SCOTS Project - www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk Document : 1714 Title : Scots Tung Wittins 63 Author(s): Robert Fairnie Copyright holder(s): Name withheld Text Nummer 63 Feb. 1999 Keepin a guid Scots tung in yer heid's nae guid! lat it oot an uise it! Scots Tung WITTINS Eydentlie uphaudin the Scots Leid Campaine E-mail: [CENSORED: emailaddress] Ph. [CENSORED: phonenumber] Tung Tackit Ferlies In Twa Hamelt Leids. A Gaelic airticle bi Murchadh MacLeòid in the Scotsman tells o Edinburgh Univairsitie's speirin oot o the kinches that haes tae be dreed bi lairners o the Gaelic leid. Appearinlie ane o the heidmaist kinches thae collegianers haes tae ower-come is the ill-willie o the hamelt Gaelic spaekers thirsels. (Monie o us kens the feelin ower weel whan, tae be polite, ye speir a quaisten or gie a greetin in Gaelic tae a hamelt Gaelic spaeker juist tae hear the repone gien back in English. Ye feel that yer Gaelic's no guid eneuch tae deserve a repone in the same leid.) The warst fae o the language nou isna the tradeetional muckle ill-willie o the Lawlanders but the muckle ill-willie o the Heilanders. Allan Campbell o the CNAG an a hamelt spaeker hissel, threaps it's no ill-willie at aa but juist that fowk haes been eddicatit tae believe Gaelic wisna wirth a button sae thay canna unnerstaun whit wey fowk wad want tae lairn ocht that haed nae wirth. The Scots leid, wi aboot 1.5m hamelt spaekers, canna awn tae haein thae exack same kinches tae ower-come for the'r no muckle ill-willie pit up bi hamelt spaekers in no spaekin Scots tae lairners an upsteerers o the leid. The heidmaist kinch tae kythe frae thon airt is a sweirtie tae makin the maucht tae mak thirsels leeterate in Scots. Ay, the warst fae o the Scots language isna the muckle ill-willie o the hamelt spaekers, lik wi Gaelic, but the muckle ill-willie o some o the leid's upsteerers, uphauders an lairners, parteeclar the professional an academic anes. Thae's the anes that's no sweir tae screive in Scots an aiblins spaek a wee bit oot a beuk but wadna hae a sairious public crack in Scots for fear o daein skaith tae thair ain professional guid nem. Coorse, it's aa doun tae eddication agane an it's an awfu peetie it's some o the anes wi the maist eddication that haes the warst kinches tae ower-come. ~~~ooo~~~ Tae See Oorsels Makit a Bauchle o. WI the on-comin approach o the new Holyrood Pairliament, Ian S. Bruce, screivin in the Scotsman's Interactive magazine, gies a guid accoont o the Scotsman's new election wab-steid cried Scottish Elections 99. Ingate tae this steid can be fund on:- http://www.scottishelections.co.uk. Pairt o his screive haes tae dae wi wittins anent the wab-steids o the fower main poleetical pairties in Scotland. He pits the Lib Dems' steid tae the tap o the cless on:- http://www.scotlibdems.org.uk/ He daesna rate the Conservative ane on :- http://www.conservative-party.org.uk/scottish/ or the Labour ane on:- http://www.labour.org.uk aa that guid an he pits the SNP on:- http://www.snp.org.uk in saicont place. He threaps that the heidmaist thing that maks this steid kenspeckle is that it maks a maucht tae pit some humour intae it bi bodin a chyce o English, Scots an Gaelic for the menu pages. Gin he means that uisin Scots an Gaelic in Scotland is a seegnal for aabodie tae faa aboot peein thirsels lauchin, it comes ower as a gey un-Scottish wey o seein things an pints the monoglot English spaeker finger at him. Howanever, gin the humour he sees is in the fack that it's juist the menu pages that's bodit in the three leids wi aa the ither text screivit in English than, aiblins he micht hae a pint. Wha wad screive a beuk whaur the index wis screivit in Scots an aa the ither pages inower wis screivit in English? For aa that tho, we wadna say that humour wis the richt emotion tae greet sic tokenism wi. We'r mair liker tae feel vexed that oor ain Scottish cultur, parteeclar linguistic cultur, shuid hae tae dree sic a want o respeck frae oor ain media an poleetical pairties. ~~~ooo~~~ Scots Tung WITTINS on the wab. The Scots Tung Wittins can be vizzied or doun-loadit an prentit (nou in HTML format forbye) frae the wab-steid o :- The Scots Speikers Curn, Glesca. Wab-steid backin :-http://www.ndirect.co.uk/~love/ ~~~ooo~~~ Scots Vairsions o Offeecial Leaflets. CRAIG Halliday ettles tae see ower his thanks tae aabodie that screivit awa for his Scots vairsions o thir leaflets: "Take Care of Yourself in the Sun", "What You Can Expect from the Scottish Legal Aid Board", an "Bogus Callers". Gin oniebodie screivit awa an didna git haud o onie copies frae the backins furthset in this wittins blat, than Craig wad be fair blithe tae hear aa aboot it. Screive tae him at the backin gien ablow:- [CENSORED: postaladdress]. ~~~ooo~~~ The Gaberlunzie Bus. A