Kaitness Wordies

[dinnad]

Can anyone help with these words, which come from the poem
'Div Ye Mind':

"... While e duekies trail'd his heid-piece roond and roond
e' byre for fun ..."

" Div' ye mind e' Knotty Club wi its game and ragged band,
Fa's clubs wis bandaged kail-runs or anything at hand?
Noo and then a tae wis opened wi' a whistle fae e' ba',
An e' linin o' a pockad wis pit roond it wi' a straw. "

Although from Caithness, I don't know what most of the
nouns and verbs in the passage I've quoted and I can't find
meanings for most of the words anywhere.

--
Cheemag.


dueckies ?

heid-piece = head-piece, but what exactly is it? Would it be the
head of the blockie that was drying in the sun?

Knotty Club ?

kail runs = kail = rough cabbage, but kail runs?

"A cowgie fu o sooans, an' a stoolie wi' a list?"

I did eventually find cowgie, but not exactly sure about sooans.

"An ye cut initials in e' pew fan "Thirdly" shut his een."

Thirdly?

Thanks in advance,

[Gleber2]

--
Cheemag.


dueckies ?

heid-piece = head-piece, but what exactly is it? Would it be the
head of the blockie that was drying in the sun?

Knotty Club ?

kail runs = kail = rough cabbage, but kail runs?

"A cowgie fu o sooans, an' a stoolie wi' a list?"

I did eventually find cowgie, but not exactly sure about sooans.

"An ye cut initials in e' pew fan "Thirdly" shut his een."

Thirdly?

Thanks in advance,

Belief not knowledge, but a knotty was an improvised club to hit your opponent with and this was often made from the stalk of a cabbage wrapped in a bandage of old cloot. Sooans I believe to be a dish connected to the process of making gruel and included sour milk. Thirdly would have been a minister if you carved your name in a pew.
Partly guesswork and partly what I learned at my mithers knee.

[highlander]

Dueckies = ducks
sooans= thin food of meal

[highlander]

a stoolie wi' a list= a stool that is not sitting level

[highlander]

A salted blockie, on a bool, spread drying in 'e sun, this would read a small cod, on a stone, spread drying in the sun.

Kail runs= cabbage grown in dreels, or cabbage grown in lines
hope this helps you.

[golach]

Is there more than one "Div ye mind" poem? I have a version by Castlegreen and it does not have that verse in it

[George Brims]

I believe souans is more like a drink than a food - it is fermented.

[highlander]

I think u are meaning "sowans" a sour drink made from oat flour "sids"
Golach i have two books, one is "Kaithness Fowk" by John Horne, he wrote Div Ye Mind, but also in the book "Tatties an' Herreen, it has also "Div Ye MInd, in brackets (or "what John Horne forgot"

[gollach]

i have two books, one is "Kaithness Fowk" by John Horne, he wrote Div Ye Mind, but also in the book "Tatties an' Herreen, it has also "Div Ye MInd, in brackets (or "what John Horne forgot"

I think that the John Horne poem is the original while the latter is a look back at Caithness life without the rose-tinted specs.

[Kenn]

Highlander..will ye no write a book aboot Kaithness dialect lass? If there's owt we needs to know you usualy have the answer and it would be a shame if it was lost..you've been a FANTASTIC teacher to me and I know that many others would love to share your knowledge.

[Kingetter]

Highlander..will ye no write a book aboot Kaithness dialect lass? If there's owt we needs to know you usualy have the answer and it would be a shame if it was lost..you've been a FANTASTIC teacher to me and I know that many others would love to share your knowledge.

And maybe Highlander could share some on the Literature Board perhaps? Please.

[dinnad]

I think u are meaning "sowans" a sour drink made from oat flour "sids"
Golach i have two books, one is "Kaithness Fowk" by John Horne, he wrote Div Ye Mind, but also in the book "Tatties an' Herreen, it has also "Div Ye MInd, in brackets (or "what John Horne forgot"

I think we're a wee bit further on now, thanks to all who responded.

I have 'soochans' (there are variations) as a sort of gruel (in The Caithness
Dictionary).

OK about the stoolie, I knew what that was although I included it.

And duekies, ducks of course!

Still puzzled by 'Thirdly', an unlikely name. I've heard this version:

"... An ye cut yur initials in e' pew fan yur faither shut his een. ..."

Thanks again to all.

--
Cheemag

[highlander]

Thank you Lizz, it makes me remember back, when i was working in a shop, and this two loons remarked to thier friends, "Hey thats the woman that talks funny" lol so i just had to say to them "shut yere mooths, or i will give yea a scud in the loog-holes" lol welllllll, not to say they were either stunned, that i would answer them back, or really didna hev a clue, fit i was saying. lol