Fair Faa Ye

Celebrating the Ulster-Scots language in the Derry City and Strabane District Council area. Further information: [email protected]

[Fair Faa Ye @fairfaaye]

Mauchie (adj): warm, damp, muggy weather. Shares cognates with other Germanic forms: Danish ‘mug’ meaning mildew, Norwegian ‘muggen’ meaning fusty and English ‘muck’ meaning wet and decaying #UlsterScots

[Fair Faa Ye @fairfaaye]

“The whin is out afore the short day’s turnin’; Och but the whin is brave!” Florence Wilson (1874-1946). 'Whun' (noun): gorse (Scots form). ‘Whun-Lintie’ or ‘Whunny-Grey’ – the common linnet #UlsterScots

[Fair Faa Ye @fairfaaye]

Yirp (verb): to chirp loudly (The Hamely Tongue, J. Fenton). Onomatopoeic and similar to English 'chirp'. Often used to describe the alarm call of the blackbird (‘merle’ in Ulster-Scots) and all the more common when wee scaldies (nestlings) are in the nest #UlsterScots

[Fair Faa Ye @fairfaaye]

Scope (noun): A large expanse of ground e.g. ‘a scope o land’, ‘a scope o grun’ #UlsterScots

[Fair Faa Ye @fairfaaye]

Coagle (verb): to rock or wobble. Coagly (adj.) rickety, wobbly. Origin unknown but perhaps imitative of 'joggle' and cognate with 'shoggle' from Old Scots 'schogg' to shake and Modern German 'schaukeln' to rock e.g. Schaukelpferd (rocking horse) #UlsterScots

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Braw (adj): fine, fair e.g. weather. Old Scots records braw, bra meaning fine, splendid, excellent; considered a variant of 'brawf', brave, cognate with Irish Gaelic breá meaning fine #UlsterScots

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Cappy (noun): a pet pig. Short for cappy-pig e.g. a pig fed by hand from a shallow wooden bowl (cap in Scots). Via Old Northumbrian ‘copp’ and Norse ‘koppr’ #UlsterScots #Scots

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Slunk (noun): a bog-hole. Also ‘slonk’. WH Patterson’s 'Glossary of Words & Phrases from Antrim & Down' (1880) includes ‘slonky’ (adj.) having muddy holes e.g. ‘That slonky road.’ #Scots #UlsterScots

[Fair Faa Ye @fairfaaye]

Dag (noun): Also ‘deg’. Fog, mist, or drizzling rain. Cognate with the Old English déaw meaning dew. Scots records a ‘daggie’ day – a day characterised by mist or rain #Scots #UlsterScots

[Fair Faa Ye @fairfaaye]

Sonsie (adj.): pretty, cheerful. Also: lucky, fortunate. From Irish Gaelic and Scottish Gàidhlig ‘sonas’ meaning luck or prosperity #UlsterScots #Scots #Irish #Gaelic #LanguageLinks

[Fair Faa Ye @fairfaaye]

Ganzy (noun): a sweater, jumper or pullover. Either a corrupted or altered form of the word ‘Guernsey’ or derived from the Old Scandinavian word ‘genser’ meaning a knitted jumper. Appears as 'geansaí' in Irish. But where does Jersey come from? 🙂 #UlsterScots

[Fair Faa Ye @fairfaaye]

Puddock (noun): a frog. From Old English ‘pada’ meaning toad, with the diminutive ending ‘-ock’. Possibly derived from Old Norse ‘padda’ #UlsterScots

[Fair Faa Ye @fairfaaye]

Gleed (noun): a spark, flame or ember. Often used figuratively in the phrase “she/he hasn’t a gleed” meaning lacking in sense. From the Middle English 'glede' meaning a burning coal #UlsterScots

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Teem (verb & noun): a downpour, (n) or to pour with rain (v). “Get caught in the teem” (J. Fenton). Recorded in Scots, Northern English and Hiberno-English. Cognate with Irish ‘taom’ meaning to empty of water which is possibly a loan word from Norse #UlsterScots #LanguageLinks

[Fair Faa Ye @fairfaaye]

Aizle (noun): an ember, cinder or spark. From Old English ‘ysel’ meaning ashes. Cognate with Old Norse ‘usli’ meaning fire #UlsterScots

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Tod (noun): a fox. Lowland Scots and Northern English. Features in the proverb "when the tod preaches tak' tent o' the lambs’" and used by Beatrix Potter to name the vulpine protagonist of her 1912 novel 'The Tale of Mr Tod' #UlsterScots

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Tha Wee Schuil
by Anne McMaster

This evocative short film in #UlsterScots created by writer and poet @Rosehill_girl to celebrate #LeidWeek 2025 is a haunting and deeply felt tribute to Moneydig primary school, its weans, and their stories...

https://t.co/1XImG4wEt8

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To mark #LeidWeek writer Robert Campbell @thebogmyrtle will be working in partnership with @culturlanndoire in Derry to deliver #UlsterScots story creation workshops to local Irish medium primary schools in the @dcsdcouncil area. To book contact [email protected]

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If Headstones Could Speak - a short film narrated by Seamus Breslin of Friends of Derry City Cemetery @FODCC1853 exploring the lives and stories of past generations of #UlsterScots in the city. Available to view online at https://t.co/8cNZJJxcEu from Monday 24 November 2025

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Dreich (adj.): Gloomy, bleak e.g. weather. Also dreary e.g. ‘A lang dreech road’ (Fenton) or long, wearisome, tedious. Recorded in Scots and Northern English. Believed to be from Middle English and related to the Old Norse drjūgr meaning lasting #Scots #UlsterScots #TaakThaLeid