Doric, the popular name for Mid Northern Scots or Northeast Scots, refers to the Scots language as spoken in the northeast of

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. There is an extensive body of literature, mostly poetry, ballads, and songs, written in Doric. In some literary works, Doric is used as the language of conversation while the rest of the work is in Lallans Scots or British English. A number of 20th and 21st century poets have written poetry in the Doric dialect.

Nomenclature

The term "Doric" was formerly used to refer to all dialects of Lowland Scots, but during the twentieth century it became increasingly associated with Mid Northern Scots. The name possibly originated as a jocular reference to the Doric dialect of the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

language.

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

Dorians The Dorians (; , , singular , ) were one of the four major ethnic groups into which the Greeks, Hellenes (or Greeks) of Classical Greece divided themselves (along with the Aeolians, Achaeans (tribe), Achaeans, and Ionians). They are almost alw ...

lived in

Laconia Laconia or Lakonia (, , ) is a historical and Administrative regions of Greece, administrative region of Greece located on the southeastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. Its administrative capital is Sparti (municipality), Sparta. The word ...

, including

Sparta Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas rive ...

, and other more rural areas, and were alleged by the ancient Greeks to have spoken laconically and in a language thought harsher in tone and more phonetically conservative than the

Attic An attic (sometimes referred to as a '' loft'') is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building. It is also known as a ''sky parlor'' or a garret. Because they fill the space between the ceiling of a building's t ...

spoken in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. Doric Greek was used for some of the verses spoken by the chorus in Greek

tragedy A tragedy is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a tragic hero, main character or cast of characters. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy is to invoke an accompanying catharsi ...

. According to ''

The Oxford Companion to English Literature ''The Oxford Companion to English Literature'' first published in 1932, edited by the retired diplomat Paul Harvey (diplomat), Sir Paul Harvey (1869–1948), was the earliest of the Oxford Companions to appear. It is currently in its seventh ed ...

'': :Since the

were regarded as uncivilised by the

Athenians Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, "Doric" came to mean "rustic" in English, and was applied particularly to ''the language of

Northumbria Northumbria () was an early medieval Heptarchy, kingdom in what is now Northern England and Scottish Lowlands, South Scotland. The name derives from the Old English meaning "the people or province north of the Humber", as opposed to the Sout ...

and the Lowlands of Scotland'' and also to the simplest of the three orders in

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

. Drabble, Margaret (ed.) ''

'' (fifth edition, 1985) 18th-century Scots writers such as Allan Ramsay justified their use of Scots (instead of English) by comparing it to the use of Ancient Greek Doric by

Theocritus Theocritus (; , ''Theokritos''; ; born 300 BC, died after 260 BC) was a Greek poet from Sicily, Magna Graecia, and the creator of Ancient Greek pastoral poetry. Life Little is known of Theocritus beyond what can be inferred from his writings ...

. English became associated with Attic.

Phonology

Most

consonants In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract, except for the h sound, which is pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Examples are and pronou ...

are usually pronounced much as in other Modern Scots dialects but: *In

Buchan Buchan is a coastal district in the north-east of Scotland, bounded by the Ythan and Deveron rivers. It was one of the original provinces of the Kingdom of Alba. It is now one of the six committee areas of Aberdeenshire. Etymology The ge ...

the cluster cht, also ght, may be realised in some words, rather than as in other dialects, for example: ''dochter'' (daughter), (might) and ''nocht'' (nought), often written ''dother'', ''mith'' and ''noth'' in dialect writing. * The clusters gn and kn are realised and , for example ''gnaw'', ''gnap'', ''knee'', ''knife'', ''knock'' (a clock) and ''knowe'' (knoll). *In Buchan, towards the coast, th followed by ''er'' may be realised , rather than as in other dialects, for example: ''brither'' (brother), ''faither'' (father), ''gaither'' (gather) and ''mither'' (mother), often written ''bridder'', ''fadder'', ''gaider''~''gedder'' and ''midder'' in dialect writing. * wh is realised , rather than as in Central Scots dialects, for example ''whit'' (what) and ''wha'' (who), often written ''fit'' and () in dialect writing. *The cluster wr may be realised , rather than as in Central Scots dialects, for example ''wratch'' (wretch), ''wrath'', (wright) and (wrought~worked), often written , , and in dialect writing. Some

vowel A vowel is a speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract, forming the nucleus of a syllable. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness a ...

realisations differ markedly from those of Central Scots dialects. The vowel numbers are from Aitken. See also

Cardinal vowels Cardinal vowels are a set of reference vowels used by phoneticians in describing the sounds of languages. They are classified depending on the position of the tongue relative to the roof of the mouth, how far forward or back is the highest p ...

. * a (vowel 17) before , , and may be or rather than . * aw and au (vowel 12), sometimes a or a representing

L-vocalisation ''L''-vocalization, in linguistics, is a process by which a lateral approximant sound such as , or, perhaps more often, velarized , is replaced by a vowel or a semivowel. Types There are two types of ''l''-vocalization: * A labiovelar appro ...

