No Aw Yae Oo.

Posted by Bob Fairnie

Efter bein brocht up in a fishin faimly in the fishin community o Fisherraw, that lies athin the Honest Toun o Musselburgh, the Scots byleid that A'm maist acquent wi wad be the East Central (South) byleid o the Lothians.  For aw that, wi me bein in contack wi ither Scots speakers fae ither airts, dinnae be taen aback if ye whiles come ower a word or twa that some fowk wad threap tae belang some byleid ither nor East Central (South).
Thon's the thing wi languages an thair byleids.  Wi aw the stravaigin fowk fae diffrent airts daes the day, there mair inlats for words tae lowp the auld byleid mairches an the diffrence atween thae byleids is taen doon a wee bittie at a time.  But it's no juist byleids that ingethers words fae thair neibours.  Languages daes the same thing thirsels, no juist Scots but aw languages, wi English bein the biggest ingetherer o thaim aw.
A mind a guid puckle year syne whan A wis leukin forrit tae gaun tae ma first Scots Leid Associe forgetherin up in Auld Reekie, a freend that haed been tae thaim afore, speirt whit wey A wis leukin forrit tae gaun.  A telt her A wis fair leukin forrit tae haein a guid crack in Scots an she telt me that A wis gaun tae get a richt dissie for nane o thaim spake Scots tae communicate wi.  She eikit that they aw juist read it oot a buik but kept maist o the crack in English.  Whan A gaed tae the forgetherin, A fund oot she wis richt.  A tried tae keep speakin Scots whan A wis thare but it wisnae easy wi awbody speakin back in English.  A shuid pynt oot tae readers that thon wis a guid while syne an maimbers noo-a-days is nae whare near sae blate at yaisin Scots in conversation - maist o thaim onywey.
Yae thing that bid in ma heid fae thon forgetherin wis bein poued up bi yin o the kenspeckle comatee maimbers for yaisin the pairsonal pronoun "oo" for baith "us" an "we".  He wis fae the Borders airt an telt me that wi me comin fae Musselburgh, A shidnae be yaisin "oo" cause it wis a Borders word.  Weel, A wis fair taen aback for me an ma faimly haed been yaisin thon word aw oor lives.  Whan times wis sair at the fishin, ma faither wad aye say, "Nivver mind. Oo've no dee'd a winter yet!"
The fishermen o Fisherraw aye haudit thair Fishermen's Walk ilka year an whan onybody that wisnae fisher taen pairt in the Walk, they war aye referred tae as bein, "No yin o oo!"  In fack, it wis said in Fisherraw that thare wis juist the twa kinna fowk in this warld, fisher fowk an treds fowk an if a body wisnae fisher, they wurnae yin o oo.  For aw that oo war aw Jock Tamson's bairns, the fisher fowk didnae see thae bairns as aw yae oo.  Coorse, ye'll aw nae doot ken that thon hinnermaist "oo" isnae a pronoun like the ithers.  It's a noun that in English wad be spelt "wool".
Conter tae whit thon SLA comatee maimber threapit, the Scots Language Centre wabsite gies a bit aboot the East Central byleid o Scots whare it pynts oot that in suthren pairts o the East Central airt, the pronoun "oo" can be heard.  http://www.scotslanguage.com/tags/view/26/830Syne the East Central byleid taks in baith the Lothians an Fife, Fisherraw, that lies on the suthren shore o the Firth o Forth, maun shairlie be conseidert tae be in thae suthren pairts.
Mind you, it's nae wunner the fishermen o Fisherraw ingether words fae the Borders an fae ither byleids.  In the coorse o thair wark, they aye spake juist Scots alane as did the men fae ither airts that they melled wi.  Nane o thaim haed ony bother unnerstaunnin yin anither an ower the years, it wad hiv been a richt ferlie gin some o thae ither airts' words in thair heids didnae find thair wey intae thair mooths an aw.
Wi the ingetherin o Borders words in parteeclar, it haes tae be unnerstuid that there haes lang been gey strang cleeks atween the Honest Toun an maist o the Border touns that haes common ridins ilka year.  The Honest Toun o Musselburgh, includin Fisherraw, haes lang celebratit its Ridin o the Mairches ilka twinty-yin year an its Honest Lad an Lass ridin ilka year in atween.  Riders fae the Borders haes aye been gien an inveet tae tak pairt in the Musselburgh ridins an riders fae Musselburgh haes aye been gien an inveet tae tak pairt in the Borders common ridins.  Wi this reglar mellin atween the fowk o the Honest Toun an the fowk o the Borders touns, is it ony wunner there micht be a mellin o some o thair byleid words an aw?

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