I’ve come across a rather amusing little ditty – “Oor Hamlet,” recorded by Adam McNaughtan – which tells the story of Hamlet in Scottish dialect to the tune of “The Mason’s Apron.”
I was wondering whether anyone here would have the expertise to judge whether the dialect that this piece uses is properly considered Scots/Lallans or rather is it Scottish English, if there is indeed a definable line between the two.
Also, there’s one line in the song I’m wondering about –
Is this an abbreviation for a longer expression along the lines of “tuppence and half a shilling short of a pound” or something to that effect?
It’s far more Scottish English than Scots. Actually, it’s verging on ‘Sunday Post Speak’, i.e it’s an affected and couthy style of speech that reminds people of their granny and is supposed to be humourous. This is emphasised with the title, it being a reference to the cartoon “Oor Willie” that appears in the Sunday Post.
Note the liberal use of apostrophes, excusing dropped letters. If this was Scots then these letters simply wouldn’t be there, no excuse required. But as this is “Sunday Post Speak” it’s a self-conscious and depreciating acknowledgement that the speech differs from “normal” pronunciation.
“tuppence aff the shillin’” is a longer way of saying “not the full shilling”, i.e. touched in the head, mad.
I’ve actually sung this song at gigs when I was in a Scots/Irish folk band. I thought I knew all the background but I was wrong, thanks, Futile Gesture!
I love me some patter-songs!
I wonder what the piece might look like in proper Scots. Can anyone translate?