SCOTS Project - www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk Document : 1778 Title : Scots Tung Wittins 127 Author(s): Robert Fairnie Copyright holder(s): Name withheld Text Nummer 127 Juin 2004 A guid Scots Tung in yer heid's nae guid if yer mooth's ower blate tae uise it! Scots Tung WITTINS Eydently Campaignin for the Scots Leid Ph. [CENSORED: phonenumber] Scots Tung Wabsteid: http://uk.geocities.com/rfairnie@btinternet.com/ Stravaiger Ph.[CENSORED: phonenumber] Copyricht © Copyricht for awthin written in this wittins blat bides wi R. Fairnie. The Scots Tung Wittins can be fotie-copied in hail or in pairt athoot limit o nummers an this hauds guid an aw for ony pairt o the wittins blat that's furthset in ony ither publication. Loretto Taks The Scots Tung Quaich For 2004 [NOTE: a photograph of award of Scots Tung Quaich in original] THE winner o the Scots Tung Quaich for 2004 is Loretto RC Primary Scuil. It wis the turn o Lucille Dick o Primary 7 tae bear the gree for her scuil wi a guid five verse poem cried Ma Faimilie. The rinner up wis Lucy Carroll, Primary 7C frae Tranent Primary Scuil wi a cuttie wee limerick aboot a Loon fae Tranent an third wis Nicola Thomson, Primary 7A frae Campie Primary Scuil wi Ma Twa Guinea Pigs. Nicola micht hiv been hard tae bate gin her hinnermaist verse haed been as guid as her first twa an anither entry frae Campie is weel wordie o a word or twa. Angela Connon (P7C) o Campie Primary Scuil wis weel in the rinnin for a guid imaginative uiss o the Scots language an a guid comand o it an aw in her Cinderella. It wis a richt lang poem. The praisentation wis hauden in the scuil's gymn ha on Monday 17 o Mey an the fotie shaws a richtfu prood Anne Burke, the heid mistress, alang wi a happy Lucille Dick an Mr Alan Blackie, Director o Education for East Lothian wha makit aw the praisentations. Mistress Burke stertit aff the ongauns bi speirin the three tap entrants frae ilka ane o clesses P7, P6/7 an P6 tae recite thair ain poems. It wis a richt pleisure tae hear thae young primary scuil students confidently pittin thair ain pronunciations tae thair ain spellins an giein thae poems a life an sincerity that micht no aye come ower frae the written page. Ane or twa o the performances cam ower as a lot mair professional nor ye'd expeck frae bairns sae young. Rebecca Gilhooley in particlar, readin her poem, Grandpa Brian, performed wi confidence, sincerity an feelin as she read it leukin richt intae her grandpa's face wi him sittin in the audience. Maister Blackie praisentit Lucille wi the Scots Tung Quaich for Loretto RC Primary Scuil tae haud for ae towmond an wi a wee-er pairsonal quaich for her tae keep. She wis gien an aw, a copy o Matthew Fitt's Tam o Shanter's Big Night Oot an a copy o the SLD's Concise Scots Dictionar alang wi an electronic CD copy o thair Scots Scuil Dictionar. This wis feinisht aff wi a laminatit certificate aw written in Scots an a laminatit copy o the Scots Tung Wittins' supplement sheet, cried the Scots Tung Quaich, wi eleeven o the entries furthset in it. The lave o the nine tap entries oot o thae three clesses wis praisentit wi a certificate an copy o the Scots Tung Quaich an aw. Scots Tung wis representit at the praisentations bi Janet Cousin an Pat Horsburgh, o the Scots Tung Quaich selection comatee, an the Secretar Bob Fairnie. The Scottish Language Dictionaries wis representit bi Pauline Cairns. The SLD kindly donatit a copy o thair Concise Scots Dictionar alang wi an electronic CD copy o the Scots Scuil Dictionar tae Lucille, the saicont an third rinners up an tae Innerwick Primary Scuil. Matthew Fitt o the itchy Coo project, wha haed been howpin tae be thare, sent his apologies an donatit a signed copy o his Tam o Shanter's Big Night Oot for Lucille. Scots Tung is braw thankfu tae Maister Blackie, Mistress Burke, the teachers an staff o Loretto, the laddies an lassies an the mithers an faithers for aw daein thair bit tae mak the day sic a blithe an pleisurein experience that micht be hard tae bate. Sae noo the standart haes been set an it's up tae aw the ither scuils in East Lothain tae ettle efter matchin or betterin this result in 2005. Yule Cairds 2004 [NOTE: images of two Christmas cards in original] THIS Yuletide, Scots Tung ettles tae furthset twa new cairds insteid o juist the ane as in years gane bye apairt frae the twa that wis pitten oot in 2000 tae celebrate the Year o the Languages. The twa foties ablow shaws the proponed designs that will be gien tae the prenter an it's howped that the feinisht prentit cairds shuid be tae haund sometime in Juin tae gie the distreebuters rowth o time tae git roond aw the shops. The tap caird is A5 the same size as ither years an the nether ane is juist hauf thon size at A6. Cairryin on wi the Scots Tung tradeition, baith cairds haes a poem in-ower on