Ullans

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                             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

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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!

Blackmen or not?

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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?’

Read moreBlackmen or not?

Fews Glossary H

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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!’

Wee Monkey of a Thing

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 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.

Read moreWee Monkey of a Thing