The Guff o' Waur

a book of poems by William Spence Forsyth

With grateful thanks to Mr. George Duthie

Something which is unique to the local area is its rich traditional culture of music, art and, of course, the spoken word.

For visitors the local dialect (known as Doric) can seem like another language, with it's use of many words with meanings only understood within the area. However, these words incorporate a huge range of historical and cultural influences in the history of Sandhaven and Pitullie.

The Trust has published a modern reprint of "The Guff o' Waur" which literally means "The Smell of Seaweed". The book contains over 40 of the poems of William Spence Forsyth, written in the 1890's.

A CD of some of the poems are also available from the Trust, if you would like to hear the poems read in local dialect. WMA files (playable in Media Player) of these poems can be heard by clicking on the buttons to the left of this box.

Fishing, the sea, and the struggle of those who made a living by those means is reflected in some of the poems, but many of them reflect the humour and vitality of everyday life.

 

Click on the buttons below to download WMA files and save them on your harddrive or open them with Windows Media player.