Nae Pith Left

A Facebook freen (an' eminent Ulster-Scot) sent mae a wheen o aul sayins twarthy days ago. Amang them wus tha phrase

He had nae pith left - He had no energy left.

Thanks Charlie



Interestingly this is another good example of our tongues linguistic roots as the the word pithy (which comes from the word pith) is a middle English (1300-50) word meaning 'expressive' or 'forceful'.


As another internet acquaintance of mine said, "Jist anither example of hoo tha Inglis borrowed thur wurds frae tha Scots."

On yer wae oot

Its no aftin I dae twa postins in tha yin day. But anither sowl fae near tha low country (yin wae a quare guid blog o her ain). Sent mae anither aul sayin that cums fae ploughing.
If a bodies on his last legs or (as we used tae say) at tha stage whur, "yin mere clean shirt wud dae him" then:

"he's puin tha heidrig."

Thanks Fiona

Anither yin fur tha aul farmers

A freen o mine wus haein a yarn wae a nighber of his yin nicth aboot a creeter they baith knew whose wife haed left him.

"Why'd she lee him?" he axt.
"Ach," sez the neighbour, "she wus wakin tha tap o tha drill"

What a great description of infidelity.


For those of you not of a farming persuasion. A good furrow horse walks neatly in the furrow so as not to damage the work done.

Starvin in Londonderry

A wheen o weeks ago I wus haen a yarn wae a freen o mine fae Londonderry aboot tha hamely tongue. An he came oot wae a sayin, I hae'd nivir herd befur. Yin that must nivir o made it iver tha glenshane. Whun a Derry man iz coul he's, no foundered he's, Starvin or

Starvin wae tha coul.

I still haenae got mae heid roon that yin. Ye must hae tae bae fae Derry.

Interestingly, since then, I have found this 'aul sayin' in these two historical documents. Washington Irving gives the following account in his book The Life of George Washington,

 The winter set in early, and was uncommonly rigorous. The transportation of supplies was obstructed; the magazines were exhausted, and the commissaries had neither money nor credit to enable them to replenish them. For weeks at a time the army was on half allowance; sometimes without meat, sometimes without bread, sometimes without both. There was a scarcity, too, of clothing and blankets, so that the poor soldiers were starving with cold as well as hunger (Washington Irving, The Life of George Washington, vol. 1 (NY: The Cooperative Publication Society, 1858, 263-265).

And this example, from the Encyclopaedia Perthensis 

Jook tha Beetle

Whun I wus a wean an ye cum across a runchy bit in yer champ.
Ye cud a axt tha yin wa made it, whur they tryin tae.

Jook tha Beetle

Beetle - Taken at the Ulster American Folk Park Omagh 2011

This aul sayin can also be used when somebody's trying to  dodge a job or punishment


The beetle is a large wooden mallet used for hammering meat or pounding clothes.


Update: I found a grisly tale of murder entitled 'Scrape The Beetle', in Hugh Robinson's wonderful book 'Yarns from the Ards' 


On a final note I recently happened upon a linguistic website where scholars were discussing the word jook. Apparently in Hebrew it means beetle.

Mony's a Jag

Mae granny a said

A travellin fut a gits somethin shud it bae a jag

She's no wrang fur I hae got mony's a jag in tha last wheen o days

A wurd o thanks

Tae a tha kin hearted cretters wha tuk tha time tae listen tae me an mae wean on Sunday. Thank you.
An tae aa them that said they whur gye sorry tae hae missed it. Yer no gettin aff that easy. Ye can still fin it at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b010q7mk