(04-17-2020, 09:03 PM)gordi Wrote: Yup,
"weans" is a derivation (or contraction) of the phrase "Wee yins" which just means "Small ones" in Scots.
We have another name for them "Bairns" which comes from the Norse AND is very similar to the Scandinavian word for children used today! (Maybe @"Wallfire" or someone could confirm?)
Cheers, and THANKS for watching!!
G
That makes sense - some folks here pronounce the "uns" in "Young-uns" as "ins" - i.e. "young-ins", and this area was settled primarily by Scotsmen who came through the Ulster Plantations. "Yins" --> "ins" ---> "uns" over time I would guess. "My" Scotsmen were McElwaynes/McElwains/Mucklewaines from Ayrshire, and McCunes from God only knows where. All of 'em mean as rattlesnakes, but you pretty much had to be to settle here when it was wilderness.
They were rough from an early age. One of them, a Tunis Mucklewaine (as it reads on his headstone) was an "indian spy" at 14 years old - he wandered a more or less fixed route in the wilderness scouting for signs of Indian incursions in and around Tygart's Valley in what is now West Virginia to give the settlers there early warning so they could "fort up" in the even of hostilities.
You're welcome for the viewing - I also shared it on FB for my friends on this side of the pond to enjoy! I eventually got to it on Facbook by taking a circuitous route so I could share it.
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Diogenes was eating bread and lentils for supper. He was seen by the philosopher Aristippus, who lived comfortably by flattering the king.
Said Aristippus, ‘If you would learn to be subservient to the king you would not have to live on lentils.’ Said Diogenes, ‘Learn to live on lentils and you will not have to be subservient to the king.’
Said Aristippus, ‘If you would learn to be subservient to the king you would not have to live on lentils.’ Said Diogenes, ‘Learn to live on lentils and you will not have to be subservient to the king.’