Doric Dialects and Doric Poets of North-East Scotland

The following extracts, selected by current Doric lyricist, John Henderson BA, DPE, from the FOREWORD and BIBLIOGRAPHY in ‘A Doric Dictionary’ by Douglas Kynoch MA (1996), are quoted here for educational purposes and to alert scholars to the enlightenment they may gain from purchasing the book from, among other sources, “http://www.amazon.co.uk/Doric-Dictionary-Doric-English-English-Doric/dp/1898218803”

“Doric is a name given to broad and rustic dialect. Deriving from that spoken by the Dorians in ancient Greece, it has been applied in more recent times to the dialects of England and of Scotland, while in Scotland itself the term refers pre-eminently to the dialect of the Scots language which is spoken in the north-eastern corner of the country. The Doric of North-East Scots meets both the traditional qualifications. On the one hand, its broadness can present difficulty even for Scots in other parts of Scotland, while on the other, its richest manifestation has always been found in the rural hinterland, where the language has recorded and labelled all the trappings of everyday life in what was a largely farming and fishing community. ……

It should come as no surprise to anyone that over so extensive an area there should be a considerable number of linguistic differences. If language can change slightly from village to village, as it does, then changes from county to county may be expected to be even greater. It would be a rash man who would say that this or that expression was not Doric simply because it was not his Doric. The truth is that there is not one monolithic form of Doric but a multiplicity of forms, differing to a greater or lesser degree here and there. Not only is there a northern and southern Doric and a Banffshire and Meams Doric, but also there is a farming and fishing Doric and a now somewhat diluted urban Doric.”

“George Abel of Aberdeenshire (1856-1916); brought up on farms in the parish of Kintore; minister of Udny Free Church for 35 years; author of the verse collection ‘Wylins Fae My Wallet’, published 1916.

James Alexander of Ythan Wells, Aberdeenshire; author of ‘Mains and Hilly’, a collection of dialogues in the Aberdeenshire dialect, originally published in the Aberdeen Weekly Free Press and brought out in book form in 1929.

William Alexander of Aberdeenshire (1826-94); author of ‘Johnny Gibb of Gushetneuk’, first published 1871; ploughman, journalist and editor of the Aberdeen Free Press, in which Johnny Gibb was serialised.

Peter Buchan of Peterhead (1917-1991); a fisherman like his father; author of a collection of poems, ‘Mount Pleasant’ and a collection of North-East tales, ‘Fisher Blue’. What has been drawn on here is his contribution to ‘Buchan Claik’, a compendium of North-East words and phrases which he compiled in collaboration with David Toulmin.

Helen Beaton of Aberdeenshire. Mrs Beaton’s account of life in the Garioch in the nineteenth century is based in particular on the parish of Rayne and relies on the stories and language of her grandmother. Entitled ‘At the Back o’ Benachie’, it was published in 1915.

J. M. Caie of Banffshire (1879-1949). John Morrison Caie was born in Banchory-Devenick, the son of a Banffshire minister, he was brought up on a farm in the parish of Enzie. Trained both in law and agriculture, he spent much of his working life with the Board of Agriculture for Scotland. Of his two volumes of verse, it is ’Twixt Hills and Sea' which helps give the dictionary its Banffshire flavour.

Helen B. Cruickshank of Angus (1886-1975). Helen Buurness Cruickshank was reared at Hillside between Montrose and the North Esk. The greater part of her working life with the civil service was spent in the Department of Health in Edinburgh. A devotee of Hugh MacDiarmid, her Scots vocabulary, tends to be eclectic, so only the most basic terms are quoted as examples of Angus speech.

Alexander Fenton of Aberdeenshire (1929- ). Director of the European Ethnological Research Centre in Edinburgh, Prof. Fenton himself a native of Auchterless, has used a farm in that parish as the basis of a study of the words and expressions describing farm equipment and techniques in the second quarter of the twentieth century. This invaluable record of North-East farm practice, is described in his book, ‘Wirds an Work ’e Seasons Roon’, published in 1987.

Flora Garry of Aberdeenshire (1900- ). Of farming stock, Mrs Garry was brought up at Mains of Auchmunziel, New Deer. Trained as a teacher, (she taught at Dumfries and Strichen, married R. Campbell Garry, Regius Professor of Physiology at Glasgow University and ultimately retired to Comrie. Her verse collection ‘Bennygoak’ was first published in 1974.

Sir Alexander Gray of Angus (1882-1968). Gray was first Jeffrey Professor of Political Economy at Aberdeen University from 1921-34, to which period much of his Scots verse belongs. The linguistic variants of Angus become apparent in his verse collection, ‘Any Man’s Life’ which appeared in 1924.

Violet Jacob of Angus (1863-1946). Mrs Jacob (nee Kennedy-Erskine) was sister of the 19th laird of Dun, the family having owned for centuries the Dun estate between Brechin and Montrose. Author of four books of verse, her ‘Scottish Poems’ were published in 1944.

Charles Murray of Aberdeenshire (1864-1941). Born in Alford, Murray was a civil engineer who spent most of his professional life in South Africa, where he was ultimately appointed the Union’s Secretary for Public Works. He retired to the North-East of Scotland, where several books of verse were published in his lifetime, ‘Hamewith: the Complete Poems’ appearing in 1979.

J. C. Milne of Aberdeenshire (1897-1962). Another writer of farming stock, John Milne was born at Memsie near Fraserburgh. After a brilliant academic career at Aberdeen University, he turned to teaching, later becoming Master of Method at Aberdeen College of Education. His verse collection, ‘The Orra Loon’, was published in 1946; his collected ‘Poems’ in 1963.

David D. Ogston of Aberdeenshire (1945- ). In two volumes of autobiography, ‘White Stone Country’ and ‘Dry-stone Days’, David Ogston, minister at St John’s, Perth described in Doric his upbringing on farms in Buchan and the Garioch.

Elsie S. Rae of Banffshire. Elsie Ray was the wife of the Rev. Robert Wilson. Her verse collections include ‘Private John McPherson’ (1917) and ‘Hansel Fae Home and other Scots Poems’ (1927).

Alexander Smith of Kincardineshire (1911-1993). Alex Smith is remarkable for having, in the years before his death, written three substantial books in Doric. Two of them, ‘Forty Years in Kincardineshire’ and ‘Forty Years in Buchan and Banff’ are autobiographical; the third, ‘Fairmin the Wey It Wis’ records farm life over the period of a year. As well as having what appears to be total recall, Smith had a keen ear, which discerned the differences between the Doric of Kincardineshire and that of Buchan and Banff.

David Toulmin of Aberdeenshire. This is the pen-name of John Reid (1913- ) born at Rathen in Buchan, the son of a farm-worker. He himself spent his working life in farm labour but turned, in due course, to the writing of novels. He contributed the farming data to ‘Buchan Claik’, while his collaborator, Peter Buchan provided the fishing material.”