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

Doric, the dialect spoken in the North-East of Scotland is rich in words and phrases associated with the land and the sea. In this occasional series  I 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.


MARLESS SHEEN: Unmatching shoes or in this case boot laces.

"The farmer's son who had to go to school wearing his mother's shoes while his own were being repaired, remarked, 'Ye've nivver haen tae dee that, hiv ye? Ging tae the skweel wi yer mither's sheen on? I was near greetin aboot it in front o aa the ither loons, and then I saw anither lad wi his mither's sheen on, and then I didna feel sae bad. At least my mither's sheen werna marless." (You have never had to do that, have you? Go to the school with your mother's shoes on? I was almost crying about it in front of all the other boys, and then I saw another lad with his mother's shoes on, and then I didn't feel so bad. At least my mother's shoes were a matched pair.)