Culture Archives | Page 2 of 28

Ullans

September 23, 2021 by John McCullagh

Ulster-Scots is now known as Ullans. How can you tell the difference between somebody who is talking Ullans and somebody who is just using Ulster Dialect? Easy. Just use the guide below, made out by Philip Robinson, author of ‘Ulster-Scots: a Grammar of the Traditional Written and Spoken Language’.

He advises: ‘listen for a number of ‘markers’. These are the most common words used by Ulster-Scots speakers and which are not used by other dialect speakers. The Scots words thon, dander and wee [for that, stroll and small] have simply been borrowed into Ulster dialect. But words like nicht, cannae and gye [for night, cannot and very] are very common markers for Ullans. Almost all Ullans speakers will only use these markers at home or in each other’s company. Outsiders may never hear it spoken because Ulster-Scots speakers also know English and use it with them.

But it is a language spoken widely in four counties, Donegal, Londonderry, Antrim and Down, and has regional and social variations within these counties. It is fully comprehensible only to native speakers. It is distinct from English in many aspects of pronounciation, vocabulary and grammar.

GUIDE

If you often hear – and sometimes use – less than 20 of the words below, your experience of Ullans is very limited and ‘ye cud dae wi a bit mair lairin’. If you often hear – and sometimes use – more than half, you are already part of the Ulster-Scots speaking community. More than that you are very familiar with current, everyday Ulster-Scots.’

ENGLISH	ULSTER DIALECT	ULLANS
of	o	o
yes	ay	ay
no	na	na
remember	min[d]	mind[d]
small	wee	wee
that	thon	thon
stroll	dander	danner
today	the day	the day
tomorrow	the morra	the morra
with	wi	wi
lane	loanen	loanen
path	pad	pad
there	thonder	thonner
to	til	til
ditch	sheuch	sheuch
brat	skitter	skitter
shout	gulder	gulder
tip over	coup	coup
sly	sleekit	sleekit
than	nor	nor
endure	thole	thole
awkward	thran	thran
have	have	hae
give	give	gie
not	nat	no
from	from	frae/fae
any	any	onie
several	lock	wheen
stone	stone	stane
more	more	mair
most	most	maist
home	home	hame
sore	sore	sair
head	head	heid
round	roun’	roon
house	house	hoose
town	town	toon
foot	fut	fit
none	noan	nane
over	over	owre
couldn’t	cud’n	cudnae
wouldn’t	wud’n	wudnae
won’t	won’t	winnae
one	wan	yin
bright	bright	bricht
light	light	licht

Street Rhymes

September 21, 2021 by John McCullagh

We had street chants for most occasions and most circumstances. I can remember only a few. When you wanted to vex someone, or to distract your mate from something else, you would point determinately until she/he looked in that direction. Then you would chant:

I made you look

I made you stare

I made the barber cut your hair!

He cut it long

He cut it short

He cut it with a knife and fork!

If you remember others, please post them on Guestbook!

Father Luke Donnellan

September 19, 2021 by John McCullagh

In the early part of the last century there was a prominent priest in South Armagh who gained a reputation in many fields besides religion. He served in a number of parishes in the district but longest in Dromantee where he was known as Father Luke, or alternatively as Red Father Donnellan.

Blackmen or not?

September 16, 2021 by John McCullagh

There was a programme on Radio Ulster recently about the Bessbrook Mill. It reminded me of a story told to me by Billie McCaigue who was, at the time, a Unionist Councillor for Newry Town.

During the Second World War some Divisions of the American Army were stationed in Bessbrook prior to their departure to France. One afternoon one of the soldiers came into a shop in the village and the young lady asked,

‘ Sir, what can I get you?’