new kinna bus service is gaun tae be tried oot bi East Lothian Cooncil in the in-comin days. Sairin the Haddington airt, this new fangled landwart sairvice will hae a kinna condescendit route but ane that's dwaible eneuch tae alloo the bus tae stravaig awa frae the raigler gate, athin reason, tae sair some o the landwart fowk that bides in some o the mair oot o the wey airts. East Lothian Cooncil shuid be gien a clap on the back for chaisin tae cry it Gaberlunzie. Thay threap this is the auld Scots nem for wanderer. The CSD gies the meanin as beggar or tramp an the CESD gies the Scots for wanderer as traik, vaiger or raik but we suppose the meanins is near eneuch an nae doot Gaberlunzie haes a faur better soond tae it nor the ithers an oniewey, it's a hunner times better nor uisin an English nem or e'en somethin lik Viking. ~~~ooo~~~ Wee Alickie frae Aiberdeen's Green Final Spaeks up for Hissel. [NOTE: cartoon of Wee Alickie saying 'Fa says I canna spik richt?' here in original] The Nov. issue o the STW cairried a wee bit aboot the wey Wee Alickie haed been spaekin an speirt gin he wis onie kin tae Dennis Law. A copie wis sent on tae The Green Final an thay prentit maist o whit we haed sayed aboot him. Wee Alickie's ain repone wis prentit ablo it as follaes:- ALICKIE SAYS: Awa an bile yer heid, min. At wisnae me a fortnicht ago, it wis my posh cousin fae Rubislaw Den. An my relations are nae Laws - maist o thaim are outlaws. SLRC Forgaitherin in Glesca - 15t. Jan. 1999. WI the hecht o a puckle siller frae Perth an Kinross Cooncil, subjeck tae a wheen o strick condeetions, anither puckle frae the Scottish Office alang wi whit wis reportit areddies frae Stagecoach's M.D., the Associe's pooches isna sae tuim nou as thay war at the back-en. For aa that, the Associe cuidna gaun aboot appyntin ful time peyed officiars but it wis greed tae leuk intae appyntin a pairt-time lassie (16 hrs a week) tae see tae the phones an dae a wee bit word-sortin an computin. The Scottish Office is o a mind tae hae aa future fundin tae the SLRC comin frae the Scottish Airts Cooncil. The forgaitherin wis sindert on gin this wis gaun tae be a guid or bad thing for the Associe an it wis decidit that, syne thare wis gey near anither year afore the chynge an the new Pairliament, wi its owerance ower maitters tae dae wi the hamelt leids, wad be up an rinnin bi then, thay micht as weel wait an see whit kythes. The Database Comatee pyntit oot that wark on the database wis makin heid-wey an the walin o graith frae the NLS Bibliography o Scotland is weel tae haund an shuid be feinished gey suin. Pickin oot mair graith tae eik tae the dB, frae baith inower an furth o the NLS catalogue, will hae a want for some siller tae pey fowk, weel leirit in this airt, tae cairie oot the darg. Onie want for siller wad hae tae be fullie costit afore the Associe cuid gree tae gaun aheid wi it or no. The Comatee wis complouterin wi Caroline Macafee anent the uiss o some o her ain muckle ingaitherin o graith. Speirins wis gaun on the nou tae see hou muckle Directory witterins can be taen frae existin library witterins seestems sic a SLAINTE, kivverin the likes o:- Scots leid Associes an contacks, leivin screivers o Scots, eddicational contacks, eddicational graith, media an siller ingaitherin leets, Scots leid wab-steids an ither sic lik witterins (for exemplar – libraries, MP's an that) an wireless an tellie programs. The Associe is ettlin tae hae aa the data it haes tae haund postit on the warld-wide-wab as suin as it can, aither on the SLRC's ain wab-steid or cleikit frae the NLS an ither steids. The Eddication Comatee haes pit forrit Scots language development graith tae Higher Still an haes been complouterin wi Channel 4 tae fend a video for aulder high schuil bairns in uphaud o Higher Still. It's proponed tae uise left ower graith frae "Haud Yer Tongue". The Comatee (alang wi ither Associes sic as SNDA) is howpin tae mercat Scots language graith in Februar/Mairch o this year. The Eddication Comatee is proponin tae fend a free in-service trainin facility for teachers in different airts o the kintra gin the SLRC can afford the siller tae pey the tutors. Anither ettle o the Eddication Comatee for the days tae come is the foondin o a Scots Language Eddicational Resource Centre fendit in a hame o its ain wi onie's amount o way-gate tae up-pit aa the on-gauns ye micht expeck in sic an estaiblishment. Fundin's aa that's haudin it back the nou. Stuart McHardy greed tae pit on the Convener's hat for the Promotion Comatee for the nou an Craig Halliday wis co-opted ontae that comatee. The stert o the forgaitherin wis taen up wi witterins o nae smaa intrest frae twa freends frae ower the Sheuch in Northern Ireland. Nelson McCausland an Lee Reynolds o the Ulstèr-Scotch Heirskip Cooncil