Elizabeth or Betty? That suits me to a T

£25 STAR LETTER

I have the same name as the Queen but growing up I was called Bessie. I have read that the Queen was called Lilibet. Today, Elizabeths can choose from Lisa, Eliza, Lizzie, Liz, Beth, Elsie, Bess, Bessie, Bette and many more.

Now in my 85th year, I am known as Betty. I never object to this, except when some folk call me Be--y. They don’t say the “t”. When I correct them we all have a laugh when I say, “That’s be--er”!

Betty Carey, Balfron

First-class thanks

I would like to thank all the kind Sunday Post readers who have sent me used stamps.

It would be great if you would be willing to continue to save and send them to my new address, as follows: 25 Thornedge, Cumwhinton, Carlisle CA4 8ER.

As a collector, I continue to keep one of any new stamps that I see. All the surplus continue to go to our local hospice shop.

Thank you so much for your continued kindness.

Peter Bradley, Carlisle

A final tribute

A last goodbye from my late wife, who died in March. My wife said that she had no regrets and would not do anything differently if given the chance to live her life over. Being two years over three score years and 10, my wife bravely accepted that time was running out. w

These words have helped me in overcoming grief and sadness with the knowledge I was loved and cherished together with all my faults and silly ideas which my wife seemed to smooth over for me to reconsider and see both sides of any problem. I consider myself to be a very lucky person to have had such a wife. Ernest Harker, Durham

Mind your tongue

Interesting articles about “Scots”, but a lot of tosh talked about it as well! Yes, there’s a Scots language. There are thousands of words in a Scots dictionary, but we only use a few of them. No one actually speaks true Scots. Fact – what we speak is English with a Scots accent, some dialect mispronounced English words and a few Scots words like “scunner”. Get over it!

The poet Len mistakes the expression of this for “hatred” and “denying the existence of Scots”. The title of her poem I’m No’ Havin’ Children isn’t exactly Scots, is it? Not even “Ah’m” instead of “I’m”! Or

“Bairns” instead of “Children”.

And Elaine C Smith’s brand of Scots is more Glesca than Scots. No one outside Glasgow would say “weans” or “errza”. They might say “bairns” or “thur’s a”.

And then how many branches of Scots are there? The Ayrshire Scots of Burns where you need a glossary to understand much of what he’s saying! And in Aberdeen they say “dinna” in Fife they say “dinnae”, in Dundee they say “peh” and their tongue is pretty unique to Dundee alone. Then there’s the Doric and the way they speak in the Borders. And so on.

So, in short, we don’t speak Scots, although most people would claim they do. And when the question comes up in the Census “Do you speak Scots” we’ll all give the Oh Aye box a resounding tick. Won’t we?

Jim Adamson, by email