Fews Glossary H

September 14, 2021 by John McCullagh

Hag old, depraved woman; to chop or cut
Hagging-block where meat is chopped
Haggard stack yard

Hake   rob an orchard
Hallion abusive term for unattractive person, usually woman
Hanch  snap
At Hand close by
A hand’s turn the smallest item of work
To my hand  convenient
A bad hand at unskilled
Hamsel first use of anything
Haveral coarse, silly
Hap  to cover or clothe
Well-happed well clad
Happed with a spade buried
HARD hardy morning frosty morning
Hard of hearing deaf
Hard man difficult/close-fisted/paramilitary
Hard tack strong drink
Hard hat bowler hat, by extension an Orangeman
Hard word negative assessment
Hard-used badly-used
Hairy[harey] cunning, evasive tactics, like a hare: scary a hairy experience
Harl a lump
Harn harden
Harem-scarem wild
Hash slash
Hate 1. quantity ‘put a hate o’ salt in the broth’
2. bit ‘divil a hate I care’
3. ‘not a hate to his story’, it’s untrue
4. heat, ‘the birds’ tongues were hangin’ out wi’ the hate’
Head 1. headway, ‘making no head with his lessons’
2. ‘not a word out o’ yer head!’, be silent
3. ‘he’d ate yer head off’, he would shout loud at you
4. ‘over the head of’, because, i.e. ‘it’s all over the head of you’
5. ‘good heads’, clever people
Head-rig ridge where the plough-horse turns
Heart-scalded very seriously troubled by
Hear-tell I heard it said, ‘I hear-tell he’s for moving’
Heartening encouragement, ‘a sunny day’s a heartenin’ in the hay field’
Heartsome cheerful
Heavy charge weighty burden
Heavy-han’-ful troublesome, ‘the boy’s a heavy-han’-ful’
Heavy on the leather walks unevenly, wears out shoes frequently
Heavy-headed stupid
Heavy-handed footery, physically inept
Hector bully   [also well-loved 60s Newry market-trader!]
Hedge  conceal, dodge, ‘he can hedge, all right!’
Heel-in place plant temporarily in the soil
A light heel a good dancer
Heel  upend a cart
Heel-end the very end, ‘at the heel-end of the evening’
Heels foremost as corpse carried from house, ‘he won’t budge again until he’ll go out heels-foremost’
Het heat, pickle, ‘he was in a great het over it’
Helter-skelter disorder
Hinch  thigh
Hilt-nor-hare  sign nor light, ‘I saw neither hilt nor hare o’ them’
Himself [as in ‘not’] ‘he’s not himself at all’, he’s feeling unwell
Himself [ as in ‘full of’] ‘he’s full of himself’, conceited
Hipple  limp
Hirple  to walk with difficulty
Hit  catch, ‘unless he puts his best fut for’ard he’ll not hit the bus’
Hobble trouble, ‘she’s in a quare hobble’
Hoke  to hollow out, excavate, search for, ‘hoke it out, will ye?’
Holm  sheltered land
Home  grave, as in ‘the long home’
Horn  to gore, ‘the cow horned the wee calf’
Hot-foot go speedily
Houghle move awkwardly
Hoult  hold, grip, catch ‘take a good hoult of it there!’
Hudders top sheaves of a stook, ‘put the hudders on the stook’, i.e. draw your story to a close
Hugger-muggery shameful or secret conduct
Hunker crouch
Hunker-slider untrustworthy person
Hurry  usu. in the negative, ‘shure there’s no hurry’ or ‘take yer hurry in your hand’
Hursel  bronchial-sounding, ‘he had a hursel in he’s throat’
Hut  hit, ‘he hut me first, he did!’

Flog a dead horse

September 11, 2021 by John McCullagh

The tribal wisdom of the Dakota Indians passed on from generation to generation, and for that matter replicated in various guises in a host of other ancient cultures, advises as follows:

Common Phrases 2

September 9, 2021 by John McCullagh

He handles his feet bravely he dances well

Wee Monkey of a Thing

September 9, 2021 by John McCullagh

Most of the fairies lived in underground caves [souterrains] having secret entrances in the fairy forths on the hillsides round about.

One such forth remains almost intact on McGreevy’s hill in the townland of Ballywinny [‘town of the ancient tree’] in the Cabra district. It is called Doras na Bruidhne [the palace entrance] which frankly, says it all.

Michael J : his art

August 29, 2021 by John McCullagh

The writers to whom he was most attracted at this early stage were Sean O Faolain (whom he always singled out as the best Irish short story writer), Liam O’Flaherty, Frank O’Connor, Peadar O’Donnell and Michael MacLaverty.