gied a guid accoont o whit wis gaun on wi Ulster Scots, baith in Northern Ireland itsel an ower the mairches in the Irish Republic's Donegal an aa. Wi the praisent peace process gaun on the nou, thay'r ettlin tae kick the baa for aa it's wirth whaur the leid's concairned an ane o thair mair ambeetious ettles is tae fleetch siller tae foond an Ulster-Scots Language Development Board wi a fullie peyed ful- time staff o thirteen an ane independent convener. The thirteen staff wad be 5 frae N.I., 5 frae Scotland an 3 frae the R.o.I. Thay wad be uised tae man three deceesion makin bodies; ane in N.I. itsel, ane complouterin atween N.I. an the R.o.I. an the ither complouterin atween N.I. an Scotland. The SLRC forgaitherin greed tae fend staff tae the board gin fundin wis tae haund. Amang ither things, ower rowth tae be screivit doun here, thay'r proponin an aa that efter ratification o the European Charter for Ulster-Scots unner Pairt II bi baith the British an Irish governments, thay shuid tak a gleg-like gate tae Pairt III ratification in N.I. for Ulster-Scots tae gie the leid the same staunin as Irish Gaelic. Anither intrestin pint is the want for a new English/Ulster-Scots dictionar kivverin aa the words uised bi spaekers an screivers frae the bygane richt up tae the praisent day an wi aa the words shared wi English includit inower. O wad we haed ane o thae for the Scots leid an aa. We wush wir feres mair pouer tae thair elbaes. Some o whit thay win ower thare micht faa tae us an aa. Here's tae us! Wha's like us? (baith sides o the Sheuch) ~~~ooo~~~ Neist Forgaitherin Mon. 8t. Mairch 1999 7.30pm tae 9.00pm Smaa Lounge or Conf. Rm. 1. Brunton Haa, Musselburgh, ~~~ooo~~~ BBC Skellies. BBC Reporting Scotland haed Sally Magnusson, o aa fowk, tellin us ae denner time aboot somethin that kythed in the Border village o Stow. Puir Sally moothit the nem o the village tae rhyme wi "no" as in the English Stow-on-the-Wold but somebodie maun hae gotten tae her (aiblins her faither?) for whan she tellt the same story at tea time she'd chynged it ower tae the Scottish Stow that rhymes wi the English "how". The ither Sunday, the BBC's naitional news leetit the fowert roond draw for the Scottish Cup an thay maun hae thocht that Motherwell wis haein siller kinches for thay haed thaim doun tae play aither Hibernian or Sterling. Nae doot thay wad be howpin tae play the Hibs an mak a sicht mair sterling. ~~~ooo~~~ The'r Fowk Deein Nou That Haesna Dee'd Afore IT wisna lang efter Sandy an Wullie haed dee'd that ae day, Geordie Jooks wis takin a dander ower the street an wha did he no bump intae but Snawface, Wullie's wee brither. His richt nem wis Alec but he aye got Snawface aa his days tho it haes tae be sayed, no aye tae his face. Snawface micht hae been a wee bittie glaikit at times but he wis that quick tae loss the heid, ye didna want tae gie him the excaise. "Alec, A wis richt vexed tae hear aboot your Wullie." Sayed Geordie, "An him gaun sae quick on the back o his pal, Sandy." "Ay Geordie, we aa got an awfu gliff richt eneuch. But thare ye ar, thay war aye thegither in life an nou thay'r thegither agane in daith. Puir sowls." "A dinna ken, but it seems thae last puckle o weeks the'r been an awfu daiths in the toun. Ye nae suiner git oot yer murnin claes an ye'r haein tae git back intae thaim agane. It's no cannie." "Ay," sayed Snawface, "It maks ye wunner wha's gaun tae be neist." "It wis at times lik this," Geordie eikit, "Ma faither aye uised tae say that the'r fowk deein nou that haesna dee'd afore!" Snawface's bawbee didna drap an Geordie airtit the crack anither gate. "Your Wullie cuidna hae been that auld, Alec. Hou auld wis he?" he speirt. Snawface thocht for a meinit an reponed, "Ye ken Geordie? A cuidna raelie tell ye. Aa A can mind is that he wis twa year aulder nor me." Ay, Snawface wisna aa that guid at geography aither whan he wis at the schuil. ~~~ooo~~~ Wha Kens His Faither? ON the mornin o Burns' Nicht, a cheil on Radio Scotland wis gaun on anent hou his wife wis some faur aff kin tae the bard. She wis cried efter her grannie wi the nem o Burnes but the cheil moothit it like "Burness". We wunner hou he wad hae sayed the likes o "Barnes", "Inglis" or "Glamis"? Makars' Neuk For you sae douce, ye sneer at this; Ye're nocht but senseless asses, O: The wisest man the warl e'er saw, He dearly lov'd the lasses, O. Auld nature swears, the lovely dears Her noblest work she classes, O: Her prentice han she try'd on man, An then she made the lasses, O. Robert Burns. 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: 2635 General description: monthly newsletter Text medium Leaflet/brochure (prospectus): Text publication details Published: Publisher: Scots Tung Publication year: 1999 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