Willie Cromie

William (Willie) Cromie was born in Ballywalter and was educated at the local school. His father worked on the land and his mother’s family were fishermen. He grew up knowing no other language than Ulster-Scots and still speaks it fluently and by choice. He joined the Ulster-Scots Language Society shortly after it was formed and became a staunch supporter of the language.

Willie wrote several articles in Ulster-Scots which were published in ‘Ullans’. He also went round the country recording the voices of native speakers in the Greater Ards area. He later began to tell these stories to various groups and has appeared on TV and radio relating them. Willie has told these stories at Stormont, Belfast City hall and numerous other venues in Down and Antrim. He loves conversing in the language and has formed a long-lasting friendship with Will McAvoy: together, they give many charity performances and hope to continue this for a long time to come.