the left haund side wi the saisonal greetins on the richt haund side. The twa poems is cried Monarch o the Glen on the big caird an Yuletide Robin on the wee ane. In a wee depairture frae ither ordinar years, the big caird haes the words o the sang, A Guid New Year prentit in a wee sma font ablow the ordinar sized saisonal greetins on the richt haund page. Awbody kens the tune o this tradeitional New Year sang but there no mony folk left that still aye kens the words sae it wis thocht that a wee mindin o thaim tae a puckle thoosand younger folk wadna dae ony hairm. The price o the new cairds winna be kent or efter the designs is in the haunds o the prenters but there still aye a puckle o the cairds frae 2002 & 2003 sellin for 60p the piece plus p&p if no upliftit. Nixt Forgaitherin Tae be decidit efter the summer breck Scots Tung WITTINS On the wab. The Scots Tung Wittins can be vizzied or doon-loadit an prentit (noo in pdf format forbye) frae the wabsteid o:- The Scots Speikers Curn, Glesca. Wabsteid backin:- http://www.mlove.free-online.co.uk/ Mair raicent copies can noo be gotten in pdf format frae Scots Tung's ain new wabsteid at:- http://uk.geocities.com/rfairnie@btinternet.com A hard copy o STW is sent free o chairge tae aw maimbers o Scots Tung ilka month. Maimbership subscreivins is £5 (Scotland/UK) Peyed ilka September. £6 (Ireland/EU) $14 (Americae) John Byrne's "Uncle Varick" Review bi Irene Broon owerset intae Scots bi STW Editor IN Anton Checkov's play, Uncle Vanya, the eponymous hero's lang hauden frusterins agin life an his ain guid-brither professor comes tae a heid whan the latter comes back wi his unco bonny young wife tae the kintrae estate an big hoose that Vanya haes been rinnin. The wife is the ile that lubricates the wey for tensions tae kythe amang the heid-maist characters as her presence minds thaim aw o thair ain lanesomeness, unrequited love an the genral dowieness o thair lives. In the hinneren tho, naebody gies up or gies in. They cairry on, e'en tho they cairry on in a gey thrawn-like mainner. Scots playwricht an airtist, John Byrne, chynged the settin o the play, his first new ane in Scotland for 20 year, intae the 1964 mythical Balinroich in the nor-east o Scotland, chyngin the name intae Uncle Varick. Beatles music, maistlins frae Rubber Soul, punctuates the play on the character Willie John's squeeze box, played bi actor Bill Murdoch. Byrne, richtly, haes the heidmaist chararcters speakin English but in his ain familiar style that gies the play a particlar Scottish feel throu the rythm o the language as weel as the uiss o Scots words the likes o jammy, tumshie, thole, shufti, humdinger, jiggered, greetin teenies, come by, sleekit, napper, totie, besom, maister, cowpin, down the stank an nights are fair drawin in. An in Act 2, the character Varick, tries tae shaw he's 'with it' bi uisin the latest 60s slang for the polis whan he says, " '...couple of hours ago I tried to murder somebody! Where's the what d'you me callit? ...the foost?' Doctor: 'Fuzz.' " Agane, Byrne richtly haes estate workers speakin Scots. It's hard tae say if the nor-east Scots here is the real McKay or no but Byrne's uiss o it in the character Kirsty Morag, the auld hoosekeeper played bi Kay Gillie, addit a yirdy humour that shawed the character's acceptance o reality agin the backgrund o anxeeitie. She's mair interestit in whaur she's pit her knittin than in the intellectual flytins o her maisters. "Wid ye credit that? It wis under ma ain erse a' the while, ken." Dundee born actor, Brian Cox, makit his first appearance on a Scottish stage for ower ten year tae tak the pairt o Uncle Varick. He taks the pairt baith heidiely an in a wey that gars ye lippen it, an no juist cause he hauds Uncle Vanya tae be his favourite play o aw time. He gied this oot in a collogue wi Janice Forsyth in the recordin o Radio Scotland's Arts Show on Thusday 22 April 2004 in the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh. Durin thon crack, the international star said an aw that the last time he played in the Lyceum wis in 1994 in Henrick Ibsen's The Master Builder whan he fund uisin Scots leeberatin. Upsteerin words frae a man that lairnt his tred at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts! Uncle Varick wis performed at the Royal Lyceum in Edinburgh atween 16 April an 8 Mey 2004. Border Scots Agane MATT Rodger is an expat Border Scot an maimber o Scots Tung that bides doon in England. He tells o a wee story he wis telt bi his mither twa three year back aboot Hawick Station. Ma muther telt mei the feck o seventie yeir sin, aboot ae man whae hed herkint til the crack atween twae Railway Porters it Hawick Railway Station. This bodie frae furth o the Borders cam til Hawick bi train, tae veesit friends i the toun; an whan hei hed wun til thair houss, hei sayed til