, are realised , rather than or as in Central Scots dialects, for example ''aw'' (all), ''cauld'' (cold), ''braw'' (brave, handsome, fine, splendid), ''faw'' (fall) and ''snaw'' (snow), often written ''aa'', (), , and in dialect writing. In Buchan, in some words the stem final ''w'' may be realised , often with a glide before the preceding vowel, for example ''awe'' (awe), ''blaw'' (blow), ''gnaw'' , ''law'' , ''snaw'' (snow) and ''taw'' ~ often written ''yaave'', ''blyaave'', , ''snyaave'' and ''tyauve''~''tyaave''~''chaave'' in dialect writing. *In some areas ai or a (consonant) e (vowel 4 or 8) may be realised after , dark and occasionally after other consonants, for example ''claes'' (clothes), ''coal'', ''coat'', ''gape'', ''wade'', ''waik'' (weak), ''wait'', ''wale'' (choose) and ''wame'' (belly), often written ''clyes'', ''kwile'', , ''gype'', ''wyde'', ''wyke'', ''wyte'', ''wyle'' and ''wyme'' in dialect writing. A preceding or may produce a glide, with the vowel realised , for example ''caird'' (card), ''cake'' , ''naig'' (nag) and ''nakit'' (naked). The cluster ane is realised in Moray and Nairn but is usually in other areas, for example, ''ane'' (one) ''ance'' (once), ''bane'' (bone) and ''stane'' (stone), often written ''een'', ''eence'', ''been'' and ''steen'' in dialect writing. *ea, ei (vowel 3) is usually , though the realisation may be along the coast and in Moray and Nairn. The realisation may also be in, for example, ''great'', ''quean'' (girl), (seven), (sweat), ''weave'' and ''wheat'', and before in, for example, ''speak'', often written ''gryte'', ''quine'', ''syven'', , ''wyve'', ''fyte'' and () in dialect writing. Before and the realisation may be in, for example, ''heiven'' (heaven), ''reason'', ''season'' and (seven), often written , , and in dialect writing. *ee (vowels 2 and 11), e(Consonant)e (vowel 2). Occasionally ei and ie with ''ei'' generally before ''ch'' (), but also in a few other words, and ''ie'' generally occurring before ''l'' and ''v''. The realisation is generally but may be after , dark and occasionally after other consonants in, for example, ''cheenge'' (change), ''heeze'' (lift) and ''swee'' (sway), often written , and in dialect writing. *eu (vowel 7 before and see ''ui''), sometimes ui and oo after Standard English also occur, is generally in for example, ''beuk'' (book), ''eneuch'' (enough), ''ceuk'' (cook), ''leuk'' (look) and ''teuk'' (took). * Stem final ew (vowel 14) may be realised in, for example, ''few'', ''new'' and also in ''beauty and duty'', often written (), (), ''byowty'' and in dialect writing. Before the realisation may be in, for example, ''week'', often written ''wyke'' in dialect writing. * ui (vowel 7) is realised and after and . Also u (consonant) e, especially before nasals, and oo from the spelling of Standard English cognates, in for example, ''abuin'' (above), ''cuit'' (ankle) and ''guid'' (good), often written ''abeen'', ''queet'' and ''gweed'' in dialect writing. In Moray and Nairn the realisation is usually before in, for example, ''buird'' (board), ''fluir'' (floor) and ''fuird'' (ford), often written ''boord'', ''floor'' and ''foord'' in dialect writing. The realisation also occurs in ''adae'' (ado), ''dae'' (do), ''shae'' (shoe) and ''tae'' (to~too).

Literature

North East Scots has an extensive body of literature, mostly poetry, ballads and songs. During the

Middle Scots Middle Scots was the Anglic language of Lowland Scotland in the period from 1450 to 1700. By the end of the 15th century, its phonology, orthography, accidence, syntax and vocabulary had diverged markedly from Early Scots, which was virtual ...

period writing from the North East of Scotland adhered to the literary conventions of the time; indications of particular "Doric" pronunciations were very rare. The 18th-century literary revival also brought forth writers from the North East but, again, local dialect features were rare, the extant literary Scots conventions being preferred. In later times, a more deliberately regional literature began to emerge. In contemporary prose writing, Doric occurs usually as quoted speech, although this is less and less often the case. As is usually the case with marginalised languages, local loyalties prevail in the written form, showing how the variety "deviates" from standard ("British") English as opposed to a general literary Scots "norm". This shows itself in the local media presentation of the language, e.g., Grampian Television & The Aberdeen Press and Journal. These local loyalties, waning knowledge of the older literary tradition and relative distance from the Central Lowlands ensure that the Doric scene has a degree of semi-autonomy. Doric dialogue was used in a lot of so-called Kailyard literature, a genre that paints a sentimental, melodramatic picture of the old rural life, and is currently unfashionable. This negative association still plagues Doric literature to a degree, as well as Scottish literature in general. Poets who wrote in the Doric dialect include John M. Caie of Banffshire (1879–1949), Helen B. Cruickshank of Angus (1886–1975), Alexander Fenton (1929–2012), Flora Garry (1900–2000), Sir Alexander Gray (1882–1968), Violet Jacob of Angus (1863–1946), Charles Murray (1864–1941) and J. C. Milne (1897–1962). George MacDonald from Huntly used Doric in his novels. A friend of

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Fau ...

