On 1st November 1755, Lisbon was destroyed by an earthquake so powerful, that “violent waves” (known as seiches) were stirred up on Loch Ness, 2000 miles away. The tsunami caused by the quake was seen travelling up the Firth of Forth.
James Melvin (1795-1853) rector of Aberdeen Grammar School banned students from using Doric Scots, except when translating Latin poetry, where “the pith and force of the Scots tongue” could be properly used. Here are some of his lines1 I have omitted his “apologetic apostrophes” but left his spellings mostly intact. from Ovid’s Metamorphoses.
There I saw Sisyphus, wi mickle wae,
J. Riddell (1868) Aberdeen and its Folk from the 20th to the 50th Year of the Present Century
Birsin a big stane up a heich brae,
Wi aa his micht oot ower the knowe,
Wi baith his hands an feet, but wow!
When it’s maist dune, wi awful dird,
Doun stots the stane, an thumps upo the yird.
from circa 1830.
“A peacock pykit a peck o paper oot o a paper poke. Pyke paper, peacock!”
“Ah snuff shop snuff. Dae ye snuff shop snuff?”
J. Riddell (1868) Aberdeen and Its Folk, from the 20th to 50th Year of the Present Century.