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

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.

VIRR: Vigour, energy, briskness, gusto, force, impetuosity

"Up tae noo, yer Eminence, ma virr his won me ten thoosan medals. A fu hunner o them I cairry preened tae ma jaiket, as ye see." (Up to now, your Eminence, my gusto has won me ten thousand medals. A few hundred of them I carry pinned to my jacket, as you see.) From Sheena Blackhall's shorts stories Wittgenstein's Web .

The medals in the blip are my father's Canadian campaign medals from World War 2. (Left to right: 1939-45 Star; France and Germany Star; Defence Medal; Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and bar; the War Medal 1939-45.)