, he is commonly considered one of the fathers of the

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

genre and an influence on

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer, literary scholar and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Magdalen College, Oxford (1925–1954), and Magdalen ...

and

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...

. Lewis Grassic Gibbon's ''Scots Quair'' trilogy is set in the Mearns and has been the basis of a successful play and television series. It is very popular throughout Scotland and tells the story of Chris, an independent-minded woman, mainly in a form of English strongly influenced by the rhythms of local speech. A version of

Aesop's Fables Aesop's Fables, or the Aesopica, is a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a Slavery in ancient Greece, slave and storyteller who lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 Before the Common Era, BCE. Of varied and unclear origins, the stor ...

has been published in Doric, as well as some sections of the Bible. The North East has been claimed as the "real home of the ballad" and, according to Les Wheeler, "91 out of a grand total of (Child's) 305 ballads came from the North East – in fact from Aberdeenshire", which makes the usual name of "Border Ballad" a misnomer put about by

Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...

. Contemporary writers in Doric include Sheena Blackhall, a poet who writes in Doric, and Mo Simpson, who writes in the ''Aberdeen Evening Express'' and peppers her humour column with "Doricisms" and Doric words. Doric has also featured in stage, radio and television, notably in the sketches and songs of the Aberdeen-based comedy groups Scotland the What? and the Flying Pigs.

Sample text

''Gin I was God'' by Charles Murray (1864–1941) Doric : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : Translation :IF I were God, sitting up there above, :Wearied no doubt, now all my work was done, :Deafened by the harps and hymns unending ringing, :Tired of the flocking angels hoarse with singing, :To some cloud edge I'd saunter forth and, faith, :Look over and watch how things were going beneath. :Then if I saw how men I'd made myself :Had started out to poison, shoot and kill ell :To steal and rape and fairly make a hell :Of my fine spinning Earth—a whole week's work— :I'd drop my coat again, roll up my shirt, :And, ere they'd time to launch a second ark, :Take back my word and send another flood pate :Drown out the whole shebang, wipe the slate, :Admit my mistake, and once I'd cleared the board, :Start everything all-thing"over again, if I were God.

Recent developments

In 2006 an

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

hotel decided to use a Doric voice for their lift. Phrases said by the lift include "Gyaun Up" (Going up), "Gyaun Doun" (Going down), "atween fleers een an fower" (between floors one and four). Also in 2006,

Maureen Watt Maureen Elizabeth Watt (born 23 June 1951) is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician and former Minister for Mental Health (Scotland), Minister for Mental Health in the Scottish Government. She was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP ...

of the SNP took her

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( ; ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym 'Holyrood'. ...

ary

oath Traditionally, an oath (from Old English, Anglo-Saxon ', also a plight) is a utterance, statement of fact or a promise taken by a Sacred, sacrality as a sign of Truth, verity. A common legal substitute for those who object to making sacred oaths ...

in Doric. She said "I want to advance the cause of Doric and show there's a strong and important culture in the North East." She was required to take an oath in English beforehand. There was some debate as to whether the oath was "gweed Doric" () or not, and notably it is, to a certain extent, written phonetically and contains certain anglicised forms such as "I" rather than "A", and "and" instead of "an": :"I depone aat I wull be leal and bear ae full alleadgance tae her majesty Queen Elizabeth her airs an ony fa come aifter her anent the law. Sae help me God." In Disney/Pixar's '' Brave'', the character Young MacGuffin speaks the Doric dialect, and a running joke involves no one else understanding him. This was a choice by the voice actor, Kevin McKidd, a native of Elgin. In autumn 2020, the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

launched a term-long Doric course, offering it to all its undergraduate students. In August 2012, Gordon Hay, an Aberdeenshire author, successfully completed what is believed to be the first translation of the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

into Doric. The project took him six years.

References

Sources

* Harper, Norman, ''Spik O The Place'' (

Canongate Books Canongate Books (trading as Canongate) is an independent publishing firm based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is named after the Canongate area of the city. It is most recognised for publishing the Booker Prize winning novel '' Life of Pi'' (2001 ...

, 1998) * Harper, Norman (2009) ''Spikkin Doric''. Edinburgh. Birlinn.

External links

Doric A-Z words and phrases

Aw Ae Wey—Written Scots in Scotland and Ulster
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200613095539/http://www.scots-online.org/airticles/AwAeWey.pdf , date=13 June 2020
North East page at Scots Language Centre

and compare with other accents from the UK and around the World.

The Doric Festival

Scottish MSP takes oath in Doric

(from the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

original link down
.
List of Doric Words and English Translations

Doric set to dae the business

Hotel lands uplifting Doric voice

'Fit Like, Yer Majesty?' a book of Doric poems published in 2008

Doric language and area stories from the North East of Scotland
* David Jack reads Doric passages from the works of George MacDonald, with some annotated texts
Spikin' Scots wi' Dawvid JackYouTube channel

Scotland's little-known fourth "language" (BBC)
Scots dialects Culture in Aberdeen Aberdeenshire Banffshire Moray