An A to Z of the Doric: an occasional series. Q

Doric, the dialect spoken in the North-East of Scotland is rich in words and phrases associated with the land and the sea. Over the next few weeks I will try to illustrate some of them in an A-Z using examples of their use taken mainly from Buchan Claik, The Saut an the Glaur o't written in 1989 by Peter Buchan and David Toulmin.

QUINE: A girl. Probably derived from Queen.

'Oor Tibby's jist a bit slip o a quine, nae aal aneuch tae get merrite.' (Our Elizabeth is still just a young girl, not old enough to get married.)

The male equivalent of quine is loon, a boy.

'He's a gweed loon at, he'll gang a lang road. (He's a good boy that, he'll go far.)

The blipped quine and loon are the Talpas' grandchildren.

We have been in Sicily for the last week or so, enjoying the wine, the food and the historical and archaeological sites. I will post some back-blips starting here.