LL-L: "Delectables" [E/S] LOWLANDS-L, 28.SEP.1999 (03)

[Lowlands-L Administrator]

 =========================================================================
 L O W L A N D S - L * 28.SEP.1999 (03) * ISSN 1089-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
 Posting Address: <lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org>
 Web Site: <http://www.geocities.com/~sassisch/rhahn/lowlands/>
 User's Manual: <http://www.lsoft.com/manuals/1.8c/userindex.html>
 =========================================================================
 A=Afrikaans, Ap=Appalachean, D=Dutch, E=English, F=Frisian, L=Limburgish
 LS=Low Saxon (Low German), S=Scots, Sh=Shetlandic
 =========================================================================
 You have received this because your account has been subscribed upon
 request. To unsubscribe, please send the command "signoff lowlands-l"
 as message text from the same account to
 <listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org> or sign off at
 <http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html>.
 =========================================================================

From: Sandy Fleming [sandy at fleimin.demon.co.uk]
Subject: "Delectables"

> From: Anja Meyfarth [AMeyfarth at t-online.de]
> Subject: sweet, soft and lazy
>
> I am just sitting in front of the computer munching McCowan`s
> Highland Fudge.
> It`s awfully expensive, but - hmmmmmmmmmmmm!!! - it`s great because it`s
> not so oversweet as it is in Germany. But my question is: How
> typical are fudge
> and toffee for Scotland? Are they made by grandmothers to enjoy their
> grandchildren? Is there a tradition, what occasion(s) they are made for?
> I know, in Sweden they is a tradition of making some special
> sorts of sweets
> for christmas. Is there anything alike that somewhere else in the Lowland?
> Recipts are very welcome!

Fudge and toffee are made everywhere in Britain. Fudge tastes the same
everywhere unless it's flavoured! The quintessentially Scottish
milk-and-sugar bar is "tablet" ("taiblet" in Scots), which is crunchy and
melts quickly in the mouth. We used to make our own toffee and tablet,
usually in a frying pan on the cooker for quick results or in a baking tray
in the oven for quality - it's a long time since I've done that, though! The
process for making tablet is the same as toffee but the temperature quite
low - boiling down milk and plenty of sugar in a pan until it turns light
brown and grainy should do it. Then leave it to cool and cut it into squares
or bars when almost set. You might want to add a few drops of vanilla or
something.

I think Puff Candy is also especially Scottish, though you can by it
everywhere now as "honeycomb candy". I think this may have been the original
"Coulter's Candy" of the song. In Scotland different towns tend to have
their own speciality sweets named after them, e.g.:

Berwick Cockles (pronounced "Berry Cockles")
Hawick Baas (Hawick Balls)
Edinburgh Rock (this is unbelievably good, but you must clean your teeth
immediately after or it's bye-bye enamel!)

Others famous all over Scotland are:

Granny Sookers (very sour)
Toffee Doddles (made of hard, glassy toffee)

And many others whose names I can't recall just offhand.

I was in Peebles (a Scottish town) recently and noticed that they had
several huge shops devoted entirely to sweets - inside there were mountains
of sweets and you could by them ready-packed in huge bags like potato sacks!

This song is used to quieten children when they're crying:

Ally-bally, ally-bally-bee,
Sittin on yer mammy's knee,
Greetin for a wee bawbee,
Tae buy some Coulter's Candy!

Mammy, see'z ma thrifty doun,
Coulter's comin til the toun,
Wi a basket on his croun,
Sellin Coulter's Candy.

Ally-bally &c

Little Annie's greetin tae,
Sae what can their mammy dae,
But gie them a penny atween the twae,
Tae buy some Coulter's Candy.

Ally-bally &c

Oor wee Jeanie wis leukin awfu thin,
A rickle o banes covert ower wi skin,
Nou she's growin a wee dooble chin,
Wi sookin Coulter's Candy.

Ally-bally &c

ally-bally: hullabaloo
greet: weep
wee: little
bawbee: halfpenny
see'z: give me
thrifty: piggy bank
doun, toun, croun: down, town, crown
rickle: a small pile
banes: bones
sook: suck
gie: give
tae: to, too
dae: do
atween: between
twae: two
ower: over
nou: now
oor: our

Sandy
http://scotstext.org

==================================END======================================
 * Please submit contributions to <lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org>.
 * Contributions will be displayed unedited in digest form.
 * Please display only the relevant parts of quotes in your replies.
 * Commands for automated functions (including "signoff lowlands-l") are
   to be sent to <listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org> or at
   <http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html>.
 * Please use only Plain Text format, not Rich Text (HTML) or any other
   type of format, in your submissions
 =========================================================================