Document 1448

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.//


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.//


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//


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//


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?


M1042 //No, no, grunny is a grandma an in Aiberdeen it's grunny.//



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.//


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]//


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'.



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//




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?//


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//


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.//


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,//


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]//


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//


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//


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".//


M1042 //[inaudible] Yes, 'see's that'.//


F1054 //Do you use it anywhaur else or just for a piece?//



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//


M1042 //Contermacious folk are, folk are aye// //disagreein with ye, "ye contermacious"//


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".//


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?//


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.//


M1042 //Well,//

F1041 //Because Fittie folk adda lot o Es.//


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',//



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.


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.//


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//


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 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,//


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,//


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.//



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.//



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.//


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//


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]//


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'.//


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,//


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,//


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!//


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,//


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 .//


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'.


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.//


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?


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//


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,//


M1042 //they dinnae ken onythin", but they didn't understand us.//


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.//


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'.//


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.

Adults (18+)
General public
Informed lay people
Specialists
For gender	Mixed
Audience size	1000+

Speaker awareness	Aware
Degree of spontaneity	Spontaneous
Special circumstances surrounding speech	Spontaneous but discussing a list of words they had thought about previously.

Year of recording	2004
Recording person id	1060
Size (min)	73
Size (mb)	282

Education
Journalism
Recording venue	School resource room
Geographic location of speech	Torry, Aberdeen

Transcriber id	631
Year of transcription	2006
Year material recorded	2006
Word count	13536

Scottish
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Of
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Document 1448

BBC Voices Recording: Aberdeen

Author(s): N/A

Copyright holder(s): BBC, SCOTS Project

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BBC Voices Recording: Aberdeen

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Part of series
Contained in	BBC Voices Recordings - www.bbc.co.uk/voices

Not previously acquainted
Speakers knew each other	Yes

Conversation
General description	Conversation centred around a pre-prepared list of words for discussion

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 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

Language	Speak	Read	Write	Understand	Circumstances
English	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	When required
Scots	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Every day

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

Language	Speak	Read	Write	Understand	Circumstances
English	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Work and home
Scots	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Word and home

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

Language	Speak	Read	Write	Understand	Circumstances
English	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Telephone - communications
Scots	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Every day dealing

Radio/audio
Web (e.g. audio webcast)

Scottish Corpus Of Texts & Speech

Document 1448

BBC Voices Recording: Aberdeen

Author(s): N/A

Copyright holder(s): BBC, SCOTS Project

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BBC Voices Recording: Aberdeen

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