech: Torry, Aberdeen Audio relationship between recorder/interviewer and speakers Not previously acquainted: Speakers knew each other: Yes Audio speaker relationships Members of the same group e.g. schoolmates: Audio transcription information Transcriber id: 631 Year of transcription: 2006 Year material recorded: 2006 Word count: 13536 Audio type Conversation: General description: Conversation centred around a pre-prepared list of words for discussion Participant Participant details Participant id: 1040 Gender: Female Age left school: 16 Occupation: Legal secretary Place of birth: Torry Place of residence: Torry Father's occupation: Railwayman Mother's occupation: Mother / housewife Participant Participant details Participant id: 1041 Gender: Female Decade of birth: 1930 Age left school: 14 Upbringing/religious beliefs: Scottish Episcopal Occupation: Retired bus conductor / Youth Leader Place of birth: Footdee Region of birth: Aberdeen Birthplace CSD dialect area: Abd Country of birth: Scotland Place of residence: Torry Region of residence: Aberdeen Residence CSD dialect area: Abd Country of residence: Scotland Father's occupation: Stonemason Father's place of birth: Aberdeen Father's region of birth: Aberdeen Father's birthplace CSD dialect area: Abd Father's country of birth: Scotland Mother's occupation: Cleaner / housewife Mother's place of birth: Aberdeen Mother's region of birth: Aberdeen Mother's birthplace CSD dialect area: Abd Mother's country of birth: Scotland Languages: Language: English Speak: Yes Read: Yes Write: Yes Understand: Yes Circumstances: When required Language: Scots Speak: Yes Read: Yes Write: Yes Understand: Yes Circumstances: Every day Participant Participant details Participant id: 1042 Gender: Male Decade of birth: 1930 Educational attainment: GCSEs/O-Grades Age left school: 15 Upbringing/religious beliefs: Protestantism / Now aetheist Occupation: Journalist Place of birth: Aberdeen Region of birth: Aberdeen Birthplace CSD dialect area: Abd Country of birth: Scotland Place of residence: Aberdeen Region of residence: Aberdeen Residence CSD dialect area: Abd Country of residence: Scotland Father's occupation: Boiler-maker Father's place of birth: Aberdeen Father's region of birth: Aberdeen Father's birthplace CSD dialect area: Abd Father's country of birth: Scotland Mother's occupation: Fishwife Mother's place of birth: Aberdeen Mother's region of birth: Aberdeen Mother's birthplace CSD dialect area: Abd Mother's country of birth: Scotland Languages: Language: English Speak: Yes Read: Yes Write: Yes Understand: Yes Circumstances: Work and home Language: Scots Speak: Yes Read: Yes Write: Yes Understand: Yes Circumstances: Word and home Participant Participant details Participant id: 1043 Gender: Female Educational attainment: GCSEs/O-Grades / Junior Secondary Leaving Cert Age left school: 15 Upbringing/religious beliefs: Protestantism Occupation: Fish filleter Place of birth: Aberdeen Region of birth: Aberdeen Birthplace CSD dialect area: Abd Country of birth: Scotland Place of residence: Aberdeen Region of residence: Aberdeen Residence CSD dialect area: Abd Country of residence: Scotland Languages: Language: English Speak: Yes Read: Yes Write: Yes Understand: Yes Circumstances: Telephone - communications Language: Scots Speak: Yes Read: Yes Write: Yes Understand: Yes Circumstances: Every day dealing Participant Participant details Participant id: 1054