Subject: LL-L: "Resources" [E] LOWLANDS-L, 07.JUN.1999 (03)

Tue Jun 8 03:44:14 UTC 1999

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From: "Sandy Fleming" <sandy at fleimin.demon.co.uk>
Subject: Resources

More stuff of interest to students of the Scots language is now up on my
website. This is James Lumsden's gigantic (and probably unperformable) play
"Toorle", and various collections of poems by him. James Lumsden was an East
Lothian writer who wrote vast amounts of stuff in Scots around the turn of
the century, particularly plays intended not for performance or even
entertainment, but to act as a record of rural life and language in Lowland
Scotland at the time. In this he succeeds because, though I don't find his
stuff particularly entertaining, it is readable and reveals a great deal
about good Scots usage.

The main problem is, as is often the case, that sometimes he simply writes
the English spelling of a word when the Scots pronunciation is at odds with
it: for example, I can't imagine a Lothian lad & lassie like Rob & Effie
below saying "death, class, harvest" - it should be "daith, cless, hervest".
On the other hand, he does use Scottish pronunciations and grammar that
sound right to me, though I'd never thought of writing them left to myself,
for example, "slade" (pt of "slide" by analogy with bide/bade), and idiom
like "I dinna like" & "I no ken" (though this latter is one I'll have to
think about!).

There is a continuous stream of subtle Scots idiom worth watching out for -
for example, "The time he was at the ploo", below, is typical Scots idiom
for "While he was ploughing". I _say_ this sort of thing, but it's not easy
to think of writing it, having learned to read and write in English only.
This sort of stuff has the potential to re-educate Scots writers in all the
kinds of things that were educated out of them at school!

Note that he often uses English forms deliberately to contrast and compare
with the Scots forms, in order to record the differences. I've found this
particularly useful in researching characters' names for my Scots stories.
In the example below, for instance, "Jock Lowrie" is shown to be the Scots
equivalent of the Scottish-English "John Laurie".

You'll need to be a little patient downloading "Toorle", the play itself, as
there is a huge amount of text. All of Lumsden's text on my website is only
a third of the total amount I have in my collection - maybe one day I'll get
the rest up!

Here's a sample:

Eff. What is’t about? Come, tell’s, Robin.

Rob. It’s about a pet yowe that Burns had. The time he was at the ploo, he
used to hae her tether’d be the fit on some fine grass plot or ither — whare
the grass was lang an’ fine an’ green, an’ whare there was rowth o’t. It was
kindness in Burns made him do that, nae doubt, but a tether’s a kittle tow
aye, Effie. Weel, ae day he spied a grand bit for Mailie on the edge o’ a
deep dry ditch, an’ he tether’d her on’t the verra next mornin’— for Burns
was e’en a fine man, Effie —afore his brither Gilbert an’ him gaed awa to
the ploo. Efter bre’kfast time, auld Mailie was sae thrang fillin’ hersel’
up, an’ sookin’ her twa lambs, that she forgot the tether an hankit hersel’
on’t, an’ trippit, an’ syne tummelt owre an’ slade rowin’ doun to the verra
bottom o’ the beastly dry ditch, an’ couldna geit oot.

Eff. Eh, mercy, Robin! Was she kill’d? Did she dee?

Rob. Ay! O, Effie, she was kill’d; an’ her death near hand kill’d Burns as
weel. But I‘se pit the book i’ my pouch an’ read it to ye the morn, if ye
winna be sae thick wi’ Jock Lowrie?

Eff. O, Robin! Ye ken fine that John Laurie is in our class at the schule;
an’ I only help him wi’ his lessons because he was sae lang no’ weel, an’
because he is sich a fine laddie.

Rob. But we’re no’ at the schule the noo; this is harvest time.

Eff. Ay, but when John comes doun frae Kippie, I canna send him awa hame
without speakin’ to him. I dinna like.

Rob. Of coorse no’. But what wey do ye convoy him sae far hame?

Eff. I no ken, Robbie, but I pity him. He’s no strong. An’ ye ken, Robbie,
that I am your lass— tho’ we’re little better than bairns yet.

The other new item is "Manners for Girls", by Mrs Madge Humphries, published
in 1901. This has nothing to do with Scots - it's just a very entertaining
and revealing book that I found while scouring the bookshops for my Scots
collection! Typical Scottish pragmatist, that's me  :)

A sample:

When to shake hands and when to refrain from doing so forms another branch
of the débutante’s social training. Also, how to shake hands! How expressive
is the hand-clasp bestowed upon us by our acquaintance! And how various!
Some of them take our fingers in a limp fashion, and drop them immediately
as though thankful to get the business over. Others give us such a squeeze
as to drive the rings into our flesh and make us thankful, in our turn, when
the violent greeting is finished.

Others, again, follow the changing fashion in hand-shakes, sometimes lifting
our fingers high in air, and bestowing upon them a quaint little twirl. A
few do not shake hands at all, or very rarely. I must admit a certain
sympathy with these. There is far too much hand-shaking in the world.

Sandy Fleming
http:\\www.fleimin.demon.co.uk

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