Document 1692

Scots Tung Wittins 41

Author(s): Robert Fairnie

Copyright holder(s): Name withheld

Nummer 41
September 1997

Scots Tung WITTINS

Eydentlie uphaudin the Scots Leid Campaine

**Fykie wirds fae "The Brus"**
Giffis = gies, Levys = lives. Es = ease, Ellys = else, Ples = please, Failyhe = fails, Fre = free, Yharnyt = longed for, Our = ower, Assayit = experienced, Perquer = perfectly, Wyt = ken/know, Mar = mair, Prys = prize (verb), Drawis = draws, Clerkis = clerks, Wyff = wife, Hyr = her, Det = debt, Let = pit aff fae daein, Fryst = furst, Bot = but, Sen = since, Dettis = debts, Se = see, Thoucht = tho, Ar = are, Wys = wyce/wise, Wer = waur, Deid = daith, Lyff = life, Merrys = afflicts, Banys = banes, Dede = daith, Anys = aince, Halle = hail.

As ye cuin see, yince ye maister John Barbour's orra spellins ( he aft spells the samen wird twa weys in the samen page) it's no aw that fykie tae unnerstaun. We dinna ken juist hoo thae wirds wis moothit in his day but thai read no aw that faur awa fae modren Inglis an aiblins, nearer tae it than the English Inglis o the 16t an 17t centuries. The spellin haunt that grips the ee maist is hoo the "i" an "y" is interchyngeable an, whan thai come afore an "s" at the en o a wird, thai'r no moothit at aw.

Gin this his gien ye an appeteet tae ken mair anent the wey fowks spake aroon the times o Bannockburn, thir a new buik oot the noo cried:- "The Bruce" bi John Barbour, editit bi A.A.M. Duncan, furthset bi Cannongate Books. (£9.99 ) A rare troke for 792 pages. This buik gies Barbour's oreeginal Scots (he wad hae cried it Inglis) on the richt haun blat an Duncan gies his English owersettin an exposeetion in the caurie yin. This buik shid be compulsorie readin for aw high scuil bairns.

**The 2001 Census Campaine.**
Fowk at the Scottish Office hae been sayin that gin fowks hid fleetchit the Labour goverment as sair as thai hid fleetchit the Tory yin, the quaisten on Scots in the Census wad hae been accepit nae bother at aw. Sae oniebodie that hisna scrievit tae the Scottish Office shid get richt on tae it (the S.O. is expeckin ye tae). The anelie thing noo is that, insteid o scrievin tae Henry McLeish, ye shid scrieve tae Maister Sam Galbraith, Meinister for Scots, at the same backin.

**The Referendum Paper.**
The Goverment paper on the Pairliament o Scotland that wis raicentlie poakit throu the doors o ilka hoose in Scotland sayed, amang ither things, that copies cuid be hid in Braille, soun kistie format, Gaelic, Cantonese, Punjabi, Hindi, Gujarati an Urdu but nae mint o Scots at aw. A nummer o Scots upsteerers (includin masel) scrievit tae the Scottish Office tae speir whit wey the Scots Leid wisna includit. Tae gie thaim thair mense, the Scottish Office got the Aiberdeen Univairsitie Scots Leid Quorum tae owerset the Inglis vairsion intae Scots an thai breeshilt oot a photocopied vairsion in Scots cried "The Pairliament o Scotlan". Thir nae doot this is a historical ferlie for the Scots leid, an no afore time, for thir hisna been onie offeecial goverment papers furthset in Scots for gey near three hunner year. It's a richt mense tae the Scottish Office for daein sic a thing but a peetie thai didna craw aboot it mair.

Ay! Ay!
Weel Duin
Scotland!
On Thursday 11t. September, lik three oot o fower Scots, A taen the ure an pit doon ma twa Ay's for a Scottish pairliament. Whit a score thon wis in the wee sma oors o Friday mornin! A hae tae awn tho, A'm lik a hen on a het girdle waitin tae hear thon Auld Sang sung agane but, tho it micht no be the kinna pairliament tae shuit awbodie's likin, thir ae thing - whan it dis in the hinneren kythe in Edinburgh, thir nae doot at aw it wull be Aw oor Ain. For aw we'v been telt it wull aye be thirlt tae Wastmeinster owerance, A canna see oniethin garrin the Scottish Nation noo tae gie it awa for a saicont time.

**Furst 1997-98 Forgaitherin.**
Wi some mainbers awa on hoalidays an ithers no-weel, we didna hae a muckle onwaitin tae oor furst forgaitherin o the season but eneuch tae hae a guid thochtie crack for aw that. The furst forgaitherin syne the Referendum ootcome, tae me, hid a faur different souch. The feck o Scots seemed tae hae waukent up tae thair ain identitie an cultur an seemed noo tae hae a mair confident consait o thirsels. This souch wis felt at the forgaitherin an aw an the genral consait wis that in this new climate, that hid tae bode guid for the hamelt Scots leids, the seeds sawn bi Scots Tung an aw the ither Scots leid upsteerers wad hae muckle mair chance o breardin.

The screid on freedom fae John Barbour's "The Brus" that kythed in the Wittins nummer 40, wis chawed ower an the meanins o some o the fykie wirds (see furst column o this edeetion) wis gien an innin. Awbodie wis greed that yince the orra spellins wis maistered, the piece wisna aw that fykie tae unnerstaun. It wis a richt clearance tae maist that Barbour, a cleric, shid yaise the notion o a wife's conjugal richts tae expoon the adaes dreed bi a threll in thae days.

At the en o the crack, Richard wis gien owerance tae gie a mindin o siller fae Scots Tung foons tae the John Barbour memorial ingaither at Aiberdeen.

**Yule Cairds for 1997.**
It wis greed that time wis rinnin oot fast for this year's cairds an Rita sayed she wad hae wirds wi Helen Black tae speir gin she wad hae time tae dae a picter. Gin she got a cannie repone, Richard wad gie Helen the particularities o whit we wis efter. It wis thocht that a coloured Caird wad hae mair sellin pooer gin we cuid afford it an it wis proponed that aiblins, sumhin on the lines o New Pairliament Hoose wi a Starn abuin micht no be oot o place.

Gif this ploy wis oot the windae than A wis telt tae luik intae pittin yin o Janet's pomes intae a computer wrocht caird.

Neist Forgaitherin :-
Mon. 29t Sept. at 7.30pm in the Brunton Ha, Musselburgh.
Mak a maucht tae be thair.!

Information about Document 1692

Scots Tung Wittins 41