Click on names to find out more about the participants.
Relationship of interviewees: Members of the Hawick Archaeological Society
Where: Hawick, Borders
Language of interview: Scots
Voice clip 1
A poem composed and performed by Madge Elliot about spring-cleaning under the kitchen bed in days gone by. This was considered a particularly thankless task! Great use of local dialect throughout describing items found under the bed.
Voice clip 2
A song written by Ian Landles and performed by the group which describes the basics of Hawick dialect. All sung in dialect featuring local words.
David Stewart
David describes what workmen used to have in their bags of tools - and how they would carry them to their jobs.
Madge Elliot
Madge remembers being teased by colleagues, when she was a young apprentice, over the phrase 'emerso' which means I am.
Long description of interview: Contributors were elderly people with a passion for local dialect who met in a resource/staff room at Hawick High School. All contributors were equally vocal, although Ian Landles was perhaps most prepared and confident on the subject of local dialect. Contributors came to life when they spoke of pride in their dialect.
'Twirlies' is the name given to pensioners by Liverpool bus crews. Their free bus passes become effective at 9am but if they arrive before this, they enquire 'Are we too early?'