thaim, "A didna ken thit Chinese wurkit it Hawick Railway Station". His host reponed, "neither did A, whit gaurs ee say at n'?" O, says the veesitor, "A saw thir twae Porters trauchlin wi ae grit mukkil crate; an A herkint the tain sayin til the ither, "Yow Pow" an the tither reponed bi sayin "Pow Yow." "Old" Scots? A BBC Radio Scotland praisenter wis raicently heard speakin aboot the Scots language menus that's uised in Edinburgh's kenspeckle Suruchi Restaurant an descrived thaim as bein written in "Old Scots". Nae doot this enlichtenment will come as a muckle surprise tae the Scottish Language Dictionaries. The Concise Scots Dictionar gies the chronological history o the language as:- Old English tae 1100 Older Scots 1100 tae 1450 Middle Scots 1450 tae 1700 Modern Scots 1700 onwards This wad pit the owersettin weel intae the Modern Scots category an naethin at aw like the kinna Scots uised bi John Barbour in his epic poem, The Brus (c. 1375). Is it ower muckle tae expeck the likes o the BBC tae mak a mair educatit chyce o words afore braidcastin thair ignorance tae the warld? Still an aw, whit can ye expeck frae folk that thinks the new pairlament is bein biggit at some mythical place cried Hollyrood? Culture? Whit Culture? THE follaein written answer bi Frank McAveety MSP wis a repone tae a written question pitten forrit bi Donald Gorrie MSP. (Owersettin) (2W-7400) Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): Tae speir the Scots Executive whuther it will set up a board tae forder Scots as a livin language, seimilar tae the Ulster-Scots Agency setten up unner the Guid Friday Agreement, that advises meinisters an co-ordinates ongauns tae dae wi forderin Ulster-Scots as a livin language. (Owersettin) Frank McAveety MSP: The estaiblishment o an Ulster-Scots agency wis in repone tae a particlar set o circumstances in Northern Ireland. The Scots Executive currently haes nae plans tae set up a seimilar agency in Scotland. At praisent, there a braid reinge o groups an organisations in Scotland that uphauds an forders Scots in its various forms. *The Scots Executive conseiders the Scots language tae be an important pairt o Scotland's distinctive linguistic an cultural heritage. It kens that Scots is the language that mony bairns brings tae the scuil an uphauds the eikin o Scots intae the scuil curriculum whaur appropriate.* The Executive expecks tae come up wi a National Language Strategy tae bring a new focus tae aw Scotland's languages, includin Scots. The first pairt o the Meinister's repone comes ower like a teacher tellin her bairns the ae hauf o the cless wis gien aw the sweeties tae keep thaim quiet but the ither hauf cannae git ony cause they've been ower weel behaved sae there nae need tae gie thaim ony reward. The pairt in atween the *s is liftit word for word, excep for 'Executive', oot o the Scottish Office Scots Language Factsheet o 1996 sae whit's new. The Language Strategy Mr McAveety speaks aboot is ane they've been forced intae thinkin aboot bi the European Chairter's Comatee o Experts tae try an preserve Scotland's twa endangered minority leids, Scots an Gaelic. The lave o 'aw' Scotland's languages isnae minority nor in ony kinna danger sae they're o nae interest tae the European Chairter at aw an shuidna e'en be conseidered in the proponed first Language Strategy that's ae purpose in life is expeckit bi the CoE tae be tae come up wi a structured wey o savin Scots an Gaelic frae certain daith Whit wey no gie a visit tae Scots Tung's wabsteid at:- http://uk.geocities.com/rfairnie@btinternet.com/ or juist dae a wab search for Scots Tung? Makar's Neuk On His Heid-Ake My heid did yak yester nicht, This day to mak that I nae micht, So sair the magryme dois me menyie, Peirsing my brow as ony ganyie, That scant I look may on the licht. And now, shir, latelie, aftir mess, To dyt thocht I begowth to dress, The sentence lay full ill till find, Unsleepit in my heid behind, Dullit in duleness and distress. Full oft at morrow I uprise, When that my curage sleeping lyis, For mirth, for menstralsie and play, For din nor dancing nor deray, It will nocht wakin me no wise. William Dunbar (1460-1520) 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: Text Text audience Audience size: N/A Text details Method of composition: N/A Word count: 2494 General description: monthly newsletter Text medium Leaflet/brochure (prospectus): Text publication details Published: Publisher: Scots Tung Publication year: 2004 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: English Speak: Yes Read: Yes Write: Yes Understand: Yes Circumstances: At work Language: German Speak: Yes Read: Yes Write: Yes Understand: Yes Circumstances: In Germany to communicate with two grandsons Language: Scots Speak: Yes Read: Yes Write: Yes Understand: Yes Circumstances: Wherever Scots is understood